At TEF Design, creating places that connect people is at the heart of our work.
Established in 1997, our San Francisco-based staff of 50+ architects and interior designers provides large firm experience, delivered through the culture and care of a small practice.
We build for our communities and our planet.
We prioritize sustainability in everything we do and champion our adaptive reuse practice. As designers, we believe we have a responsibility to use our work to preserve cultures and empower communities, safeguard shared and natural resources, and consider the environmental and social impacts of every decision.
Our process is our super power.
Our inclusive process means we co-create guiding principles, bring stakeholders together, and ensure key voices are heard. By putting listening, inclusion, and exceptional partnership at the core of our practice, we’re able to work responsively with our clients to tailor distinctive solutions.
We dig deep to solve problems.
We leverage insights to tackle new challenges, exercising a robust process of research, engagement, analysis, and design. We use insights, together with the knowledge that comes from our broad collective experience, to creatively solve new challenges, allowing clients to move confidently towards the future.
Our work is both beautiful and practical.
We balance our clients’ aspirations with their resources and constraints through compassionate listening and communication. By persistently exploring creative and innovative ways to meet client needs, we’re able to tailor distinctive solutions that are expressions of a project’s identity and purpose.
By grounding ourselves in these core principles, we’re able to develop authentic places with meaning built in.
