BCT Design Group has named Michael Nicolaus, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, a Principal of the firm’s Architecture & Planning Studios.

Nicolaus brings more than thirty years of planning and design leadership to the role, with a career spent shaping the buildings, neighborhoods, and districts that define the Washington, DC region. He has led commercial and mixed-use practices at the principal level for most of his career, directing design studios, developing client relationships, and guiding large-scale projects from concept through delivery. He began his career in Baltimore and has worked on assignments across Europe and Asia.

His portfolio spans corporate campuses and transit-connected districts, including the Capital One global headquarters in Tysons, Virginia, the Twinbrook Station masterplan in Rockville, Maryland, Reston Station, North Bethesda Market, and the Silver Spring Transit Center. His work has received a ULI Award of Excellence in Urban Design, a national Congress for the New Urbanism Grand Award, and a NAIOP Project of the Year.

Nicolaus will work across both studios, bringing masterplanning and urban design depth to the Planning Studio while contributing design leadership on large-scale commissions in the Architecture Studio. The appointment also supports the firm’s continued growth in the DC and northern Virginia markets.

Nicolaus holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a licensed architect, an NCARB certificate holder, and a LEED Accredited Professional.