Talking Shop: Making the Case for Craft

We spoke with Jeff Wheeler, Senior Technical Architect, Ivan Leon Ramirez, and Nate Ingebritson, Designers, about our studio's workshop - lovingly referred to as "the shop" - tracing its origins, its role in the firm’s design process today, and how it may continue to evolve in the future.

After the devastating fires that displaced thousands in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades in January of 2025, the team at Feldman Architecture felt moved to craft a design solution that directly responded to the place and the need.

We're exploring four emerging building materials that offer exciting potential for sustainable design: hemp-lime for carbon-negative insulation, cork for natural fire-resistant cladding, atmospheric water generation panels for off-grid water supply, and phase change insulation for thermal energy storage. Each material aligns with our commitment to resilient, regenerative low-impact architecture.

As a studio, we’re always looking for ways to design with durability, resiliency, and beauty at top of mind. We work to curate material palettes that conceptually support the design parti, react thoughtfully to the site, are sourced sustainably, and futureproof the structure while protecting its inhabitants.

Managing Partner Steven Stept, along with help from the FA Studio, recently completed remodeling his family's Oakland home - infusing the original structure's traditional detailing with Steven's modern aesthetics. Below, read more about the design process and the challenges Steven faced acting as the client, owner, and general contractor - all at once!  

The Feldman Architecture team is excited to be expanding our breadth of work geographically, continuing to take on new projects outside of the San Francisco Bay Area. As our designs are centered around sensitivity and responsiveness to both site and context, expanding to fresh locales asks our team to become familiar with new climates, topography, and landscapes. From adjusting roofs to accommodate for snow in Oregon, to paying extra attention to fire resiliency in arid Southern California, read about a few in progress projects below and the beautiful and diverse sites that inspired their designs.

Publishing a book is both a challenging and rewarding process, a monumental task that asked us to consolidate, edit, organize, and create.

A staircase often acts as the spine of a home, connecting public and private spaces delicately and effortlessly. Our team finds joy in detailing stairs, whether they are meant to be architectural focal points, or designed simply to perform their programmatic function. Often overlooked, we collected a few of our favorite stair moments to showcase how a well-designed staircase can transform a space, preserve a view, or blend seamlessly and subtly into the backdrop.