Our Studio

As a firm, we are driven by our clients’ goals, desires, and inspirations. As we begin a project, we take these lifestyle-oriented, softer conceptual ambitions - and apply a deep and rigorous site analysis, seeking to understand how natural forces act on our existing conditions. We consider daylight, wind, views, topography, adjacent buildings, and more, and once we understand the existing harmonies of a place, we work closely with our clients to begin to imagine what could be. We use drawings as a means of communication, considering possibilities and asking questions through the sharing of sketched ideas and full-scale renderings, and see each interaction with our clients as a collaboration that guides each project to its finest expression. Throughout the process, we remain acutely aware of the emotional effects of light, as well as architecture’s power to mediate the sun. Often, our exterior elevations—the way the outside of a structure looks—is a direct result of our careful consideration of the interior, and how light will flow throughout the space.

Each project presents the opportunity to give sensitive thought to composition and proportion. We find that the best details are those that fade into the background, letting the right balance of visual interest, tactile harmony, and material sophistication be more prominently felt. We strive to create a seamless, relaxed, and enjoyable experience for each client, managing the thousands of decisions that arise during design, permitting, and construction so that you can experience a creative, enlivening, and fulfilling journey.

Principal

Michael Hennessey has been practicing architecture for the past twenty-four years. Inspired by an early nature- and outdoors-oriented life in Sonoma County, Hennessey fell in love with drafting and architecture at the age of fifteen. This early exposure to the Bay Area’s natural environment coupled with receiving his architectural educational experience in the desert have oriented Hennessey’s practice towards the sun and light- a practice informed by the pursuit of figure drawing and photography as well as architecture and design. Hennessey’s background has given him an intimate and comprehensive understanding of proportion, scale, and the control of light, all skills that he has continued to hone and develop throughout his career. Along with the natural world, Hennessey is influenced by European, Japanese, and Latin American Modernism. He received his MArch from UC Berkeley, and is licensed in California.