![Two architects from Obata Noblin Office [ONO] looking at a wall of project images.](https://ono.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DSCF3403_temp.jpg "ONO project image Wall")
What we do
Our buildings embrace simple forms but are realized through rigorous inquiry, conceptualization, iteration, and thoughtful detailing.
With an appreciation for place and cultural identity, we share a determined optimism for the potential of the built environment.
With an appreciation for place and cultural identity, we share a determined optimism for the potential of the built environment.
How we work
Each project begins with collaborative conversations and the discovery of a shared North Star. A precise investigative methodology and thorough research into site, material conditions, client ambitions, and design opportunities allows us to make bold yet considered moves that convey not only our clients’ visions but a clear architectural expression.
Discovery
We begin with an intensive investigation into a site, and into our clients’ lives. What is its landscape? The existing flora and fauna? Where does the sun shine, and where do the roots travel? We ask the same of our clients: where have they come from, and where are they going? What exists, and what should?
Prototype
We work in sketches, renderings, collages, and handcrafted scale models, thinking through various media to explore and articulate a broad spectrum of design possibilities within a given program, site, and budget. Each design iteration relates to the former and the next, helping to push the design forward and articulate to our clients where we have been and where we can go.
Scope
We define all aspects of a project, including all the nuts and bolts: budget, permitting, design, and construction. Our experience working in diverse environments—from mountaintops to waterfronts, from old-growth forests to historic urban centers—gives us the tools to accurately assess and define the scope and feasibility of projects, whether they be new construction in the woods or adaptive reuse in the urban core.
Design
We arrive at a finished design, working closely with our clients on everything from program to plan, materials to massing. We provide highly-accurate three-dimensional imagery, as well as fully-realized physical models, along with a set of construction documents ready for bidding.
Execution
Together with our wide-ranging network of contractors, we work diligently to coordinate and manage construction to ensure that our design meets not only our clients’ highest expectations, but also our own. Our deep understanding of building culture and techniques, as well as our long history of close collaboration with consultants of all kinds, enables us to successfully bring to completion any number and type of project.
Celebration
While our projects may be completed, the relationships endure. We take immeasurable pride in our longstanding friendships with our clients, and we stay with each project long after completion to ensure not only client satisfaction but our own.
