G7A's launch was a baptism by fire as well as a blessing rooted in the primarily non-profit clientele it has served for over 30 years beginning with the Catholic Church (we have worked with just about every Diocese from Sacramento to Fresno) and has grown to include  non-profit  developers  for affordable housing serving low-income, workforce, special needs, Veterans, seniors and the formerly homeless. Complimentary to these are our non-profit service providers providing counseling and shelter.  Our mission is in perfect alignment with the community-based organizations we work with and for, and in turn with the interests of those they serve in our communities around the Bay Area.

 

G7A is a multi-faceted design firm and has a diversified portfolio exciting projects, but it is the back-stories that make our projects successful, memorable and timeless.  It is no coincidence that our initial work on sacred spaces has led further to design commissions for childcare to cemeteries and everything in between.  One might even say that our practice can provide for our clients from cradle to…well, you get it.  Given that emphasis on lifespan, a holistic approach to sustainable design is baked in to every project and problem-solving design.  These foundational projects, including our big picture view with urban design have informed our design ethos to be people-centric and aspirational.  G7A's founding Principal Irving Gonzales's mentor Shanagher Associates would always look at the context of a project's opportunities and say "let there be light, for light illumines shapes." This continues to be one of the firm's  design strategies along with emphasizing the personalization of the stakeholders needs and wants that will ultimately define the experiential spaces, inside and out.

 

Clients + Partnerships_ Past and Present…and Upcoming

Oakland Community Housing, Inc. (OCHI), Asian Neighborhood Design (AND), Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, Dioceses of Sacramento, San Jose and Fresno; Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp (TNDC), Citizens Housing Partnership (CHP), Chinatown Community Development Corp (CCDC), BRIDGE Housing, Mercy Housing California, RELATED Companies of California, Community Development Partners (CDP), Domus Development, Integral Development Corp, Bay Area LISC, Housing Consortium of the East Bay (HCEB), Andy McKenna, Tom Mitchell, Barbara and Maurice Richárd, Holy Family Day Home (SFDH San Francisco), Denis & Julie Shanagher, Immaculate Conception Academy (ICA, Dominican Sisters), San Francisco Boys and Girls Club, San Francisco Little League, YMCA San Francisco, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Mission San José Dominican Sisters, Mission Dolores Parish, Pyatok Associates Architects, David Baker Architects, Barcelon + Jang Architects, CB2 Architects, SmithGroup, Fougeron Architecture, San Francisco Housing Authority, TY Lin International, Judi and Steven Eichler, Marie and Rodney Gilmore, Shorenstein Properties, Port of San Francisco, Diane Dwyer, Nora and Scott Ritchey, San Francisco Unified School District, The Unity Council, DNA Lounge, Debra Drickersen-Cortez, Community Economic Development Agency (Oakland), Multicultural Institute of Berkeley, Centre Court Homeowners Association, St. Francis Woods Home Association, VBN Architects, Valenti Marini Perata & Co, City of San Leandro, San Francisco Drydock, Maria and George Hartman, Carolyn Gonot, Barbara Lane, Barbara and Bob Day, Shamrock Holdings, Edgewood Center for Families and Children, San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center (Safe and Sound), Kate and Giovanni Rome, Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union Local 2850, Trader Vic's, Janira and Ron Sanders, St. Anthony's Foundation, East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC), MidPen Housing Corp, Mission Housing Development Corp (MHDC), City of Richmond Planning, Greystone Hotels…

 

At G7A, we believe that we are as strong as our parts.  While the firm's genesis may have been with a sole proprietor, its success is due in large part to its core staff over the years and their personal design contributions and collaborations.  With a talented, and multifaceted core team of creative individuals, we have the talent and diversity of strengths and interests to handle even the toughest design challenges.  Each member of our staff is unique, and lends something special to the firm and the way we practice.  We share a common goal to provide responsive solutions to meet our clients’ needs with an emphasis on a place for people that is human-centric, and with a common ethos that good design can empower those most in need to affect positive, sustainable change. And above all, we love what we do and are just plain fun to work with!

 

Staff_ Past and Present

Mehmet Alademir, Sonia Bernardes, Brittney Andrews, Elizabeth Bochner, Jessica Dutton Brist, Jesse Bruya, Karen Chan, Evelyn Chen, Shelley Davis, Seema Doshi, Patricia Farnam, Israel Fuentes, Sophia Gonzales, Kali Gordon, Veronica (Glivinskaya) Kaplinskiy, Steven Lee, Vanessa Lew, Nancy Lindo, Sutton Murray, Maarten Schaap, Frederic Simmons, Kayla Smith, Justin Tang, Tara Teter-Dankberg, Jennifer Wichtowski, David Winslow

Recognition

2018 AIA/HUD Secretary's Housing and Community Design Award for Excellence in Affordable Housing Design (collaboration with David Baker Architects)

Five88 | Mission Bay San Francisco | RELATED

 

2018 AIASF Architecture Merit Award + Social Responsibility Commendation

Five88 | Mission Bay San Francisco | RELATED

 

2012 Gold Nugget Award—On the Boards

Site Development

Miraflores Housing Development | Richmond

 

2012 Gold Nugget Award—Renovated or Restored Residential Project & GreenPoint Rated Project

Magnolia Terrace-MultiFamily Housing

Emeryville | HCEB

 

2011 Green Builder Magazine’s Home of the Year

Best Urban Renewal

Magnolia Terrace-MultiFamily Housing

Emeryville | HCEB

 

AIA Housing Committee Award

Multi-family Housing

SOMA Studios + 8th & Howard | San Francisco

with David Baker Architects

 

Builders’ Choice Merit Award

SOMA Studios + 8th & Howard | San Francisco

Gold Nugget Merit Award, Best Affordable

Project SOMA Studios + 8th & Howard

San Francisco

 

Best Affordable Residential San Francisco

SOMA Studios + 8th & Howard | San Francisco

 

Gold Nugget Award, Best Affordable Homes; Attached Community Jingletown Homes | Oakland

with Pyatok Architects, Inc.

 

HUD Building Innovation in Homeownership

Jingletown Homes | Oakland

with Pyatok Architects, Inc.

 

Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Restoration of South Hall

University of California at Berkeley

 

Publications

2011 Green Builder Magazine’s Home of the Year Award  |  Best Urban Renewal - 12.2011 Issue

Magnolia Terrace-MultiFamily Housing  |  Emeryville, CA  |  Housing Consortium of the East Bay

 

2010  AIASF Small Firms Great Projects  |  Southcrest Apartments  |  Sacramento, CA

 

2009 AIASF Small Firms Great Projects  | Richárd Residence, 1693 Mar West  |  Tiburon, CA

 

The Argonaut: Journal of the San Francisco Historical Society  |  Mission Dolores  |  San Francisco, CA