Anniversary

A Decade of Design
California
November 2024

T.W. Ryan is a design-led architecture practice based in Northern California and working on projects across the United States.

Founded in the summer of 2013 in Brooklyn Heights and now situated among the redwoods in Mill Valley, California, T.W. Ryan is grounded in a thoughtful approach to place and a profound engagement with the experiential qualities of materials and construction.

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our updated website, highlighting our work from the past decade.

Awards

Four Roof House Wins AIA California Design Award
California
November 2023

Four Roof House has been recognized with a Merit Award from the AIA of California. As noted by the jury, “This project shows a way forward for homes at all scales. It is architecturally interesting and intriguing in ways a variety of practitioners can be motivated by. The manipulation of the “thickness of the roof” to introduce daylight results in an architectural feature that enhances the experience of the different spaces.”

The AIA California design awards are intended to promote and celebrate the value that exceptional design has on the fabric of society—whether it is a large, multi-residential affordable housing project or a small public work

Photography: Joe Fletcher

Planning Approval

House in the Aspens Receives Planning Approval
Jackson, Wyoming
May 2024

T.W. Ryan has received Planning Approval for a new project located outside of Jackson, Wyoming. The new residence, House in the Aspens, is located on a pristine site adjacent to Bridger-Teton National Forest. Construction is anticipated to start in the Spring of 2025.

Awards

Four Roof House: Record Houses Award, Architectural Record
New York
April 2023

Architectural Record magazine has selected Four Roof House in Montana for its prestigious Record Houses program, the second award for the studio in the last three years.

First established in 1956, the annual Record Houses issue showcases residential design that upends expectations, pushes disciplinary limits, and redefines established vocabularies in imaginative ways.

In the feature on the house, Rugged Retreat: Peaked roofs mimic the dramatic terrain of the American Rockies at a secluded getaway”, editor Leopoldo Villardi noted: “Tucked away in a rough-and-tumble landscape in western Montana is a retreat for a retired clinical psychologist and art collector who wanted to be closer to her family, which had recently settled there. That proximity comes with a catch, though—it’s far away from just about everything else. After reaching Avon, population 114, cellular service cuts out, so printed directions are a must for the remaining 30-minute drive to Helmville. But the Four Roof House—T.W. Ryan Architecture’s second Record House—is well worth the trek. Here, the architect delivers tough cowboy modernism with an artful edge. ”

Photography: Joe Fletcher

Press

Four Roof House in Dezeen
Montana
May 2024

The recently completed Four Roof House in Montana has been featured in Dezeen. The article, written by Jenna McKnight, highlights the wildfire-resistant home with a Corten steel exterior and pyramidal roofs designed to blend with the mountainous terrain, providing a low-maintenance residence amid fluctuating weather and wildfire threats.

Dezeen

Photography: Joe Fletcher

Planning Approval

Treehouse Receives Planning Approval
Mill Valley, California
December 2023

The Treehouse Club, a collaboration between T.W. Ryan, The Office of Charles de Lisle and the founders of Marine Layer received Planning Approval from the Design Review Board and City Council of Mill Valley.

Revitalizing the historic former Bank of America building in heart of downtown, the new social club and event space will serve as a catalyst for creative community of Marin County.

Completion

Studio House: Substantial Completion

Oakland
November 2023

The Studio House, a family home and studio for a musician and photo editor in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland.

Working with the language of the original arts and crafts era bungalow, the full gut renovation and addition incorporates a professional recording studio within the limited footprint with a central skylight bringing natural light to the center of the home, the area most often left dark.

Model Photography: Luigi Grosso

Planning Submission

Hillside House Submitted for Approval
Mill Valley, California
September 2023

The Hillside House, a new 4,000 sq ft family house and ADU was submitted to the Mill Valley Planning Department.

Sited on a steeply sloping hillside with panoramic views toward Mt Tamalpais to the west, the stone base anchors the home to the hillside with a more open pavilion like upper floor opening to the views of the landscape.

