Studio AR&D Architects

Studio AR&D Architects is an architecture and design practice based in Los Angeles and Palm Springs. The studio's work is rooted in the relationship between architecture and landscape, and in the belief that the two should be conceived as a single environment.

Each project begins with its place. Landscape, climate, light, views and the ways people inhabit a site become the framework from which the architecture develops. Rather than imposing a predetermined style, we look for an architecture particular to those conditions and to the people who will live within it.

Material is central to this process. Stone, wood, plaster, concrete and glass are considered not simply as finishes, but for the way they establish weight, texture, warmth and permanence. Light and shadow become equally important materials—revealing surfaces, defining thresholds and changing the experience of a space throughout the day.

Architecture and landscape develop together. Buildings extend into gardens and courtyards; walls frame views and create privacy; deep overhangs and recesses provide shade and transition. Interior and exterior are not treated as opposing conditions, but as parts of a continuous spatial experience.

This same attention continues through construction. We remain closely involved with builders, craftspeople and consultants, working through details in the field and allowing the realities of making, to inform the finished architecture.

The result is architecture intended to feel grounded in its place, deliberate in its materiality, and increasingly personal with time.

Sean Lockyer, AIA

Sean Lockyer established Studio AR&D Architects in 2005 with a focus on architecture shaped by the particular conditions of place—landscape, climate, light, materials, and the ways people inhabit them.

Working across architecture, construction, and development, Lockyer is interested in carrying ideas from concept through making, with particular attention to material, detail, and the relationship between interior and exterior. His work explores themes of shelter and openness, privacy and connection, and the ways architecture can respond directly to climate and site.

Based in Los Angeles, Lockyer works throughout California and the West, creating environments intended not simply to be viewed, but to be occupied, touched, discovered, and experienced over time.

Sydney Brewer
Luis Garcia
Zayomi De La Barreda
Amanda Woo

Studio

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