Our passion is creating housing in any form we can. That's why ADU projects have been such a strong focus of our practice. We see how this program will forever transform the city we love, converting underused spaces into much needed housing.
In California, we face a major housing crisis with a need for 2.5 Million units. If our small team of only 5 people can create over 300 units in just 4 years, imagine how many more we could add if every firm was working toward this goal.
Think about this – if every single-family home in San Francisco, added just 1 unit to their building, we would have over 125,000 new apartments. And on multi-family projects, the opportunities are even greater. Our team is always happy to spread the word and share our expertise about this important program.
OUR MISSION
ADVOCACY
As design professionals, we can't do our best work if the system is broken and the rules and interpretations are constantly changing. It shouldn't take 5 years to get an addition to a single-family home approved. It shouldn't take 10 years to built a new apartment building in SF. That's why advocacy is such an important part of our practice. Serina frequently attends Planning Commission and Land Use/Transportation hearings to voice support or disdain for upcoming legislation. She isn't afraid to email the Supervisor's or Mayor's office directly with her thoughts. And that outreach has paid off.
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When we started doing Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU's) it took 2 years for city approvals to simply convert existing spaces into apartments. We encountered wildly inconsistent reviews from the Fire Department, creating confusion and further delays. So we fought. And we emailed. And we rattled every cage we could until we prevailed.
Thankfully, Mayor Breed was just as frustrated as we are. Her team heard us, and they did something about it. Now those projects are approved in 6 months and there is consistency to the reviews. The city even implemented a "round-table" review process for these projects that are now being piloted on other projects as well. It’s one of our proudest accomplishments because it isn’t just about OUR projects, it’s about all the ADU projects in the City and it’s creating a model for all other project types in the city as well.
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Read more about our advocacy here:
Our Principal, Serina, is also a member of the AIA Public Policy and Advisory Committee in San Francisco where she and many other architects meet monthly to stay on top of changes to the permitting processes, procedures, or new regulations that impact their projects.
At Syncopated Architecture, we believe in spreading our knowledge to the community. We frequently host free workshops about ADU's, Legalizations, and the ABE (Accessible Business Entry) program. We've even hosted events about how to research the history of your property.
Please subscribe to our mailing list to stay informed about our upcoming events.
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Please contact us if you’d like us to host a workshop for your company. We’re happy to educate attorneys, real estate professionals, and even other architects.
EDUCATION
LEGISLATION
Our industry faces real threats and opportunities from newly proposed legislation that most of us only hear about after the fact, when it’s too late to change.
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Our advocacy has sparked the creation of a second company, Property ATLAS, dedicated to cutting bureaucratic red tape and creating tools for architects, engineers, and contractors to simplify the process of building making. We hope you’ll join us!
