A team of licensed Architects and Builders working together in the San Francisco Bay Area.

ARCHITECT-LED DESIGN-BUILD

In the tradition of the Master Builder, we control the process to deliver warm modern architecture. Our team of architects and builders collaborate from a project's inception through move-in, allowing for thoughtful design and real-time cost estimating. This integration gives us the foresight to anticipate project constraints and the agility to adapt to new challenges. A single-source project delivery eliminates conflicts between an architect’s vision and a builder’s execution from studio to shop to site. This approach places a design at the center, where decisions are considered holistically and informed by iterative fabrication and research.

A collaborative team of craftsman and builders making Design Draw Build designs a reality in Northern California.

CRAFT AND STORYTELLING

We develop our projects around a client's story, woven into the physical and cultural context of their site through our process-driven approach. We believe this produces exceptional and enduring architecture imbued with handcrafted moments that enliven spaces and enrich the lives within. An intimate connection to craft and process animates each project, marrying time-tested craftsmanship with modern techniques.

Design Draw Build craftsman making tiles from patinated copper.

CULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Our holistic approach integrates passive environmental design principles with efficient resource management systems, ensuring that each project not only enhances the built environment but also nurtures the natural one. We balance project goals with a commitment to the environmental and social contexts in which our projects are situated. This produces designs that respond to the local landscape, climate, and community to become agents of well-being and sustainability.

The ethereal natural landscape of Northern California where Design Draw Build develops site-sensitive designs.

MEET THE TEAM

  • Tyler Kobick is a Bay-area CA Licensed Architect and General Contractor with a focus on housing, public-interest design, custom fabrication, and ecological design. He is the founder and President of a 21-person firm, Design Draw Build, where the firm specializes in adaptive reuse, custom residences, multifamily housing and architect-led design-build methods of project delivery. He believes strongly in warm-modern, critically regionalist architecture.

    Tyler began his career as a stone mason in Northeast Ohio where he apprenticed under a master mason and soon enough started his own construction company. After hiking a large section of the Appalachian Trail, he fell in love with the Mad River Valley of central Vermont where he trained and built for 12 years with many different architects and artisans on custom residential and commercial projects predominantly under the architect Dave Sellers, whose methods catalyzed the contemporary design/build field. In 2010 Tyler founded Design Draw Build and traveled to build unusual commissions in different areas of the US until setting up a more permanent location with his business partner Jo Marcy in the Bay area in late 2014.

    An educator and community-builder, Tyler seeks to revitalize and preserve town and urban centers by embracing the material culture of a place with sustainable locally-applied building technologies.. From 2005-2008, Tyler built rural medical clinics in the mountainous region of south-east El Salvador, and founded a model school for land-place based education, called Amun Shea that still teaches a couple hundred students a year. In 2009 he helped found the Ecological Design Co-laboratory Studio–a sustainable design-lab and think tank at the University of Vermont where he taught design-build classes and donated student-built structures to local school programs to promote local food and outdoor skills. Today, Tyler teaches architecture at the University of San Francisco in a variety of studio and skill classes. He is also a co-chair of the Regional and Urban Design Committee for the AIA EastBay, and currently sits on the Board of Directors for the AIAEastbay.

    Passionate about live cultural production, playing and seeing live music, he has served as a lead designer for temporary festival structures at The Square Roots Festival, Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, and for Superfly Productions.

    Tyler holds two degrees in architecture, a B.S Arch from the University of Cincinnati, and a MArch from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada.

  • Annabelle has been a business professional in the Bay Area for over 19 years. During that time Annabelle has held positions in operations and project management in Foreign Affairs and Geotechnical industries. Annabelle grew up in sunny San Diego, she moved to San Francisco to pursue her education in Business. At DDB, Annabelle oversees all operations of the business from day to day, client relations, business development, project management, while working closely together with the Principal, Architecture, Construction and Building teams. She is fascinated by all the moving pieces of project from design conception to closing the building permit at project completion. She enjoys international travel and can be found taking her dogs on hikes at Sibley Volcanic Reserve on the weekends.

  • Justin has spent over 20 years shaping our communities while working in urban-regional redevelopment, landscape architecture, high-end residential, and commercial development projects. He combines his background in design, construction, and real estate into a holistic approach towards enhancing our built and natural environment while creating bespoke spaces and long-lasting relationships with clients. At DDB, Justin is focused on overseeing active construction projects, exploring new business opportunities, and working closely with the architecture team to ensure design integrates with build. Justin carefully allocates his free time to exploring the coasts and mountains with his wife and dog.

