2026 MRE Conference

Ryan Short
Principal
Cotton Architecture + Design


Ryan Short, AIA is Principal & Co-Founder of Cotton Architecture + Design in Phoenix, Arizona. Cotton partners with health systems, physician groups, owners, brokers, and developers across the Southwest and Midwest to deliver clinics, imaging centers, ambulatory surgery centers, and ground-up medical office buildings. Over the past six years, Cotton has completed or has in progress more than 125 healthcare projects across multiple states, totaling 500,000+ SF of care space. Guided by a Continuum of Community mindset, Cotton approaches each project as a multi-scale problem-solving process aligning community, provider, and patient needs to drive early, stakeholder-led decisions that elevate patient care and experience while meeting long-term performance and speed-to-revenue goals for our development partners. With 15+ years of experience Ryan leads client and stakeholder engagement, programming, master planning, building design, and quality control for all of Cotton's healthcare portfolio. He is driven by a passion for improving the communities he serves and brings a collaborative, people-focused mindset to every project, listening closely to stakeholders and translating their goals into strategic design solutions. Ryan earned a B.S. in Architecture from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Architecture from Arizona State University where he received the AIA Henry Adams Medal and Certificate, the Design Excellence Award, and multiple additional nominations. Ryan is currently serving as the American Institute of Architects Small Firm Exchange Representative for the state of Arizona, serving as a liaison among local, state, and national AIA groups to advocate for and elevate the visibility of small architecture firms.

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