ROBA IS A CALIFORNIA-BASED ARCHITECTURAL partnership. Formed in 1989 by architect Patrick O’Brien and designer Stephen Rynerson, the firm specializes in high-end residential and retail architecture. The mission of ROBA is, in Rynerson’s words, “to bring the elements of classical design into modern usage and form.”

Both principals are talented designers who bring complementary skills to the partnership. Architect O’Brien began his career in municipal building design and residential restoration, particularly in the Georgian style, and later developed a mastery of the forms of the Craftsman movement. Rynerson immersed himself in the Victorian restoration boom centered in San Francisco in the 1970’s. Both received formal training and degrees in Architecture — O’Brien at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, and Rynerson at the University of California at Berkeley.

Headquartered in Oakland (map), California, ROBA has been awarded major commissions in residential and commercial design. In the aftermath of the 1991 Oakland Hills fire, the firm designed a number of luxury homes in the burn area. Two of these, Buena Vista and Golden Gate, are featured in The Bungalow: America’s Arts & Crafts Home, by Paul Duchscherer and Douglas Keister. Of particular note is Patrick O’Brien’s exquisite restoration design in Oakland, California (view project), a masterwork in the Craftsman style.

Another ROBA standout is Stephen Rynerson’s design of a home in the English Arts and Crafts style in Oakland, California (view project). A long relationship with a commercial client, Crazy Shirts Incorporated, (view projects) has yielded dozens of innovative designs for specialty retail stores throughout California and Hawaii, including the stunning Bugatti Gallery (view project) in Honolulu.

Recent additional work includes the Berkeley headquarters (view project) for a leading technology publishing firm, which needed to combine office, conference and storage space into an industrial-grade concrete warehouse. Fronting busy Gilman Street in West Berkeley, the final design is a spacious, open, modern office, mixing private work zones with conference rooms and accessible storage areas.

Current projects (view work in progress) include additions, renovations and new construction throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

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