About

Mark English and his associates at Mark English Architects create beautiful modern architecture, exploring the power of simple forms and spaces specific to place and client desire.

Each project is a new exploration, with innovation and creativity balanced by common sense and experience.   Since its founding in 1992, Mark English Architects has designed numerous residential and small commercial spaces throughout California, Texas and in Mexico. The Firm has a special interest in building in the urban context, with half of its work occurring in San Francisco.

Mark English Architects is an architectural firm known for creating unique, thoughtful spaces while providing consistent and committed professional service. A separate energy division provides design-sensitive Title 24 documentation services for architects and builders.

We integrate new technologies of virtual building modeling into architectural design practice and construction.   The quality of the work has gained both international and local media praise.

Why We Started The Architects’ Take

Mark English and Rebecca Firestone, co-founders of The Architect's Take

The impetus for starting the ‘Take blog came from my recent desire to engage with peers, something I’ve avoided since grad school.  I’ve come to realize that many of us are rather isolated and concerned with “competition”.  I was recently the Building architect for the Met Home showcase house here in SF, where I met EB Min and a slew of designers that the Met Home editors had picked to finish the various rooms. I was amazed at the very different and open way that these designers were able to communicate. I’ve often thought that the jury system in school creates a defensiveness in architects that is hard to shake- these people were unencumbered.

In the course of the build-out, I got to know Min/Day and was intrigued by their design process, how different it is than my own. Rebecca Firestone and I used initial questions to create an interview and article about some aspects of their design process, what makes them tick. My conversations with EB and subsequently with other colleagues have made it clear to me that we are not really in competition for work.  I’ve never actually gone up against any of them, since we all seem to have our own niches and referral streams.

Our long-term goal is to create a loose group of people of roughly the same age who help raise the bar for everyone through discussion and communication. We are omnivorous and not interested in any one direction. The Architect’s Take is part of that process and might expand in format to feature editorial commentary, as well as guest commentary on specific subjects.

- Mark English, AIA & Rebecca Firestone

Editorial Focus of The Architects’ Take

The Architects’ Take features  thoughtful interviews with talented contemporary architects to discover why they create the designs they do, the thinking behind their work, how they got to where they are today, and what makes them tick. Our audience includes anyone with a sincere interest in contemporary and Modern design – however, we also believe that good design transcends divisions of style and historical period, and it’s the essence of good design that is at once so essential yet so elusive.

Sustainability and Energy Efficiency

One of our colleagues John Klopf has said, “Sustainability is not a part of architecture. Architecture is a part of sustainability.” Architects have the responsibility for making the built environment as healthy and as sustainable as possible, in every sense of those words.

Visit our energy compliance blog, Green Compliance Plus, for articles on proven energy-saving technologies and methods that architects can realistically use in their projects today.