Schwartz and Architecture

We run a tight ship. We are experts in guiding clients through a highly interactive design process tailored to their personalities, resources, and needs. The design, permitting, and construction process can be fraught; our goal is to have it flow as smoothly and efficiently as possible, anticipate risks, and communicate with you clearly and often.

Because we are with you from start to finish, including collaborating with you on all aspects of the architectural and interior design, we are the center point for communication and responsibility throughout the process. In a methodical, analytical, and logical way, we guide you through all decisions on function and use, and all material and finish selections inside and out. We are also adept at managing complex permitting and construction processes and working with fixed schedules and resources. Our goal is to remove stress.

We Listen

It is our responsibility to guide you through a thoughtful, organized, and interactive design process, in which we jointly discover the best solutions to your needs. As we listen, we also bring our enthusiasm for the process to the table, embracing every opportunity for creative design solutions regardless of budget or constraint. We take pride in our work with you and, hopefully, in surpassing your expectations.

We Are Engaged

The Founder + Principal, Neal Schwartz, FAIA, is directly engaged with each project through all stages of our work with you. He is always available to you and takes responsibility for every aspect of our studio’s work. In addition, you will come to know other members of our collaborative team well; at a minimum, your project will include a project principal, architect, and/or designer responsible for developing and managing the daily work during all phases.

We Respect Your Resources

We pride ourselves on projects that typically stay on schedule and budget. We help you set priorities and evaluate the most strategic use of your resources; we see it as a challenge and responsibility to create great design within any limitations. We will be honest and straightforward if we feel your ambitions exceed your budget and will collaborate with you to bring the two in line at every phase. Our goal is to place you in control of all resource decisions.

We are Experts at Regulatory Approvals

We have a strong record of guiding clients through planning and building department review processes. We collaborate actively with neighbors and other constituencies to gather support for your project. Neal has worked in government as an urban planner and has graduate degrees in public policy as well as architecture, which has proven to add a level of strategic insight into these often-complex procedures. His policy work has included being the founding Chair of the AIASF Public Policy and Advocacy Committee (PPAC), which has been at the forefront of advocating for positive change in the San Francisco Planning Department’s residential design review procedures.

We Represent You During Construction

Our role is to advocate for your interests at every phase of the project. We have longstanding trusted relationships with contractors, fabricators, consultants, and suppliers, which we gladly share with you. We help you evaluate bids, select your contractor, and monitor your budget and invoicing. We provide construction observation to ensure that what is built is exactly what you had envisioned. We do this by preparing thorough sets of drawings –which minimizes risks, budget increases, and delays once construction begins– and by being on-site regularly until the end.

We Promote Sustainable Choices

We are committed to proactively offering our clients a full range of sustainable options for construction methods, materials, finishes and building systems, and are skilled at guiding you through the multitude of choices. We take a holistic view of sustainability and the architect’s role in promoting it. Certainly, product and finish material selection, emerging environmental technologies, and innovative construction techniques play a foundational role –but so too do less-tangible aspects of design. We research the attributes of each site and context, thoughtfully expanding upon them to arrive at forms that work in concert with key sustainability concepts. This includes fundamental choices of building orientation and siting (passive design), as well as more ephemeral qualities of light, view, and movement, which promotes a closer relationship to the natural world, and thus a deeper understanding of our impact on it.

Looking In

“How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress.” Niels Bohr, Nobel Prize Physicist

We are creative thinkers. Looking deeply at the core of problems builds a foundation of logic beneath our work, which then lets our creative intuitions flourish. In fact, we relish the challenge of the paradox. When solutions appear to be ‘either-or,’ the ability to embrace the nuanced shades of gray in problem-solving becomes critical. This is the power of creativity and good design.

We embed this ethos of critical thinking deeply within the studio, led by our founder’s long-standing commitment to teaching, most recently as a Professor at the California College of the Arts. We believe this adds a level of rigor and consistency to our design process, which in turn gives our clients clear frameworks for decision-making. We hope this rigor shows through in the products of our work.
Critical thinking also guides where we find our creative inspiration. While we are always moving forward, exploring new materials, techniques, and technologies, we also try to chart our own course rather than follow passing stylistic trends. Our focus is on the more enduring qualities of space, proportion, scale, and texture. For us, the beauty of these things has no shelf-life.

Looking Out

Ultimately, our work must engage with and function in the world. We have a long-standing commitment to significant pro bono work with local non-profits, from La Cocina, to Larkin Street Youth Services, to the Children’s Creativity Museum. This engagement comes from a recognition that architects are collaborators, leaders, designers, and activists all rolled into one; it is precisely what we have been trained to do, and love to do.

This outward-looking focus of the studio is also the product of the founder’s background. With joint master’s degrees in public policy and architecture, Neal’s work and leadership has never been an insular affair; it always engages with the world around us. Beyond the studio walls, Neal has been on the Board of Directors for the AIDS Memorial Grove, held academic leadership positions at California College of the Arts for over 20 years, and was the Founding Chair of the AIASF Public Policy and Advocacy Committee.