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The 450 studio engages actively in the community with clients, fellow
citizens, businesses, government staff, and elected officials. We are not
only sustainable design architects but also advocates for the environment
and small business issues. We advocate for change at many levels, whether
that means finding grant money to fund solar panels in a school design or
working with government staff to advance sustainable building practices.
We work to promote code changes that make buildings better and, in doing
so, we've become a valuable resource to local building and elected
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- 450 Architects and Sherwood Design Engineers collaborated on an innovative project to build California's first permitted rainwater harvesting system for residential interior use. Click here to read the PDF.
- At City Hall and elsewhere, our practice has long advocated that
San Francisco must act faster and more boldly to make good on the
Sustainability Plan enacted in 1997 by the Board of Supervisors. The
Argonne Child Development Center was designed according to the draft of
this plan.
- To encourage more sustainable construction and development
in San Francisco, 450 architects contributes its expertise on
several green building codes subcommittees set up by the local
Planning and Building departments. We are members of a joint
AIA / SPUR task force that has proposed establishing working
groups to update local building codes in consideration of such
issues as renewable energy, resource management, and water
conservation.
- We wrote for the op/ed pages of the San Francisco Business Times
about more solar installations ("cheaper, faster, cleaner")
and an expedited permit process.
- We proposed changes in San Francisco's residential design guidelines to promote sustainable building practices and respect
for the existing neighborhood context.
- Through the Small Business Network, we participated in chartering
San Francisco's Small Business Commission. Ours is the only city
in the country that has small business interests represented in
its City Charter.
- We participate in the Architecture & Youth Collaborative,
which empowers teens to be "advocates for their own ideas
and priorities in their social and physical environments."
- Principal Richard Parker, AIA, architect and artist, is among
more than 130 recognized and emerging artists who are transforming
heart sculptures into unique works of art for Hearts in San Francisco. These only-in-San Francisco hearts will be
auctioned to benefit the San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center.
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As an activist practice, members of the firm participate in a
broad range of civic and community endeavors, including:
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