HLW Announces Opening of Office in San Francisco

HLW has announced the official opening of our latest office location in San Francisco, California. Cementing HLW’s presence in Northern California, the new studio brings together the firm’s growing Bay Area-based team under the leadership of Principal Sejal Sonani, AIA––who will now serve as Managing Director of HLW California––to better support its industry-leading clients across the state.

“It has been inspiring to witness the growth of the Los Angeles office and our incredibly talented team of architects and designers over the past few years; we look forward to extending this momentum and energy to the rapidly growing Bay Area team,” said Sejal. “The launch of a San Francisco office affirms our confidence in the resiliency of this vibrant city and our commitment to physical space for in-person collaboration, which will be vital as we continue to create impactful architecture for our clients in Northern California.”

Principal Louise Sharp and Associate Principal Brian Pera will be leading the firm’s expansion into the San Francisco market alongside Sejal, supported by a team on the ground that includes Joseph Holsen, Senior Associate, and MJ Hritz, Interior Designer. Together, the team will be tasked with further advancing a robust portfolio that has followed long-standing clients Silicon Beach to Silicon Valley. The team’s past projects in the Bay Area range from adaptive reuse and repositioning to master planning and ground-up builds, including work for social innovation lab HopeLab and broadcast space for the Pac-12, as well as studies for Stanford, University of California, Berkeley and Wrightspeed.

Located at 575 Market Street in the heart of downtown San Francisco, HLW’s new office is currently situated on the 5th floor of global coworking provider Mindspace––allowing a team working on active job sites, such as those at Google Charleston East and YouTube San Bruno, to work collaboratively in an environment of entrepreneurial creatives. Mindspace caters to the need for flexibility, offering a unique and personalized experience, as well as a wealth of amenities such as community events, in-house wellness and professional development programs, and guest check-in.

“San Francisco has always been an important market for us, and the decision to strengthen our practice across the Bay Area with this new office was a natural one for the firm,” said Susan Boyle, Managing Partner at HLW. “As we continue positioning ourselves and our work for the future, this move represents and important step forward for HLW––reaffirming our commitment to excellence in both architectural design and client service, and allowing us to better seek out new opportunities in the technology, life sciences, and research and development sectors.”

The strategic positioning of the new workspace will also provide a convenient local foothold for further growth as HLW continues to hire for a range of open positions in San Francisco to support the volume of active projects––including ongoing work with New York Life and the redevelopment of Bayfair Mall, a retail-to-office and bio-tech campus conversion. As the team’s technology, gaming and entertainment, life sciences, and research and development clients further expand into new markets, the firm has plans to look for more office space in the Bay Area and beyond.

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