Publication

Tribeca Loft in British Vogue
New York
February 2023

Our project for noted designer Maria McManus was recently featured in British Vogue. In the story, Designer Maria McManus’s New York Apartment is a Masterclass in Warm Minimalism, writer Tilly Macalister-Smith writes:

“She and her husband, Mark, found their 3,000 sq ft home in 2018. Previously owned by a bachelor, it wasn’t, she explains, initially “organised in the way a family would live”. As a working mother of two girls – Luella, 11, and Poppy Rain, nine – the Irish fashion designer is a pragmatist.

They enlisted architect Thomas W Ryan to carry out the gut renovation, including uncovering the original beams and brick walls. Ryan had already worked with the couple on their relatively modest 1,000 sq ft Montauk home. “He’s so collaborative and I’m not easy – what I want is so specific,” she admits.”

British Vogue

Photography: Kelly Marshall

Completion

Anthony Meier: Opening Exhibition
Mill Valley, California
February 2023

We are thrilled to announce the opening of Anthony Meier gallery with their inaugural exhibition, In the Shadow of Mt Tam. Curated by Lauren Ryan, the show is: “A historical exhibition that explores the rich artistic history of Marin County from the 1940s through the 1970s. On view from 31 January - 17 March 2023, the exhibition is the first at the gallery’s new flagship location in Mill Valley, California.

In the Shadow of Mt. Tam will thread together the allure of Marin’s distinctive natural environment and Mt. Tam itself, as well as the impact of community and place on these artist’s burgeoning practices. Artists include Etel Adnan, JB Blunk, Jess, Jay DeFeo, Robert Duncan, Gordon Onslow Ford, Luchita Hurtado, David Ireland, Lee Mullican, Bruce Nauman, Wolfgang Paalen, Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, Lawrence Weiner, William T. Wiley, and Rick Yoshimoto. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalog featuring an essay by art historian Michael Auping.”

The Art Newspaper
Financial Times

Photography: Joe Fletcher

Press

Christie’s SF: Coverage in AD PRO
San Francisco
January 2021

The opening of the new flagship gallery and offices designed for the international auction house Christie’s was recently covered in AD Pro.

“Christie’s has made an exciting improvement to its presence on the West Coast, thanks to T.W. Ryan Architecture. The firm has designed a new San Francisco flagship for the auction house, located in Gallery Building at 49 Geary Street. Ellanor Notides, the West Coast chairman of Christie’s, said in a statement: “Although Christie’s San Francisco has had an established presence in the Bay Area since 1982, our new gallery space extends our ability to serve and participate in this thriving community. Our dedicated exhibition space will give us the ability to host tours and events in a new way, and will provide us with unparalleled opportunities to directly engage with clients and present works of art and objects.”

Photography: Joe Fletcher

Awards

Thomas Ryan on AIA Design Awards Juries
New Hampshire and North Carolina
2021-2022

Thomas Ryan had the pleasure of serving on the AIA of Winston Salem Design Awards jury alongside collogues Ashley Ozburn, Jim Williams, Andrew Corrigan and Jury Chair Erin Sterling Lewis.

He also served on the AIA of New Hampshire Design Awards jury alongside collogues Miriam Peterson, Phillip Ryan, Joseph James and Jury Chair Brent Buck of Brent Buck Architects.

Congratulations to all of the Design Award winners.

Completion

Interlace House: Substaintial Completion
Charlottesville
August 2021

The Interlace House is defined by the weaving together of previously disparate things to form a new, greater whole. Most importantly, it is the first shared home for a recently blended family of eight, like the Brady Bunch with three girls and three boys.

In this same spirit, the design sought to gracefully merge the old with the new. A new brick addition containing a "Saturday Room" for family gatherings, an expanded Kitchen and Dining area and a new Primary Bedroom Suite was added on to the existing Georgian style brick house. Visually connected by using the same white-washed brick as the original house, the new addition's simple modern forms give it a quiet yet distinct personality

Photography: Lincoln Barbour

Press

Three Chimney House in Metropolis
Charlottesville
June 2021

The Three Chimney House was included in an article by Kelly Beamon title “Gabled Roofs Experience a Revival Across North America”, exploring the recent proliferation of traditional gabled roof forms in modern homes.

