Collaboration, exploration and context are the hallmarks of our design philosophy. Fundamental to Pfeiffer Partners is an abiding sense of design as a collaborative process - seeing successful design as the outcome of a shared vision, clear visual communication, and an open dialogue among all its participants.

Integral to our design process is exploring, using a multiplicity of study models, diagrams and digital renderings to test alternatives and to allow clients to understand and evaluate each option.

At the heart of Pfeiffer Partners’ work is context. Context provides an opportunity to look at design in a particular way, whether on historic campuses, in suburban settings, in established downtown areas, or making buildings in special environments such as hilltops or in the desert.

Instead of approaching each project with a rigid set of design principles, we see architecture as a way to enhance, sustain, and celebrate the distinctive characteristics of each site, program, and client. For this reason, our work shows a variety of design characteristics which respond with uncommon specificity to the needs and imagery of our commissions. Such a process creates singularly distinctive buildings which fully represent an institution in the scale and texture of their communities.

Our values are threaded through our work: respecting and blending of history with contemporary approaches, reinforcing urban places, preserving landmarks, enhancing community, taking inspiration from and sustaining the natural environment, and a zeal for the creation of new contexts for learning. The result is a fresh and invigorating approach to architectural design.