  • Jackie Erbe has over a decade of experience in development and construction in a wide range of industries spanning from commercial projects and healthcare to residential single family and multifamily development. She uses her skills at Design Draw Build to build more livable homes and communities. When she's not in the office or out on a job site, you can find her on local trails hiking or backpacking, or on one of her bikes winding her way through the more urban areas of the East Bay with her husband and two kids.

  • Charlie’s passion for design and attention to craft led naturally to design-build practice following a decade working in residential architecture firms in the Bay Area. Working on a variety of project types at various stages of the design process keeps things at DDB interesting. Charlie came to DDB from The Bartlett, where they were researching methods for reducing the carbon footprint of the built environment, working with bio-based and bio-receptive materials. Charlie sings in Oakland’s Free Key Choir and loves to hike in the hills with Zero the dog.

  • Dara really likes concrete and stairs. She has always been interested in the intersection of architecture and construction, graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with degrees in both. She relishes any opportunity to merge design thinking with building practicalities. In her off time, she looks for an excuse to get out on her motorcycle and has lately been brushing up on portrait drawing.

  • Jason is a Bay Area native, born and raised in Oakland. He has experience with a wide range of project types and scales including, single and multifamily residential, commercial interiors and resort/hospitality. Prior to DDB, he focused on high altitude snow country design, managing multiple projects at ski resorts across the Country and overseas. In addition to being a licensed Architect, he holds a General Contractor License and has hands-on experience building custom homes. He received a B-Arch degree from Calpoly San Luis Obispo with a minor in fine art. Outside of work you can find Jason spending time with his family, tinkering on his house or fly fishing.

Juvenal Rebolledo-Valdez, Superintendent

  • Yanit Mehta is a seasoned Marketing Communication professional with experience in journalism, branding, photography, and filmmaking for diverse publications, renewable tech industries, educational institutions, and now a thoughtful community-driven design-build firm. Yanit uses his skills to develop cogent documentarian stories about housing and energy policy. You can find him training for marathons, photographing local musicians, interviewing folks around the Bay Area, or tutoring the under-resourced students at 826 Valencia.

  •  Sam is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a master’s degree in architecture. In architecture she is passionate about adaptive reuse, sustainability, and materiality. She has experience with EnergyPlus and Radiance simulation for energy and daylight modeling. Prior to architecture Sam worked in graphic design and studied art. Outside of the office you can find Sam running or sewing.

  • Lauren grew up in an Army family where she lived all over the U.S. and in Venezuela and Panama. She studied Environmental Engineering, and began her career working in Environmental Compliance primarily in the energy industry. After a career change, Lauren began working as a project manager for a general contractor before joining DDB. In her free time you can find Lauren on a soccer field, cheering on the BayFC soccer team, or hiking around the Bay Area.

  • Sayem Shah is an emerging design professional who holds a master's degree in architecture from the City College of New York. He joined Design Draw Build and relocated to the San Francisco Bay area from New York City to explore and learn more about the Design Build environment. Sayem has contributed to several multi-family and single-family residential projects at DDB. Sayem advocates for diversity and inclusion in the architecture and design industries. He is an active member of AIA East Bay and several local ethnic organizations. Sayem spends his free time following his favorite sport, cricket. He is also a big fan of Marvel comics.

David Goreau, General Supervisor

  • Conrad graduated with a Masters of Architecture from California College of the Arts where he developed his passion for architecture as a blend between hands-on craft and computation. As an interdisciplinary designer, builder, and artist working at the intersection of architecture, technology, and sustainability, he strives to remain curious and creative. Outside of architecture, Conrad is also a life-long musician and loves to play and go to shows.

  • Bianca has always had a passion for design and building. She is a recent graduate of the Harvard University MArch program and holds a BS in Architectural Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she developed interests in interdisciplinary design that blends feasibility, sustainability, and aesthetics. Outside of work, Bianca enjoys traveling the world with friends and spending quality time with her dog Churro and cat Guoguo at home. 

Rod Coeller, Foreman

Josue Calixtro-Guerrero, Build Team Member

Juan Andrade, Carpenter / Journeyman