Layla Iskandar

Biography 

Dr. Layla Iskandar is an architect with expertise in sustainable design and historic preservation. She holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with a focus on Building Performance from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), where she also earned a Master of Science in Architecture with a concentration in Historic Preservation. She additionally holds both a Master of Architecture and a Bachelor of Architecture from the Université Libanaise and is certified in Historic Preservation. Her professional portfolio includes projects ranging from contemporary developments to heritage conservation and adaptive reuse, spanning the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Lebanon.

She currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Belmont University’s O’More College of Architecture and Design. Prior to joining Belmont, she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in design, visualization, and building energy systems at UTSA’s School of Architecture + Planning. Her teaching emphasizes the environmental and social implications of design and reuse, fostering critical thinking and empowering students to create more sustainable built environments.

Dr. Iskandar’s research focuses on building energy performance evaluation and optimization, sustainable conservation, climate change adaptation, and retrofitting of existing and historic buildings. Her work has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international conferences. She actively collaborates with research teams across institutions including Drexel University, the University of Auckland, UTSA, and Lancaster University, and partners with industry and government agencies to advance sustainable design practices and inform policymaking.