About Lundberg Design

We are located in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco, in a 1933 mattress factory building.

It is a perfect building for the kind of firm we are – raw concrete walls and exposed timber trusses, with high volumes and enough square footage to house our architectural practice, fabrication shop, and even a work-week apartment for Olle. The practice has always been very diverse – we have designed homes, restaurants, wineries, corporate headquarters, distilleries, hotels, apartment buildings, bars, lobbies, and even San Francisco’s bus shelters. We describe our style as "nature-inspired modernism," and we strive for elegant, simple solutions in our work. We like materials with substance – wood, stone, steel; materials with heft and texture – really the opposite of veneer. For us the making of architecture is a collaborative act; between ourselves and especially with our clients – while we aim for poetry we also pride ourselves on making buildings that work very, very well. 

Design Principal Architecture is about composition - form and light and material coming together in ways that are beautiful, functional, and elegant in their simplicity.  Those perfect moments are what we, as a firm, live for.

The work is quite personal – to our clients, to the site, and to us; and to that end we have always had a fabrication shop as part of our practice. It is a place to experiment with materials and details; it is a place to build things. The shop is a way to emphasize the notion of craft in our projects – the unique piece handmade for just that moment. This enables us to at times act a little more like a sculptor, where the process of making begins to inform the end result, so that the pieces really do end up being one-of-a-kind. The act of making is different from just drawing an idea – no matter the cost the mark of the hand makes the piece a kind of gift, unique and personal to that client. It is an inseparable part of our design practice. 

Our firm's basic philosophy for environmental sustainability is thinking long term: to design singular places that last. Architects need to lead the way in creating buildings that minimize resource consumption and carbon emissions, and ideally create a net positive impact. We utilize today's latest technologies and building strategies in our design toward these goals. The use of reclaimed materials, artfully integrated to create strong architectural statements that are also highly functional, is another hallmark of our firm. 

Yet, ultimately, our real mission is to produce beautiful buildings, each unto itself, buildings that the user and subsequent generations of users will love – this for us is the essence of environmentally responsible design. If our buildings work well, capture the imagination of its users over generations, then the materials and effort that went into their creation have been well spent. We strive to design buildings that will far outlive all of us that build them, buildings that are admired and help show us how we can live respectfully within the limits of our Earth.

Curry Head of HR I am relatively new at my job as Head of Human Relations, but I am very enthusiastic and I try to keep everyone smiling.  I particularly like the part of my job where I wrestle with my brother under the conference table, especially if everyone is acting very serious. Also, my brother is getting a little chunky so you should give me all the leftovers.

Carney Head of Security As LD's Head of Security it is my job to check out anyone coming into the building - ideally with a good sniff. I try to leave a good swatch of orange fur (ideally on black outfits) once I've cleared someone.  And if you want me to like you then ask my Dad where the dog bones are kept!

Conner Shop Manager If reproach is a place, then I'm looking for property above it.

Emily Project Manager The process of thinking is inextricably tied to the act of making.  Each cultivates and refines the other.

Caroline Project Architect Little things make big things happen.

Gavin Designer "Our gradual understanding is that we are not real colonists, with our homes elsewhere.  Our home is here, and what we build will be its parts.  It's worth the effort to try to build well." - W.G. Clark, Replacement

Designer "We must never cease from exploration.  And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time." -T.S. Eliot 

Michael Fabricator

Jack Fabricator "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be.  Not put the foundations under them." - Henry David Thoreau

Cameron Designer "Arcitecture is solving problems beautifully." - Glenn Murcutt

Omer It is rewarding to be part of a creative design process that explores materiality, craft and proper execution in construction.  The outcome reflects our personal relationship with our clients' aspirations and goals.

Jennifer Project Architect "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." - Leonardo da Vinci

Michael Managing Director "The perfect is the enemy of the good." - Voltaire's Dictionnaire Philosophique (1764)

Lev Project Manager "You can't really say what is beautiful about a place, but the image of the place will remain vividly with you." - Ando Tadao

Michelle Associate It is a simple task to make things complex, but a complex task to make them simple.

David Associate My motivation in design and architecture is to utilize materials, proportion and detail to produce inspiring environments in which people can live and work creatively.

Debra Associate, Office Manager There is magic in the metamorphosis from rae material to newly expressed form that occurs at Lundberg Design. I am honored to be here.

Lundberg Design
Lundberg Design is a San Francisco-based twenty person architectural firm founded by Olle Lundberg in 1987 that does work for private and commercial clients throughout the United States.

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