FIRM PROFILE
Sander Architects is the international award-winning firm whose approach to contemporary residential design has been making waves in the architecture world. Their Hybrid House uses components of prefab technology to create homes that are custom designed for each client. Homes that are not only green but also very high design. This is a time of extraordinary change for practitioners in the design fields and Sander Architects is a well-established firm at the forefront of green architecture.
Recognition: Sander Architects has been awarded the SDCF Design Awards for Education in 2017, the International Design Award in 2015, The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design Award in 2015 and 2014. The firm has also been awarded the Dedalo Minosse International Award for Architecture in 2015, 2010, 2004 and 2002, along with Pritzker Prize winners Richard Meier and Hans Hollein. Numerous other national awards include AIA awards in 1996 and 2003, Architecture Magazine's Home of the Year, and Architectural Record's House of the Month. Publications include magazines such as Dwell, GA: Global Architecture, New York Times and the Los Angeles Times as well as the Los Angeles Times Magazine. Their work has been widely published in books such as Another 100 of the World's Best Houses, noted architecture critic Michael Webb's Brave New Houses, Adventures in Southern California Living, and various titles by author James Grayson Truelove. Recently the firm was a semi-finalist in the 2006 Living Steel Competition — which highlights the firm in their "Featured Architects" section (visit the site) — as well as semi-finalists in the 2006 Global Green Sustainable Housing Competition, sponsored by Brad Pitt, to design low-income housing for post-Katrina New Orleans.
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Philosophy: Sander Architects seeks to find a balance between poetry and pragmatics. Starting with essential elements: environment, program, site restrictions, we encourage forms to develop which satisfy these basic needs while embracing the possibility of the poetic. In this way, a concert hall in the mountain reflects the geology around it. The entry for a sculptor's house is a 'vessel' whose proportions are based on a large-scale clay jar produced by the owner. These strategies are covert, not obvious, and allow the built environment to resonate thematically with the program and the people who use it. It is a strategy of innuendo, not declaration, a struggle with nuance, an attempt at quiet fertility. If the work celebrates what it means to inhabit, in grander terms, the work is a celebration of man's rhythms and rituals.
PRINCIPALS
Whitney Sander: As the founder of Sander Architects, LLC, Whitney brings a unique combination of artistic vision, budget awareness, and creative problem solving to every project. Following his graduation from the Yale University School of Architecture, Whitney served in the Peace Corps in West Africa. While Yale fostered his aesthetic and intellectual development, the Peace Corps solidified his dedication to civic, humanitarian, and social causes, and to buildings grounded in economy and efficiency. Whitney has taught Architecture and Art classes at Yale, UC Berkeley, California College of the Arts (San Francisco), and Woodbury University. As an architect, Whitney is the recipient of numerous awards and honors and is considered a leader in green architecture.
Catherine Holliss: Catherine is Director of Interior Design for Sander Architects, who infuses every project with a spirit of creativity and a honed eye. She received an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA and is an award-winning writer and web designer. After extensive coursework in the UCLA Extension Interior Design Certificate Program, she joined Sander Architects, LLC, in 2003. Since that time, she has had a hand in the interior design of nearly every project in the office, including the William M. Lowman Concert Hall, Idyllwild Community Center Amphitheater, and numerous commercial and residential projects. She also wears many additional hats, providing writing for the website and blog posts, as well as landscaping concepts for a variety of projects. Catherine is recognized as a leader in green materials and design and has been invited to sit on several green design panels. She regularly guest lectures at UCLA and other universities.
STUDIO
We maintain a highly dynamic design team that always gets the job done with efficiency and quality. We try to accomplish these 5 goals in each of our projects:
Excellence in design
Each of our projects has been worthy of publishing or awards.
Economy
We have developed a number of schemes to keep budgets manageable, substantially below the cost of other architects' custom projects.
Art
All our work rises to the level of art. It's why we are here, to make the aesthetic culture better with each project.
Joy
We choose to work with people we like, and have had many wonderful experiences.
Education
We always look to learn about materials, people, ecology and more.
