From Napa Valley to Asia and Sedona to Tucson, Alex Riley Associates has worked on hundreds of residential and commercial projects and kept each project’s design in harmony with its environment. By choosing Alex Riley Associates, you will be joining a team that will help you choose the best possible location for your specific project.

1. Commercial Architect Novato CA
From Napa Valley to Asia and Sedona to Tucson, Alex Riley Associates has worked on hundreds
of residential and commercial projects and kept each project’s design in harmony with its
environment. By choosing Alex Riley Associates, you will be joining a team that will help you
choose the best possible location for your specific project.
With over 220 residential and commercial projects under their belt, Alex Riley Associates have
worked on many different diverse landscapes and understand what it means to bring you
stunning designs while working alongside nature. Alex Riley studied at the University of Oregon
and was influenced by Frank Lloyd Wrights’ organic architecture movement. Over the years, as
he has been influenced by other styles, Alex has blended nature with architecture and his style
has grown to be all his own.

2. Organic Architecture
Organic Architecture describes a way of thinking about architecture and design that transcends
the common buildings around us. It is an approach used to solve design problems in which new
solutions are created based on the location and special conditions of each project. In other
words, we believe a building should be a product of its place and time, intimately connected to
a particular moment and a certain site, never the result of an imposed style.
Frank Lloyd Wright introduced the word ‘organic’ into
the philosophy of architecture as early as 1908.
Although his mentor’s slogan “form follows function”
became the mantra of modern architecture, Wright
believed the phrase was more correctly stated, “Form
and function are one.”
Alex Riley Associates believes there is something
important about having a design that is in harmony
with its environment, and Alex Riley and his team of
Napa architects are committed to doing so for each
and every one of their projects. Your design will be
modeled by keeping things like natural elements,
sunlight and the variety of the four different seasons
in mind throughout the entire design process.
After we locate your perfect location, Alex Riley and other Napa architects will go over the
place searching for problems and offering their solutions. They will also get any extra
information and permits needed in order to build your new home or building there; and these
are just some of the ways we make the process of building for you a thorough and seamless
transition.
About the Firm
Alex Riley Associates has designed more than 220 residential and commercial projects on some
of the most beautiful, diverse and challenging sites in America: the Napa Valley, Lopez Island,
Sedona, Tucson, the Berkeley and Oakland Hills, and Stinson Beach, to name a few.
Born in rural Oregon, Alex Riley, principal, was educated at the University of Oregon during a
period of American design characterized by maverick creativity and the influence of Frank Lloyd
Wright’s organic architecture movement.

3. Riley’s early career was inspired by Arts and Craft style, but by experimenting with new
materials, harmonizing structures with natural light and their unique topographical sites, and
incorporating a heightened sensuality into the architectural process Riley’s design style became
his own. After several years with Callister and Payne of Tiburon, he formed Alex Riley Associates
of Inverness, California and eventually opened a second office in the Napa Valley. His associate,
Onju Updegrave, has a Masters in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley, has
designed and built in Asia as well as the United States, and has extensive experience in both
residential as well as commercial design and refurbishment. Alex Riley is also associated with
Tonkin/Hoyne/Lokan, Architecture and Urban Design of Seattle.
Riley has left an indelible mark on the architectural landscape of West Marin in particular,
characterized by stunning, holistic forms that echo the natural curves of rolling hills of Bay
laurel, the cathedral-like verticality of the forest, and the soaring expanse of the Pacific
coastline. His mastery of diverse materials–from old-growth redwood to abode to gunnite–and
his genre versatility–from earth sheltered construction to steel and recycled heavy timber
construction–enhances the visual and textual variety of his structures. His commitment to fine
details, exposed structure and scrupulously appropriate scale, and to the priority of natural
light, further distinguishes him in a field increasingly dominated by ostentatiousness and the
whims of fashion.
Services
Organic Architecture is based upon a fundamental
respect for site-specific form, function and material
resulting in a design solution in perfect harmony with
the environment. This architecture is deeply
embedded in the particular: client, designer, time, site
and region. It eschews mimicry of overwrought,
conventional styles, shock value, pastiche elements,
and superfluous ornamentation. The result is a
powerful, graceful solution to the complex equation
of the principles of nature and the distinctive
character of the client, a unique structure carefully
designed for living, growing, thriving.
Alex Riley Associates is dedicated to creating a living space as a coherent whole, an intimate
marriage of context and structure, function and form. Our design is predicated by a few basic
principles.

4. We ensure that each structure occupies the site in relation to the fundamental priorities of
graceful living: appropriate scale, abundant light, maximized sensitivity to the patterns of the
seasons, physical security and spiritual well-being. The result–a combination of the unique
artistic vision and experience of the designer, in consultation with the client–is superb.
Site selection can be a daunting prospect. Alex Riley Associates will gladly provide consultation
to you and your realtor prior to purchase, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the site,
identifying possible problems to be solved, and offering creative solutions. After site selection,
we see to acquiring soils reports, information on ordinances and permits, and the vast array of
preliminaries to building a home.
For more information please
visit
http://www.alexrileyassociates.com