Experience That Informs the Work We Do Today
OAO is a new practice, but our work is informed by decades of collective experience delivering architecture that has been built, occupied, and tested over time. Prior to forming OAO, our team contributed to projects across housing, mixed-use, civic, cultural, and urban contexts while working within established firms and collaborative teams.
This experience forms the foundation of our practice. It is not presented as a portfolio of claims, but as a shared understanding of what it takes to move complex ideas through real constraints and into lasting, functional places.
Residential Renovations and Single Family Homes
Alongside larger projects, our experience includes smaller-scale residential work such as renovations, additions, and single family homes. These projects required a high level of precision, sensitivity, and collaboration, often within tight constraints and existing conditions.
The same rigor applied to large projects was essential here, with a focus on spatial clarity, comfort, and performance. This work reinforces a core principle of our practice: scale does not change the responsibility of design, and thoughtful architecture at any size can meaningfully improve daily life.
Commercial and Office Positioning
Our background also includes the strategic positioning and concept development of commercial and office buildings in dense urban environments. This work focused on aligning building identity, program, and performance with market demand and neighborhood context.
Through early massing studies, facade strategies, and ground floor planning, these projects shaped flexible work environments that respond to how people work today. They reinforced the role commercial buildings play in activating streets, supporting mixed-use districts, and contributing to the vitality of urban neighborhoods.
Reimagining Interior Environments
This experience extends into complex interior projects within active buildings, including conference centers, office environments, fitness facilities, and inclusive shared amenities. These projects demanded precision and coordination to deliver meaningful improvements with minimal disruption to ongoing operations.
By focusing on clear documentation, coordination, and construction oversight, these interiors improved functionality, comfort, and long-term building performance. They reinforced an important lesson that interiors are not secondary spaces, but critical infrastructure for how people work, gather, and move through buildings every day.
Cultural Projects and Integrated Landscape
Our experience with cultural projects includes museum additions and renovations where architecture must balance preservation, expansion, and public engagement. These projects required careful spatial and site planning to integrate new programs within existing structures while maintaining clear circulation, accessibility, and operational clarity.
Landscape has been integral to this work and to our broader experience. Whether shaping museum grounds, civic spaces, or urban streetscapes, landscape was developed alongside architecture to strengthen cultural identity, improve access, and create meaningful public experiences. This integrated approach continues to inform OAO’s work, where buildings and landscapes are conceived together as a cohesive whole.
Master Planning and Urban Design
Our master planning and urban design experience responds to the realities of changing cities. We have worked on complex sites and districts where architecture, infrastructure, mobility, and public life intersect. These efforts focused on creating clear, flexible frameworks that can adapt to shifting market conditions and community needs over time.
By integrating mixed use programs, amenities, public space, and phased development strategies from the outset, these plans supported active and resilient neighborhoods. This experience informs how OAO approaches planning today, with an emphasis on clarity, connectivity, and long-term livability.
Mixed Use and Multifamily Housing in Urban Contexts
Our team has contributed to the design and realization of mixed use and multifamily housing projects in dense urban environments. This work required close coordination between architecture, zoning, structure, and construction logistics to deliver complex programs efficiently and at scale.
Across these projects, we focused on efficient unit layouts, clear building systems, and thoughtful integration of amenities and ground floor uses. From early design through construction administration, aligning building form, livability, and long-term performance was essential. These experiences inform OAO’s approach to housing today, where density, comfort, and economic viability must work together to support stronger neighborhoods.
Carrying Experience Forward
All of this experience was developed within collaborative teams and prior practices. At OAO, it informs how we approach new work with focus, clarity, and accountability. We carry forward the lessons of what has been built, occupied, and tested, and apply them to a more focused practice that values rigor, openness, and real-world performance.
OAO is shaped by this foundation, not defined by it. Our goal is to use what we have learned to guide clients through complex decisions and deliver architecture that works for people, place, and time.