If you own a home in San Francisco, Oakland, or Berkeley, there’s a good chance you have—or have considered adding—an in-law unit. Many of these units were constructed decades ago without proper permits. Perhaps it was intended for a family member or as a rental. Now, you’re faced with the […]
Oakland
43 posts
One of the most common questions I get asked by potential clients, and others when I say I am an architect, is “What style do you design in?” I used to have a hard time answering this question because if I say “Modern” that conjures up images for people of […]
Here’s hoping that 2023 will be a good year for you and yours. The rain here in the Bay Area hasn’t dampened our mood. Here in the studio we’re ready to attack the year’s work with vigor and enthusiasm. We are continuing to work on projects we’ve started in previous […]
There is an old addage: When is the best time to plant a tree? Yesterday. When is the next best time to plant a tree? Today. It is similar with architecture projects: new homes, new ADUs, remodeling, additions – in every case, given how long it takes to design a […]
I’ve been working on this accessory dwelling unit (called a Secondary Dwelling Unit in Oakland) for a while now. We ran into problems with the pandemic supply chain, and labor shortages and PGE hookups and any number of other things, but it is now habitable. The only thing that remains […]
Continuing documenting the construction progress for this accessory dwelling in the Oakland Hills, I paid a visit to this project again this month. Things have kind of slowed down. The city is taking their time reviewing the fire sprinkler permit application. And the folks at EBMUD (the water utility) are […]
I’ve written about this secondary dwelling unit in Oakland before. About a month ago I posted on the progress. This past week I stopped by again to check on the progress. Since the last time I was there, they have started on the underlayment for the green roof assembly, and […]
I’ve dubbed this project Bay Vista Junior. It is an accessory dwelling unit – called a Secondary Dwelling Unit in Oakland – on a large hillside meadow. I’ve designed an extensive remodel and extension to the main house, which I dubbed Bay Vista because of the amazing view. The owners […]
There are many things that can inspire. One of the things that inspires me is graffiti art. These talented artists make monumental murals and small intimate vignettes that enhance and beautify the urban environment. I took these photographs on a cold, grey morning, but they color and liveliness of the […]
At the moment we are looking at a serious pandemic of a virus called Covid-19, aka the Cornona Virus. It spreads very easily and has about a 2.5% mortality rate. As a consequence, sporting events and performances are being cancelled or postponed. Schools and universities are switching over to online […]
It is autumn! My favorite season. That means, fall foliage, sweater weather, and, of course, updating the website with project pages for projects I worked on in the past year. I’ve added five new projects to my project pages. 4 new residential projects and 1 new commercial project. I encourage […]
In this business, we talk a lot about whether or not something has been “built to code”, or that we must do something because it is “required by the code”. In this post, I want to step back a little bit and examine this issue of code compliance. The building […]
What are the steps you need to take when starting an architecture project? Building in the Bay Area is an expensive and time consuming process. You don’t want to just jump into something without laying the proper groundwork first. Whether you are thinking about a house remodel, addition, new house, […]
One of the projects in my studio has hit a road block. The minor variance we applied for has been denied. We had the backing of the planning staff. All we wanted to do was extend an existing non-conforming condition upwards. The existing garage is built right up to the […]
This week I visited this project in Oakland which converted an existing detached garage into a studio cottage. We started this project a little more than a year ago and now it is very near complete. The owners are waiting on the Murphy bed to arrive, and they want to […]
Recently AlamedaMagazine.com published a great story about how Accessory Dwelling Units are allowing families to accommodate extended, intergenerational, living. This is a fancy way of saying, you can live with your adult children, or your parents, but with each of you having a private living space. Which is pretty cool, […]
I have shared images of this project before. We are wrapping up schematic design right now. The design we came up with worked very well, but came in over budget. Working with the Church to set and determine their priorities, they determined that the new structure that will define the […]
One of the things that architects do is provide site inspection services. In most cases, when we go to visit a project under construction, we are there to observe. If we see anything that is not according to the documents, we raise the issue with the contractor and with the […]
Currently, there is a lot of interest in building accessory dwellings. Accessory dwellings are smaller cottages or apartments built on a property that already has one dwelling. They are also known as back yard cottages, in-law units, granny flats, and a host of other names. In the last few years […]
Last week, I wrote about three different kinds of sketches that architects do. I mentioned that I would share the computer drawings that the drafter created from my hand sketches. Well, here they are! These drawings are done in a computer program called Revit. Revit is a Building Information Modeling […]