About Us: People: Patrick O’Brien, principal

	Patrick O’Brien

In 1968, still pursuing his degree, Mr. O’Brien journeyed to Rome, where the university maintained a villa as part of its study-abroad program. It was a time of student unrest in Europe. A train trip to Paris led him directly to the center of the biggest riots since the French Revolution, and Mr. O’Brien came away from the experience broadened socially as well as academically. He made a decision to continue to travel and work abroad as soon as his degree was completed.

After graduation in 1969, Mr. O’Brien joined the Peace Corps. For one and a half years he was stationed in Sari, Iran, where he was assigned to the Office of Public Works. The Sari Zoological Garden, featuring a grand spiral viewing ramp, is among the projects Mr. O’Brien helped conceive and build during his time in Iran.

In 1970 Mr. O’Brien settled in London. Joining the architecture firm of Alun Jones and Partners, he was assigned to work on schools, office buildings and several residential remodels in the prestigious Mayfair district. Later Mr. O’Brien worked for London Transport. Well-known for its subways, London Transport also operates fleets of buses, and during a two-and-a half year period Mr. O’Brien designed several garages, operations buildings and housing projects for the bus service, including a large facility at Westbourne Grove that is still in operation today.

In 1974, Mr. O’Brien joined the London firm of Pring-White, specialists in High Georgian architecture and restoration. Working in the famed Islington district of London, Mr. O’Brien designed restoration projects for many of the grand residences of the Georgian Period (1750–1825). He also designed new houses, commercial buildings and a Royal Mail Post Office.

Seven years of work and travel in Europe and Iran gave Mr. O’Brien a respect and understanding of historic architecture, as well as valuable experience in public works and urban planning. Roaming the continent on a 1955 Triumph motorbike and later in a 1956 Jaguar XK-140 sportscar, he saw first-hand the techniques and fundamentals of design that continue to inform today’s architecture.

Returning to the United States in 1976, Mr. O’Brien explored the possibility of careers in Boston, New York, New Orleans, and Vancouver before deciding on the San Francisco Bay Area. Staying with a friend in Berkeley, he was immediately taken with the rich mix of the natural and the built environment that is unique to the region. He found design work with a major commercial landowner, Encinal Properties, where he helped plan a two million square-foot office and housing complex. The waterfront project included a 1000 boat marina and nearly 700 housing units.

While working on a large Victorian residential commission in 1978, Mr. O’Brien met his late wife and artisan Gail Redman, a wood-turner making balusters for the house. This led to professional collaborations, and eventually romance and marriage. Calling her husband "the house-sitter who never left" (after the time she put her house in his care while she took a short trip), Ms. Redman provided key connections to the local community of builders and artisans. In 1988 she introduced him to Steve Rynerson, another designer/artisan, which led to the formation of the ROBA partnership in 1989.

Mr. O’Brien passed the State of California architecture boards in 1986. His deft artistry can be seen in many elegant Bay Area homes. With vast experience in period design, he is equally adept in Arts and Crafts, Georgian and Victorian design. Commenting on ROBA’s philosophy of additions and restorations, Mr. O’Brien says, “a house that gets our attention will feel and look comfortable to itself — you will have a hard time telling what’s old from what’s new, guaranteed.”

Patrick O’Brien and his children, Briana and Evan, live in the Rockridge district of Oakland, California.

Patrick O’Brien: California registered Architect No. C14848. NCARB registered Architect No. 46748

See also Stephen Rynerson