Photography: Joe Fletcher

Completion

Night and Day House Completion
Brooklyn
June 2021

Night and Day House, a home for an actress and photographer was completed in renovated townhouse in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn. The project included an expansion in the rear yard, allowing for the client’s photography studio to be integrated within the house.

Lecture

The Iconic House Lecture Series

USA
March 2021

Thomas Ryan was invited to lecture as part of the “Iconic House” series to the Custom Residential Architects Network. The talk explored the influence of Mies van der Rohe’s Brick Country House from 1923 on the design of the Three Chimney House in Charlottesville, Virgina.

Photography: Joe Fletcher

Press

Azure Magazine Houses of the Year
Toronto
December 2020

The Three Chimney House was included in Azure Magazine’s Best of 2020: Houses of the Year. As noted in the article:

“In the last 10 months, we’ve witnessed our homes take on new meaning (and new dimensions) following global lockdowns that compressed the spheres of life and work, public and private between its studs. Fitting for a year in which many landmark moments played out within our domiciles, we’ve gathered the most unique projects from Toronto to Kuala Lumpur that expertly explore the potential of this typology.”

Azure Magazine

Photography: Joe Fletcher

Awards

Residential Architect Design Award
Charlottesville
December 2020

Three Chimney House recieved an Honorable Mention in the Residential Architect Design Awards.

Juror Amy Yang noted “I think the siting is really beautiful - the idea of historical reference to the chimneys, and how that is a marker for homes in the landscape. The architects worked with the existing vernacular well, but in a modern way.”

Completion

Christie’s San Francisco Completion
San Francisco
December 2020

A new Gallery and West Coast administrative headquarters for Christie’s Auction House has been completed in the 49 Geary gallery building near San Francisco’s Union Square.

Photography: Joe Fletcher

Awards

AN Best of Design Awards

New York
December 2020

Three Chimney House was a recipent of an AN Best of Design Award. Presented annually by the Architects Newspaper to identify the best of the year in archicture and design, this year’s jury included Gabrielle Bullock, Tim Christ, Iker Gil, Andrew Heumann, Katie MacDonald, Samuel Medina, Miriam Peterson, Jesus Robles and Jha D Williams.

Photography: Joe Fletcher

Lecture

Thomas Ryan Lectures at NC State School of Architecture
Raleigh, North Carolina
October 2020

Thomas Ryan was invited to speak at his alma mater, North Carolina State University College of Design as part of a joint lecture series with the AIA.

Titled Achromes and Archetypes, the talk covered the ongoing influence of contemporary art on the work of the practice and the importance of historical precedents in the process of design.

Press

Wallpaper 2020 Architects’ Directory
London
June 2020

T.W. Ryan was honored to be included in the 20th edition of the Wallpaper Magazine Architects’ Directory.

“Conceived in 2000 as our little black book of emerging architectrural talent, this annual listing of promising practices has, over the years, spanned styles and continents.

The Architects’ Directory has championed as new arrivals, some of the now great practices, from Pritzker winnners Grafton Architects to humble Austrailian virtuoso Sean Godsell, and powerhouses such as MAD Architects, Vincent Van Duysen, Brian Mackay Lyons, Deborah Berke and Koivisto Rune.

Press

Azure Magazine Covers House in the Mission

Toronto
August 2021

In a piece for Azure Magazine titled “In San Francisco, a Tailored Renovation Riffs on Alvar Aalto”, writer David Sokol examined the influence of Alvar Aalto on the design of a family home in San Francisco’s Mission District.

Azure Magazine

Photography: Mariko Reed

Press

AN Interior Top 50 Firms
New York
September 2021

T.W. Ryan was honored to be included in AN Interior’s annual list of the top design firms.

“ There is a lot new to AN Interior’s annual top 50 list, now in its fourth iteration. Nearly half of the collected architects and designers appear for the first time, and the scope has widened to include practices from all regions of the United States, as well as parts of Canada and Mexico.”

