Pfau Long Architecture, Ltd. is a nationally recognized firm, based in San Francisco, distinguished by its passion for the craft of environmentally sensitive, award-winning architecture. Since its founding in 1991, Pfau Long has drawn creative inspiration from understanding the human experience of space, light, and materials in its wide range of project types. Our body of work reflects a passion for celebrating the ephemeral qualities of materials, the collaborative processes that result in their assembly, and the impact of their experience in space. The result is a livable and comfortable modernism suited to our time and expressing the personal aspirations of each client.
Our firm’s collaborative design philosophy embraces a shared quest with its clients for timeless solutions that resonate with how they live, work, play, and learn on a daily basis. Principals, Peter Pfau, FAIA, LEED AP and Dwight Long, AIA lead a staff of 14 highly talented individuals, maintaining personal and hands-on involvement with each and every project.
Pfau Long is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council and is strongly committed to implementing sustainable design and construction practices in all of our work. We believe that sustainable design is about creating an appropriate, thoughtful, and well-conceived building design that is comfortable and naturally inspiring for its inhabitants, doesn’t waste resources in its construction or use, and provides lasting value.
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Wine Country Retreat: The design for this 4,000 sf private residence responded to the client’s goals for a private, intimate, and elegant retreat for entertaining. The home responds to its rural surroundings in its straightforward siting, simple materials, and integration of indoor and outdoor living. A plunge pool at the end of the living space offers stunning panoramic views of the Napa Valley. Additional amenities include a guest house, large outdoor jacuzzi with outdoor shower, a media room, and a wine cellar. Photo: Matthew Millman Pfau Starr Residence: This project involves a major renovation and expansion to an existing 1950’s modern home on a wooded hilltop site. Expanded to 2,800 sf, the original structure is transformed into a low energy, green building. A new wing adds two bedrooms and an updated kitchen and family room, with the kitchen acting as the fulcrum for the house – open to the existing dining/living area. With simple, clear design, the structure is exposed, utilizing painted steel beams, glulam beams, and Douglas Fir panels. Photo: Bruce Damonte Stinson Beach Residence: Stinson Beach, 20 miles north of San Francisco along the Pacific coast, serves as the setting for a family’s beach residence. Originally built in 1968, the existing 1,560 sf, “L” shaped bungalow was renovated with a new kitchen, bathrooms, and storage spaces, while a new 540 sf master bedroom and office wing were added to the building. A new zinc roof was installed over both existing and new wings. Photo: Cesar Rubio Tiburon Residence: Nestled upon a hillside with striking views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, this private residence was originally built in the early 1960’s. The project involved updating and modernizing the ranch-style home, by completely renovating the interior and exterior to create a new modern and distinct style. A new 860 sf garage/guest house structure was added, while the landscape was extensively restored to create a common theme between the buildings and the site. Photo: Matthew Millman Sausalito Residence: This new, 5,350 sf modern hillside home was designed in response to its unique site with magnificent views and the needs of a growing family. The home’s aesthetic is inspired by the Second Bay Region Tradition and expressed through its exposed structure and use of simple, natural materials such as cedar siding, steel structural elements, stone, pigmented concrete, and copper. The multi-level design allows for a series of experiences as one proceeds down varied garden steps into the backyard. Photo: Pfau Long Architecture Activist House: Located in the Mission District of San Francisco, this 4,565 sf urban residence stealthily conceals light-filled modern living volumes behind an existing low-key vernacular facade on a busy city street. The street-facing portion of the house was modernized to retain its original urban character and scale, housing the entry area, garage, and guest quarters. The new rear portion of the residence is a crisply-modern, three- story addition containing the new main living spaces. Photo: Pfau Long Architecture Outside-In House: This 1950s Marin County home, designed and built in the Eichler tradition, occupies 1,700 square feet on a wooded hilltop site. The project includes a 600 sf addition, expanding on the concept of transparency that characterized the original home. Relying on the simple clarity of its design, all of the structure is exposed, including wood beams, structural steel, custom steel brackets, and a “floating” steel stair. The residence’s transparency creates the illusion of boundless space. Photo: Matthew Millman Larkspur Residence: Tucked into a hillside, this 5,300 sf contemporary house takes advantage of its steep one-acre site and unobstructed views of the San Francisco Bay. The home was designed to fit into the environment, interlocking interior and exterior spaces through use of materials such as cedar siding, stucco, red-birch floors, mahogany cabinetry and railings, stone counters, limestone floors, and concrete fireplace tiles. Photo: Cesar Rubio San Francisco Friends School: Designed to meet LEED Gold certification standards, the historic, 87,000 gsf Levi Strauss Building (originally built in 1906, after the earthquake) was transformed into a highly-sustainable learning environment that reflects the values of a vital contemporary Quaker community. The three-story building includes classrooms, meeting rooms, offices, a cafeteria, a library, a gymnasium, a black box theater, and a student gallery. Photo: Tim Griffith SPUR Urban Center: Located in the SOMA district, the new ground up, four story, 14,327 sf building serves as the headquarters for SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association.) The Center functions as an important public urban planning and policy center and provides flexible space for events, exhibits, community meetings, and office space. The building includes a spacious exhibit space on the ground floor, a 125-seat multipurpose hall, and a library with adjacent outdoor deck. Photo: Iwan Baan
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