From a group of educational pioneers in 1868 to the Free Speech Movement in 1964, Berkeley has been a social hub for the world’s brightest minds to explore, ask questions, and make a better world. Berkeley life combines research and reflection, the scientific and the creative, and the scholarly and the athletic.

Along with the city’s busy and active life, it also offers its residents various cultural events, theater, music, concerts, museums, restaurants, and social groups. Thanks to the vibrant lifestyle it offers, Berkeley is the ideal location for any retail business in the area. We’ve listed some of the best retail architects in Berkeley, California; these firms were chosen for their awards, backgrounds, and experience.

Lowney Architecture

360 17th Street, Suite 200, Oakland, CA 94612

Lowney Architecture, established in 2003 and with offices in Oakland and Honolulu, is an interdisciplinary firm that provides architectural design, interior design, and master planning services. The firm is committed to resolving the critical conditions affecting its communities through industry leadership and a research-based strategy to project delivery. The firm collaborates with a diverse range of clients to create areas that positively shape the human experience and are influenced by the community’s values, preferences, and needs.

Lowney Architecture is pleased to work with clients and projects in the commercial, civic, educational, and housing markets. Its projects range from ground-floor food and beverage areas that help revive the pedestrian experience to cutting-edge reconfigurable prefabrication projects that seek to solve today’s residential and livability dilemmas. The firm’s work has been featured in The Business Journals, ENR, Construction Dive, The San Francisco Chronicle, Santa Cruz Local, East Bay Times, and Bisnow.

Kava Massih Architects

920 Grayson Street, Berkeley, CA 94710

Kava Massih Architects is a full-service architectural firm based in Berkeley with a branch office in San Francisco. Since its inception, the firm has been an instrumental force behind a wide range of innovative architectural designs in the Bay Area. Its office has provided market rate and affordable housing projects for public institutions, commercial spaces, restaurants, and highly specialized medical facilities. This project portfolio advantages the firm’s clients by enabling it to apply creative solutions and problem-solving across project types. Its procedure is widened and reinforced by design concepts that maximize the potential of each project.

The firm has established a reputation as a firm capable of innovating while adhering to strict deadlines and budgets. Feasibility studies, programming, space planning, architecture, interior architecture, construction documentation, and administration through occupancy are among its professional services. Since its inception, the firm has been awarded several honors, including the AIA East Bay Design Awards Program – Citation Award for Architecture, the People’s Choice Award for “Distinguished Architecture,” and the Illumination Awards Award of Merit.

Trachtenberg Architects

2421 Fourth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710

Trachtenberg Architects, headquartered in Berkeley, was founded in 1991. The firm’s staff is knowledgeable about both residential and commercial architecture. In addition to a diverse range of residential commissions, the Acme Bread Company, the ACLU Headquarters in San Francisco, Addis Creson Design, The Berkeley Bowl Marketplace, Backroads, Cody’s Books, and the Children’s Hospital Oakland are among its finished commercial and institutional projects.

The firm is based in Berkeley, but it also serves clients in Cuauhtémoc, Mexico. It has received multiple Awards for Design Excellence from Berkeley Design Advocates under David Trachtenberg’s leadership. David has a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from UC Berkeley, a Fine Arts Major from California State University, and a Master of Architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design. Trachtenberg Architects aspires to create inventive and cost-effective solutions based on its critical knowledge of site conditions, political realities, and budgetary constraints.

Todd Jersey Architecture

1321 8th Street, Suite #2, Berkeley, CA 94710

Todd Jersey Architecture (TJA), a pioneering innovator in building projects with people and the environment in mind, takes the lead in a sustainable, cost-effective design. The firm is responsible for some of California’s most breathtaking, comfortable, and environmentally friendly projects. Based on over 30 years of experience, Todd’s approach incorporates budget considerations with sustainable practices, techniques, resources, and systems, eliminating the need to choose between designing and developing sustainably.