AN Interior

Photography: Joe Fletcher

Competition

Joshua Tree Cultural & Wellness Institute
Joshua Tree, California
August 2020

T.W. Ryan was shortlisted as part of an invited competition to design a new cultural and wellnes retreat center in the desert outside of Joshua Tree, California.

Awards
Three Chimney House: Record Houses Award, Architectural Record
New York
April 2020

Architectural Record magazine has selected Three Chimney House in Charlottesville for its prestigious Record Houses program.

First established in 1956, the annual Record Houses issue showcases residential design that upends expectations, pushes disciplinary limits, and redefines established vocabularies in imaginative ways.

In the feature on the house, Southern Comfort: Regional landmarks inform a contemporary residence set amid the hills of horse country, editor Josephine Minutillo noted: “A native of bordering North Carolina, Ryan was familiar with not just the vernacular architecture of the area, but also its landmarks. The Guys, too, had a strong sense of the local heritage, with both sides of their families engaged in the unique preservation project at Menokin. They wanted a structure that built on that Southern legacy but was also distinctly contemporary.”

Photography: Joe Fletcher

Press

Press Coverage for Three Chimney House
New York, Argentina, Spain, Los Angeles, Germany, China, Korea
Summer 2020

Three Chimney House recieved press covereage from various architecture and design news outlets worlwide, including Curbed, ArchDaily, Afasia, Archinect and Baunetz.

Photography: Joe Fletcher

Lecture

Thomas Ryan Lectures at Virginia Tech
Virginia
June 2020

Thomas Ryan was invited to give a lecture on the work of the studio at the Virginia Tech School of Architecture.

Press

Three Chimney House in Architectural Digest
New York
May 2020

In an article titled This Modern Home in an Idyllic Setting is Defined by Three Bold Chimneys, Stefanie Waldek reviews the Three Chimney House.

“Wander the rolling countryside outside Charlottesville, Virginia, and you might stumble upon an unusual site: three stark white chimneys rising from a hillside. They belong to a striking home appropriately named three chimney house, designed by San Francisco based architecture firm T.W. Ryan for a young family of four. The structure is equal parts, contemporary, and traditional, with a distinctive silhouette of rectilinear walls, roof lines, and chimneys built from the typical materials of colonial style architecture, such as stone, brick, copper, and wood.”
Photography: Joe Fletcher

Press

Dezeen features Three Chimney House

Virginia
May 2020

The Three Chimney House in Charlottesville has been featured in Dezeen. The article, written by Bridget Cogley, highlights the way that the design links with the dramatic natural landscape and historic architectural context.

Photography: Joe Fletcher

Press

Ortuzar Projects, New York: Opening Press Coverage
New York
February 2018

Ortuzar Projects opening is profiled by The New York Times, Artforum, Art News and Cultured Magazine.

From Taylor Dafoe for Cultured: “Ortuzar Projects is technically a gallery, but in some ways it’s more like a small museum. Situated in a light-filled space with tall tin ceilings and exposed brick, the ambitious new exhibition platform is home to heavily researched shows from artists historically overlooked by the western cannon.”

Press

Surf House Featured on UK Design Journal Dezeen
New York
July 2018

Surf House has been featured on the UK design journal Dezeen in an article by Bridget Cogley.

“The simple black exterior blends with the shadows of the landscape, while light-filled rooms provide a stark contrast inside.”

Photography: Scott Frances

Publication

Surf House Featured in Interior Design: Homes Magazine
New York
Fall 2017

Surf House is featured in the showcase Interior Design: Homes issue for Fall 2017.

Books

Surf House in The House That Pinterest Built by Diane Keaton
Los Angeles
October 2017

Surf House is included in the publication The House That Pinterest Builtby author Diane Keaton.

