Welcome

Meri Tepper has operated her architecture practice in Madison, WI since 2013. She works with homeowners on new house designs, additions, remodels, and feasibility studies.

After twenty years in the industry there are three core values which motivate her designs:

– Beautiful and durable modern design with an understated simplicity

– Sophisticated floor plans that uniquely support one’s patterns of living

– High-performance design that results in dramatically reduced utility bills and a more comfortable and healthy interiors.

Services & Fees

Specializing in designing carefully crafted residential spaces, I offer a full range of architectural and interior design services catered to your needs.

CONCEPTS CONSULTS

 2 hour-long in-house concept consults to homeowners in Dane County.

A two-hour concept consultation is available Sunday mornings from 8:00–10:00 a.m. I’ll come to your home ready to share my professional perspective, help you clarify your goals, and identify the most useful next steps for your project.

These consultations are well suited to interior remodels, additions, and site evaluations for new construction. One of my particular strengths is rethinking an existing building from the inside out—working within the constraints of an existing footprint to create entirely new interiors while preserving the character of a historic exterior.

Visit my reviews page to get a sense of what clients have found most valuable about these consultations.

The fee for Concepts Consult service is $400. 

Roxul exterior insulation and Zola Windows

ENERGY CONSULTS FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION

My designs have always taken a holistic approach to energy efficiency, with the goal of creating homes that are light-filled, healthy, comfortable, and enjoyable to live in. Drawing on the principles of the Passive House standard, I focus on thoughtful design that responds to the way your family actually lives, while balancing performance, aesthetics, and budget.

For homeowners considering a new house in Dane County, I also offer hourly consultations focused on building performance. I can help you understand the decisions that matter most, identify opportunities to go well beyond minimum code requirements, and give you the knowledge and questions you need to have productive conversations with your builder.

The Fee for Energy Consults is $200/hr.

Reviews

Concept Consult – May 2026

I stumbled across Tepper Architects through a variety of online forums, goggling, and Houzz.  As I am new to the Madison area, it was extremely helpful to spend a couple of hours with Meri to understand the architecture of our home, the history of the neighborhood, and how to best utilize the space in our home.  Meri walked the home to understand the layout, highlighted the positives, and asked many questions in regard to what we were hoping to gain in terms of modifications.  She amazingly came up with a preliminary design option that could be a guide for future work within the 2 hour consult.  Meri was extra-ordinarily helpful in establishing common sense solutions.  When we are ready to proceed to the next step, Meri will be who we will call.

New House Design – 2023

Have we told you lately that we LOVE our house! Everyday we thank our lucky stars that we met you and that you agreed to design our dream home. It is just so beautiful in every big and little detail. We are forever grateful.

Concepts Consult Review – October 2021

I learned about Meri’s work through a curious process of cross references (made possible by Houzz). I was immediately drawn to her approach, the sophisticated simplicity of her designs and the light filled spaces in her portfolio. My home is a typical two story/3 bds (built in 1906!) that although renovated, had the basic design structure intact. I needed advice on bringing natural light into the kitchen/ dining area (within the existing floor plan) and on minor kitchen updates. Meri came for a two hour consultation session and it is hard to summarize all she did in a limited amount of time and the impact of her advice. The first thing that stands out is how much she cared about this small consultation and how eager and passionate she was at her craft. She was ready to direct all her knowledge and energy to the task. She took a careful look at the entire house, focusing on the physical characteristics and how each space was used. She paid attention to my design style, asked excellent questions, assessed the structure, the surrounding houses, the garden, the orientation. She listened to my design ideas/budget considerations and with an impressive clarity and speed went over cost /design scenarios. She has an outstanding ability to consider cost and design options and a detailed knowledge of building materials cost-quality trade offs. We settled on a particular option and she provided invaluable information about particular manufacturers/styles of windows, doors, tiles, lights, etc. She paid attention to every detail. Meri’s design advice gave me all I needed to move forward with my general contractor. I can not thank her enough for agreeing to share her knowledge and for playing a crucial role in making older houses like mine functional and attractive. It was a privilege to work with her.

Concepts Consult Review – March 2022

 I cannot tell you how astonishingly productive (and therapeutic!) today’s session was!  It’s like you helped us shift up stale and stagnant energy that’s been gunking up our thinking process/relation to our beloved home for years and years.  We are calling to book a survey first thing on Monday a.m.  We can tell you once we have that in hand, but in the meantime, if you can start to think about putting us in your work queue for a “feasibility study,” we’d be thrilled.  We are clear that we’d really like to take that next step with you.  

In any event, working with you today was unbelievably helpful, and we’d be thrilled if we could have your expertise, vision, and time for the next round.