We are Better Together.

After over a year apart, AO is so grateful to be #BackAndBetterTogether! It was a beautiful day to celebrate and welcome our team back to the office with a Food Truck Fest in Old Towne Orange.

In a year like no other we are more grateful than ever for our AO family. AO is looking back at a year in quarantine where we redefined what it means to be #BetterTogether. https://vimeo.com/527483387

As a relationship driven firm, it brings us great pleasure to be able to support this years Cal Poly Pomona, Department of Architecture Firm Week looking to inspire and encourage future architects to follow their passion for design. Cal Poly Pomona alumni Richard Clarke and Ioanna Magiati were joined by Glenn Man and Paolo Leon for this years events helping to guide these talented students on the exciting future that is to come after graduation.

Over the 2020 holiday season we celebrated the end of the year with a virtual zoom happy hour which included an ugly sweater contest and paper snowflake contest. The top 3 winners in each category received a prize for their hard work and creative costume. It was a wonderful celebration spent with the entire AO family. We are looking forward to holidays spent together soon!

For the month of September AO team members were presented with the challenge to complete either 60 miles of running/walking or 180 miles of biking. The goal was to encourage team members to stay healthy while working from home as well as give back to the Friendly Center. With 50 competitors completing over 6,400 miles, AO was able to donate funds to the Friendly Center in this time of need.

8 Weeks in and AO’s virtual Friday Happy Hours are still going strong! Taking the time to share ideas, laugh, and raise a glass…it’s how team AO rides out quarantine #BetterTogether!

Even when we can't be in the office, the AO team spirit is alive and well! Our 45th anniversary ushered in a new brand for AO - which the team showed off and got creative with while working from home.

A relationship-focused approach has been at the core of AO’s business philosophy since our firm was founded 45 years ago. This extends to our team – who is constantly reinventing what it means to be “Better Together”. This week AO employees shared their new office mates who are keeping them company while working from home. Take a look at AO's extended family.

The first week in February, our Multifamily studio embarked on a week of Wellness. The week consisted of a Nutrition and Sleep presentation, guided walks around Orange and Yoga at Sunspark Yoga studio. Certified Chiropractor, Brian Wikoff, also came and presented on how to live a healthy lifestyle. On the last day of Wellness Week there were multiple fitness competitions as well as a celebration to congratulate everyone for being mindful and thinking about their health and well-being over the week.

The 6th Annual AO Friendly Center fundraiser nets $16,500 for the local non-profit on a mission to end the cycle of generational poverty in Orange County.

Thank you to our clients and friends who gathered to celebrate AO's 45th anniversary and the launch of our new brand. The evolution and innovation of Architects Orange is reflected in our new identity; we are now AO.

Our annual Halloween Monster Mash took place at Chapman Crafted where staff took part in a costume contest, pumpkin carving/painting contest, food, prizes and lots of laughs.

AO staff joined in celebration of our 45th Anniversary at The Woman's Club in Orange. The festivities included food, drinks, games, raffles, and fun with coworkers celebrating this incredible milestone.

Last Friday our Commercial Studio met at the Bruery Terreux Tasting Room in Anaheim for a Brews & BBQ company event. What a blast!

Every year to kick off the summer, AO employees devote one night to hang up their helmets and take to the alleys for a round of bowling, food, drinks, and good company.

Can we just taco ’bout how awesome this year’s annual taco day was?! Fiesta!

AO Archispeak Toastmasters was honored with guest speaker and world champion in public speaking, Lance Miller! Miller is a Toastmasters International world champion from 2005 and gave a great presentation called, An Internship for Success. More than 50 AO employees and Toastmasters members were in attendance for this great event.

Thanks to Two Doughs for the awesome open-air catering and friendly staff, and thanks to the whole team for your continued awesomeness! Let’s go, Team AO!

On a visit to Vegas, a few of our great Mixed Use Studio team members visited a potential new mixed-use project site, located just across the street from the new Raiders Stadium! In the top left photo, from left to right, are Project Director Bryan Tessner, Principal Bruce Greenfield, Partner Rob Budetti, and Senior Designer Lalaine Tanaka. Now that’s a great #architectselfie. Way to go, team!

Hunger Can’t Be Solved Solo… The AO troop mobilized for the premier voyage of the Millennium Fal-CAN as we summoned The Force to keep our cans hurdling through outer space, doing our part to send hunger into another galaxy far, far away. For the third time, AO participated in the Orange County Design-Build Competition, organized to “combine the fun of a design-build competition with an ingenious way to help feed hungry people”. The well-received, iconic sculpture was an engineering challenge for the team determined to showcase the piece in all its craft glory by designing a cantilevered, angled, presentation set for flight, complete with galaxy stars. The design went through months of 3D modeling, structural engineering, food product label design and profile research, pre-builds, revisions and testing to achieve the final sculpture, which took 7 hours to install after hours on August 31, for the Labor Day weekend premiere.