From the publisher: “The House that Pinterest Built defines what home and house mean to the celebrated movie star, who is known for her love affair with houses and design. Filled with ideas that reveal a personal yet engaging aesthetic, this volume includes compelling photos from Keaton’s past homes and those she admires, as well as a multitude of details from every corner of those spaces and objects that excite and inspire the house designer and dreamer—dramatic staircases and magical light fixtures, film stills and book covers, pottery and art—drawn from the visual treasure trove known as Pinterest and Keaton’s private collection, as she creates and designs her newest house.”

Publication

Adrian Rosenfeld Gallery in Monocle Travel Guide, San Francisco
San Francisco
June 2017

The Adrian Rosenfeld Gallery is highlighted in the Arts section of the Monocle City Guide to San Francisco.

Press

Surf Shack Reviewed in Vogue
New York
May 2017

Surf House is featured in Vogue Living, Surf Shack: and Inside Look at Dream Homes by the Sea. Written by Christina Perez, the article features an interview with Nina Freudenberger about her new book, Surf Shack: Laid Back Living by the Water.

Photography: Brittany Ambridge

Publication

Surf House in T The Style Magazine of the New York Times
New York
May 2017

Surf House is featured in the Design and Interiors section of summer edition of T Magazine in an article titled “In New Yorkers’ Vacation Homes, Less Is More.

From the article by Hannah Goldfield: “One of the first decisions that they made was to make the house’s exterior black, to emphasize its form – “though it doesn’t actually stand out,” McManus says. “It sort of blends in this weird way, surrounded by trees.”

Inside, they removed a hulking spiral staircase, replacing it with a skylit stairwell at the edge of the house. For the sake of simplicity, they limited materials to wood and concrete. The challenge, says Ryan, was “How do you treat those materials in different ways so that they make sense? Basically, the concrete signifies the public areas, so it starts in the entryway and goes into the bathroom, which is shared by everyone. And it’s also like a transition, if you’ve been at the beach. Now you’re on this cool concrete floor.”

Photography: Blaine Davis

Books

Surf House in Surf Shack: Laid Back Living by the Water
New York
April 2017

Surf House is featured in Nina Freudenberger’s bestselling Surf Shack: Laid Back Living By the Water.

From the book: “What started as a face-lift, like so many renovations do, turned into a taken to the studs, eighteen-month rehab. For inspiration, they spent a lot of time looking at what Richard Meier was doing in Montauk in the sixties: “Small wood homes with very strong geometric shapes, all painted one color,” says Thomas, a Meier protégé himself. But rather than Meier’s typical shade of choice, white, Maria wanted something that complemented the landscape and felt a bit Scandinavian, which is how they landed on the sooty, matte black exterior. “I love that it’s oddly more subtle than other neutrals,” says Maria. “It blends in with the trees around it.”

Press

Adrian Rosenfeld Gallery Opening Coverage
San Francisco
February 2017

The Adrian Rosenfeld Gallery, located in the burgeoning Dogpatch Arts District in San Francisco, has garnered significant media attention following its grand opening. Coverage of the gallery can be found in the NY Times Arts, SF Chronicle Arts, and Cultured Magazine.

Charles Demarais of the SF Chronicle praised the gallery, stating, "It is the midsize Adrian Rosenfeld that takes the prize for both innovation and intellectual substance. Even from the front door, the look of the place tells the visitor that this is something different, and serious."

He continued, "The entry gallery is actually more like a Brobdingnagian library, walled with 16-foot-high bookcases divided by 2-inch thick shelves. The idea seems to be that we will study up before entering the softly lighted main gallery to look at art. I suspect, though, that most of us will look first and then return to supplement the visual experience."

Photography: Joe Fletcher

Press

House of the Day: Surf House Featured on The Modern House
Montauk
August 2016

Surf House is recognized as the House of the Day on the UK publication The Modern House.

“This property, located in Montauk, New York, was designed for a young family who are attracted to the landscape and raw beauty of the area. The house uses natural materials and finishes traditional to the area and follows in the spirit of the early Hampton’s work of architects such as Richard Meier and Charles Gwathmey.”

Photography: Scott Frances

TW RYAN

Projects Practice

Dwelling Cultural Chronology

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