Belzberg Architects

Belzberg Architects is now BA Collective

Belzberg Architects is now BA Collective

Belzberg Architects was founded in 1997 by Hagy Belzberg who had a clear-sighted ambition…establish a niche firm that was relatable and fearlessly creative. Our small yet spirited group of architects and designers quickly became a recognized practice because of this vision rooted in creating beautiful, thoughtful architecture and interiors. Over the years, we continuously nurtured a collective curiosity and eagerness to explore design beyond the conventional, ever mindful that the best ideas emerge through collaboration.

As we grew, leadership expanded with the addition of firm partners Cory Taylor, Daniel Rentsch, Brock DeSmit, and Jennifer Wu. We found it easier and apropos to simply refer to ourselves as BA, a multidisciplinary studio with a collective voice that reflects the diversity of our group. This in turn brought us to renaming the practice in 2022 to BA Collective, coinciding with the company’s 25th anniversary.

Our current studio space reflects who we are and what we advocate for in our work. We are located on Santa Monica’s vibrant and pedestrian-friendly Main Street with numerous transit options, unique local businesses, and one block from the beach and its recreational offerings. We designed, developed, and constructed our studio using mass timber as a case study for city officials and other building owners to understand the value of this sustainable construction system. We consistently strive for innovative design and practice what we preach. The result is an inspiring environment for conceptualizing and producing our body of work, which is not defined by typologies, scale, or geography, but rather driven by the explorative potential of a given project.

Our clients include large institutions, commercial businesses, consortia, and private individuals. The diversity of our collaborators continues to grow and allows us to broaden our expertise and investigate a wide range of architecture and design possibilities. These partnerships continue to push us in a meaningful direction, both professionally and personally.

LOCATION: Santa Monica, California
LEARN MORE: belzbergarchitects.com

Tree Top Residence, Belzberg Architects 3

Tree Top Residence / Belzberg Architects

The Tree Top Residence celebrates the site’s complex landscape, merging with it seamlessly and emerging from it atop the canopy of trees that surround it. Built along a natural ridgeline, the long and narrow plan of the three-story house mimics and inverts the angles of the site’s topography, creating dynamic vertical and horizontal relationships.

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