DETAILS MATTER.
Our newsletter for Bold Thinkers, Big Dreamers, and Demanding Perfectionists.
DETAILS MATTER.
Our newsletter for Bold Thinkers, Big Dreamers, and Demanding Perfectionists.
■ CONNECTIONS.
How we fuse ideas that link the building with the site, the landscape, and the community.
■ DETAILS.
How we transform unsolvable challenges with bold creativity and technical innovation.
■ STORIES.
Journeys, mysteries and insights behind the people and projects that we think matter.
■ PEOPLE.
Special nuances and details about us, our technical partners and the builders we create with.
FALL 2025 EDITION
CONNECTIONS | Connecting from Afar: Journey and Arrival
We ALWAYS visualize and design the journey! For a new modern home, we designed on a rural 5-acre site in the Sierra foothills, the journey TO THE HOME influenced the DESIGN OF THE HOME. Our design begins way before the front...
DETAILS | Making a “Stand-Four” Model of a Project.
We sketch concepts with paper and colored pencils, we make white digital renderings, and we build cardboard scaled models of project. Each method captures the spirt of a design that we use to test a design’s composition,...
STORIES | We Secretly Designed a “Cosmic Experience”
By aligning the home with the land, the sun, and the moon, we framed a rare harvest moon to rise like a quiet spotlight. One year later, we received this email. “After the house was completed and we moved in, we discovered...
PEOPLE | When Design Steps Back, the Story Steps Forward.
In this edition, we are spotlighting architect Will Hastie, a long-time member of our office staff. Will brings a long career of international architectural experience with interests in historic architecture and culture. His...
SUMMER 2025 EDITION
CONNECTIONS | Fusing Building, Site, and Community
Every custom home that we design generally has a remarkably high ratio of glass windows to solid walls. Most people think of windows in the context of “looking out.” We think of windows as “transparent walls” made of glass to fuse spaces together- to make both...
DETAILS | Capturing West and South Views While Meeting California Code
You’ve seen those big houses in Hollywood with large walls of glass. Our clients here in Northern California (including the Sierra’s where there’s snow) often ask us to design similar walls of glass often facing to the west or south where sunset views are preferred....
STORIES | Tragedy to Opportunity: A Journey of Healing and Hope
Tears may fall, but hope will follow. See how it all unfolded. Click Here to SEE THE DESIGN AND READ THE FULL STORY. What does it mean to lose everything—and still choose to stay?What does it look like to rebuild not just a house, but a life? The Janiga FamilyA...
PEOPLE | Lowai Ghaly Receives AIA SF Student Leadership Award
We’d like to shine a proud spotlight on a bright star in our office here at ORR Design. Lowai Ghaly is a key member of our design team and brings fresh energy, technology skills and an eye for the big picture. Lowai’s commitment to excellence and community outside our...