Many of TJA’s 300 projects have gained extensive recognition for their design excellence. Todd’s inherent design inquisitiveness and profound expertise inform a wide range of projects, from home building to residential renovations and ADUs, commercial tenant developments to new multi-family housing, non-profit to retail and institutional projects. With its exemplary work and expertise, the firm was nominated by Design + Construction Magazine in 2009 as an Excellence in Design Commercial Building Finalist.

Levitch Associates, Inc.

1029 Heinz Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94710

Levitch Associates is a family-owned firm based in Berkeley founded in 1960. The firm serves clients in Berkeley, Alameda, and Oakland with commercial and residential architecture services. Multiple generations of the Levitch family have worked in the company: founder Ed, sons Maurice and Jeff and Jeff’s wife Susan, as well as grandson Brian.

Since 1960, the firm has assisted hundreds of clients in enhancing their homes and businesses. Levitch’s experience ranges from remodeling a single room in a house to major remodels, additions, and designing and building new custom homes. The firm has also renovated food service, office, and other commercial spaces.

It has consistently been one of the firms in the Top 500 Remodelers List from 2017 to 2020, a Remodeling Magazine Merit Awardee, a Gold Nugget Awardee, and a recipient of the Berkeley Design Advocates Award for Design Excellence.

Jerri Holan & Associates

1323 Solano Avenue, Suite 204, Albany, CA 94706

Jerri Holan & Associates, founded in 1992 by Jerri Holan, FAIA, is an architecture and planning firm that serves clients in Albany, Berkeley, Fremont, and San Leandro. The firm has over 25 years of design experience in the San Francisco Bay area and is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Christopher Alexander’s Center for Environmental Design, Christopherson & Graff, Architects, Abrams/Millikan & Associates, Servais Design & Construction, Kirk Peterson & Associates, and Lerner + Associates are among the firms the company has collaborated with.

The firm is composed of AIA and FAIA-affiliated professionals and is AIA San Francisco and Build It Green-certified. Under the leadership of its namesake, its work has featured often in the press, including Norwegian Wood, In-Laws, Outlaws, Ganny Flats Magazine, and Fine Homebuilding. Jerri, the firm’s founder, has had his work featured in the American Institute of Architects’ exhibition “Small Firms, Great Projects.”

Studio KDA

1810 6th Street, Berkeley, CA 94710

According to Studio KDA, great design is true to its social, historical, and cultural context. Since 2016, the firm has served clients in Berkeley, Oakland, and the surrounding area with projects ranging from residential to commercial architecture, focusing on multifamily buildings, retail centers, and restaurants.

The firm focuses on determining and conveying the character of the building, business, or space for all projects, from renovations to new commercial buildings. It employs several techniques, including historical research, mood boards, and community outreach, to evoke the indispensable virtues and portray them through warm, engaging design.

Marites Abueg and Charles Kahn currently lead the firm. Marites moved to Berkeley from Ohio in 1991 after graduating from the prestigious architecture program at the University of Cincinnati. Charles came to California from Alabama to pursue a Master’s degree in Architecture at UC Berkeley and knew right away that he was there to stay. Charles started designing buildings with openness, inclusivity, and community after becoming fascinated with the style, culture, and landscape of the Bay Area.

Tierney Conner Architecture

363 17th Street, Oakland, CA 94612

Tierney Conner Architecture is a full-service firm that combines architecture, landscape, and interior design. Its staff provides complete services to clients, guiding them through the design, permit, and construction processes. Partners Anne Tierney, Erin Conner, and J. Conner have decades of industry experience. Through their combined effort, they create environments where people can live, work, and play. Oakland, Berkeley, Piedmont, Albany, and San Francisco are among the cities served by the firm.

Tierney Conner was founded in 2004, to create integrated indoor and outdoor spaces. J and Erin hold master’s degrees in architecture from the University of California-Berkeley and Anne from University of California-Los Angeles. Tierney Conner’s customized service extends from single-family to multi-family residential and commercial and hospitality projects. Under their leadership and direction, the firm’s projects have been featured by Dwell, Oakland Magazine, Maine Home + Design, Archinect, The Wall Street Journal, and CA Home + Design.