WRNS Studio

About WRNS Studio

WRNS Studio works with transformative organisations to advance their missions through architecture, planning and interior design. The practice approaches design as a process of discovery - fostering curiosity and exploration to bring clients' aspirations to life, with the aim of creating timeless, inspiring places where people want to be.

The studio operates from four offices in San Francisco, Seattle, Honolulu and New York, serving an international clientele. Founding partner Sam Nunes has described the studio's purpose as providing a platform to freely explore ideas and craft, joining the community of architects seeking to redefine the relationship between the built and natural environments, and between the private and public realms.

Services

• Architecture - new build, renovation and adaptive reuse across a broad range of building types
• Planning - campus and site planning, masterplanning and long-range facility strategy
• Interior design - workplace, institutional and hospitality interiors

Sectors

Education

Work spans K-12 schools, higher education and campus planning, including student housing and academic buildings. Recent recognition includes an ENR Best K-12 Education regional award for the Sonoma Academy Performing Arts Center and a DBIA Western Pacific design-build award for Mayo Hall at Cal Maritime.

Workplace

The studio has designed offices for major technology clients, including projects for Intuit and Amazon that have earned AIA California, AIA Interior Architecture and NYCxDesign recognition.

Health

The Frist Health Center at Princeton University has been among the studio's most decorated recent projects, receiving a Healthcare Design Platinum award, an SCUP Excellence in Architecture award for adaptive reuse, and AIA honours in New Jersey and New York State.

Science

Laboratory and research environments requiring specialised systems, containment and flexible technical infrastructure.

Residential and Community

Housing and civic projects include The Kelsey Civic Center, an accessibility-focused affordable housing development in San Francisco, and Brickline in San Mateo, a mass-timber mixed-use scheme recognised with a Gold Nugget Grand Award for Best Infill.

Transportation and Reuse

Transport-related buildings and structures, alongside a dedicated adaptive reuse practice that treats existing buildings as a resource rather than a constraint.

Sustainability

Sustainable design sits at the centre of the practice rather than at its edges. The studio's Redmond Campus project received a Living Future Climate Building Impact Award, and its work with mass timber and adaptive reuse reflects a consistent focus on embodied carbon - the share of a building's climate impact that is fixed the day construction finishes and cannot be improved afterwards.

Recognition

WRNS Studio was named the sixth most innovative company in architecture by Fast Company in 2024, and was an Architect's Newspaper Best of Practice editors' pick for large firms in the West. Its projects appear regularly in Architectural Record, Interior Design and Metropolis.

Working With WRNS Studio

Clients include universities and school districts, health systems, technology companies, housing developers, public agencies and cultural institutions. For organisations seeking design that is both award-winning and grounded in environmental performance, the studio offers an established West Coast practice with national reach.

Design Process

The studio's stated method - design as discovery - means early project stages are spent testing options rather than refining a single preferred solution. For institutional clients with complex stakeholder groups, that front-loaded exploration tends to surface conflicting requirements while they can still be resolved on paper.

Adaptive Reuse

Reuse is treated as a distinct project category with its own portfolio. Working within an existing structure imposes constraints that new build does not, but it also preserves the carbon already invested in the building - which is why the studio's award-winning reuse work sits alongside its sustainability record rather than separate from it.