This will be a multi-location event, which involves driving between 2 studios. Meet at Field Architecture at 1pm. For those of you attending Sabra Ballon event afterwards, give yourself time to drive, park and walk to the Opening Night Event Sabra Ballon and Arhaus at Stanford Shopping Mall.
Leading design writer DIANE DORRANS SAEKS inaugurates the first DESIGN PALO ALTO event, with a highly informative visit to two award-wining architectural firms in Palo Alto.
FIELD ARCHITECTS: Meet Principal JESS FIELD, tour his studio, and discover the firm’s approach to materiality and design, especially the remarkable stone collections. Jess Field will give a presentation of Field Architecture’s award-winning residential projects, from dramatic sites on Big Sur, to Sonoma and the wine country. He will discuss the importance of collaboration in architecture and design. Speaking on landscape /garden design collaborations, David LeRoy, partner in Ground Works.
- Following the inspiring in-studio meeting with Principal Jess Field at Field Architecture, attendees will take a brief drive/carpool to the newly renovated studio of Fergus Garber Architecture.
FERGUS GARBER ARCHITECTS (FGA) + NorthWall Builders: Meet FERGUS GARBER Partners GINA DIXON and KRISTEN LOMAX, tour the studio, and discover it’s unique approach to designing timeless residences from complex sites to renovation projects on historic homes. The partners will present the firm’s work, and will discuss ways architects work closely with clients, best practices, how FGA is using new tech, how architectural styles are evolving, and the importance of collaborations, which will be highlighted by a conversation with the architects and NorthWall Builders, and their local community involvement.
About Field Architecture:
Jess Field is the principal of Field Architecture, a Palo Alto based firm known for creating buildings that are deeply connected to the land and the people who inhabit them. The firm’s design philosophy, rooted in stewardship, is shaped by Jess’s upbringing in South Africa and his father Stan’s mentorship under renowned architect Louis Kahn. Each project begins with a careful study of the unique conditions of the site ranging from topography and sunlight to plant communities and wildlife patterns. These elements form the foundation of the design process, resulting in work that blends sensitivity, optimism, and meticulous craftsmanship, while fostering the restoration of the site’s natural wildness. Projects are highly collaborative, and foster a meaningful dialogue between architecture and the surrounding environment, with a goal is to design homes that resonate with a deep sense of place and forge a powerful connection between architecture and the landscape.
About Fergus Garber:
Fergus Garber Architects is a Northern California custom residential design firm. The firm was started in Palo Alto by Catharine Fergus Garber in 1997. Her husband, architect Dan Garber, joined Catharine at the company in 2002. Gina Dixon and Kristen Lomax were elevated to Partner in 2022, sharing FGA’s vision for a creative and collaborative practice focused on high-quality design and client-centered architectural service. Since its inception, the firm has grown to 25 employees and has designed over a hundred homes, with a focus on the Peninsula. FGA’s roots in the San Francisco Bay Area run deep. For more than 35 years, they have remained dedicated to beautifying communities one house at a time. Their wide range of home designs are current yet timeless, approachable yet sophisticated.The projects exude craftsmanship and emanate comfort. FGA’s time-tested experience also makes them trusted architects with local building departments and expert navigators of city regulations and permitting. FGA values style and substance which they prove through their environmental stewardship, local historical research, and building science studies. Whether the firm is conceptualizing a sustainable, modern design that will endure the ages or restoring a turn of the century architectural icon, they are passionate about the local community and their projects, and the families who will call them home for generations to come.
This is a multi-location event, which involves driving between 2 studios. The specific Palo Alto ADDRESS WILL BE SENT TO ATTENDEE’S THE MORNING OF THE EVENT. For those of you attending Sabra Ballon event afterwards, give yourself time to drive, park and walk to the Opening Night Event Sabra Ballon and Arhaus at Stanford Shopping Mall.
