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Practice

Our Practice

Delawie is a leading sustainable and high-performance architecture, interior design and planning firm headquartered in San Diego, California. Since 1961, Delawie has made a lasting impact on Southern California’s built environments with designs that complement skylines, activate learning environments, transform communities, create corporate identities, and advance the functionality of civic and government facilities.

For over 60 years we have held the core principles of client satisfaction, relationship building, and quality design – these are the cornerstone of our practice. The Delawie studio is organized to reflect the integral relationship between planning, architecture, interior design and sustainability. We have embraced a holistic philosophy, enabling us to provide our clients with a more thoughtful, collaborative design process; one that merges all aspects of the project.

From our office in San Diego, we have been privileged to provide comprehensive design services to the most prominent private, institutional and public entities throughout the country.

experience

Key Facts & Statistics

Our firm is comprised of some of the brightest minds in architecture and interior design, with many staff holding technical designations in their respective industries. We have maintained a strong architectural presence in San Diego for decades, having completed thousands of noteworthy projects in the public and private sector since our founding in 1961.

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Integrity

Our Legacy

“Architecture is a way of life. If not, you shouldn’t be doing it.” – Homer Delawie

Homer Delawie, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, founded our firm in 1961. Homer’s style and vision promoted humanistic modernist ideals— “simplicity with attention to detail,” and for more than 60 years, the firm’s principals, associates and staff bring a range of interests and expertise together to honor the founding principal emeritus.

Homer Delawie’s influence on San Diego began in the design of small houses, including his own personal residence “The Boxcar House,” which was 17 feet wide.  Signature features of these early designs include minimal disturbance of the site, flat roofs, wood sidings, and large glass areas.

As the practice expanded, the firm’s reputation increased for its success in a range of designs for the military and landmarks such as the Bea Evenson Fountain in Balboa Park. By the mid-1980s, the firm’s major commissions such as the SeaWorld Penguin and Shark Exhibits, the San Diego Police Headquarters and the James R. Mills MTS Building launched the firm into larger scale, public buildings where the design emphasis was to create spaces for people to enjoy.

The firm focused on private clients throughout much of the 1990s and 2000s working with Science + Technology companies, including Pfizer and Qualcomm. The firm also worked on projects with for the United States Military and some of the local colleges. During this period, the firm went worldwide, helping our clients realize the benefit of our involvement within the development stages of any project. Paul E. Schroeder, Frank Ternasky and Mike Asaro were named Principals in 2002.

Delawie continued to expand its practice in the market sectors of Science + Technology, Education, Government and Hospitality + Entertainment. The firm helped clients realize their design vision in both Architecture and Interior both regionally in San Diego and aboard in England, South Korea and India. Greg McClure was promoted to Principal in 2017.

After celebrating 60 years since its founding in 2021, Delawie continues to service both public and private clients in select market sectors and continues to provide clients with exceptional design delivered with integrity and a commitment to service pioneered by Homer Delawie. We are honored to continue his practice and serve San Diego under his believe of, “Simplicity with attention to detail.”