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In a design studio that prides itself on responsive communication with clients, principal architect Stacy Eisenmann likes to point out that the essence of that skill has been brought together in her office from points all over the world.

That direction, she says, was guided early on in her professional education at Virginia Tech's College of Architecture program based on the principles of the Bauhaus school in Germany.

In addition, having been raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and choosing to locate in the Bay Area, those factors are the direct cause and effect respectively of Eisenmann's appreciation for cultural diversity.

"We have a very multicultural team," Eisenmann says, praising members of her eight-person staff from countries including France, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, and Poland. Studio Director Aska Wieloch-Kim, for instance, came to California from Poland via Cornell University, also renowned for teaching modernism.

Six of the team members are experienced designers and frequently guide projects through the design process, with Eisenmann contributing to the design direction and maintaining creative control of all the studio's projects.

The architect says her firm, which she opened in Berkeley in 2007, has enjoyed designing remodels of numerous Eichlers, some of which have won awards. In fact, a few years ago, one of the firm's Eichler kitchen designs was an award-winner in a kitchen remodel competition held by the Eichler Network.

"Even if we're working on a Victorian," she says, "we're applying modern design to the space planning." Driven by modern design sensibility, Eisenmann Architecture imparts that element through its travel log full of perspectives.

"I like that it feels peaceful when you're in it," says the veteran architect of modern design. Praising the modernist "sense of space" and tendency toward open floor plans, Eisenmann adds, "It's a way for a family to still be connected but not necessarily right next to each other."

"We enjoy detailing in steel," she says of a favorite modern-style material, noting a preference for accents and railings made from cold-rolled or occasionally powder-coated steel. Of course, designs produced by the studio primarily flow from the needs of the client, to which the designers listen very closely.

"We've had a number of clients come to us after having fired their first architect because they didn't feel listened to," says Eisenmann.

"People come to us for the service. I think we develop relationships with clients where we really listen to them," she promised, adding, "We can be sensitive to what they're asking for with the diversity of our team."

Eisenmann Architecture
Architectural Design & Consultation
Serving the East Bay
www.eisenmannarchitecture.com
510-558-8442
[email protected]