MEET THE TEAM

STUDIO TEAM

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Annabelle has been a business professional in the Bay Area for over 19 years. During that time Annabelle has held positions in operations and project management in Foreign Affairs and Geotechnical industries. Annabelle grew up in sunny San Diego, she moved to San Francisco to pursue her education in Business. At DDB, Annabelle oversees all operations of the business from day to day, client relations, business development, project management, while working closely together with the Principal, Architecture, Construction and Building teams. She is fascinated by all the moving pieces of project from design conception to closing the building permit at project completion. She enjoys international travel and can be found taking her dogs on hikes at Sibley Volcanic Reserve on the weekends.

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Justin has spent over 20 years shaping our communities while working in urban-regional redevelopment, landscape architecture, high-end residential, and commercial development projects. He combines his background in design, construction, and real estate into a holistic approach towards enhancing our built and natural environment while creating bespoke spaces and long-lasting relationships with clients. At DDB, Justin is focused on overseeing active construction projects, exploring new business opportunities, and working closely with the architecture team to ensure design integrates with build. Justin carefully allocates his free time to exploring the coasts and mountains with his wife and dog.

Tyler Kobick, AIA the Principal and CEO of Design Draw Build Architects and Builders in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Tyler Kobick is an award-winning California Bay Area Architect and General Contractor. He is the founder and Principal of a 22-person firm, Design Draw Build. The firm specializes in public-interest design, adaptive reuse, custom residences, restaurants, hospitality, historic preservation, and multifamily housing with architect-led design-build methods of project delivery. He believes strongly in warm-modern, critically regionalist architecture, and vertically integrated project delivery methods.
Tyler began his career as a stone mason in Northeast Ohio, where he apprenticed under a master mason and soon enough started his own construction company. After hiking a large section of the Appalachian Trail, he fell in love with the Mad River Valley of central Vermont where he trained and built for 12 years. There, he worked under many different architects and artisans on custom residential and unusual commercial projects predominantly under the architect Dave Sellers, whose work catalyzed the contemporary design/build field. In 2010, Tyler founded Design Draw Build and traveled to build unusual commissions in different areas of the United States, Canada, and El Salvador until setting up a more permanent location in late 2014 in the San Francisco Bay Area.
An educator, residential home architect, and community-builder, Tyler seeks to revitalize and preserve town and urban centers by embracing the material culture of a place with sustainable locally-applied building technologies. Today, Tyler teaches architecture at the University of San Francisco in a variety of studio and material-methods classes. He is a co-chair of the Regional and Urban Design Committee for the AIA East Bay, and currently sits on the Board of Directors for the AIA East Bay and the California AIA. Tyler holds two degrees in architecture, a B.S Arch from the University of Cincinnati, and a MArch from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada.

Jason Pignolet, Senior Project Manager at Design Draw Build Architects and Builders in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Jason is a Bay Area native, born and raised in Oakland. He has experience with a wide range of project types and scales including, single and multifamily residential, commercial interiors and resort/hospitality. Prior to DDB, he focused on high altitude snow country design, managing multiple projects at ski resorts across the Country and overseas. In addition to being a licensed Architect, he holds a General Contractor License and has hands-on experience building custom homes. He received a B-Arch degree from Calpoly San Luis Obispo with a minor in fine art. Outside of work you can find Jason spending time with his family, tinkering on his house or fly fishing.

Portrait of an architectural designer and engineering job captain at Design Draw Build Architects & Builders in California.

Bianca has always had a passion for design and building. She is a recent graduate of the Harvard University MArch program and holds a BS in Architectural Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she developed interests in interdisciplinary design that blends feasibility, sustainability, and aesthetics. Outside of work, Bianca enjoys traveling the world with friends and spending quality time with her dog Churro and cat Guoguo at home.

Portrait of a smiling architectural designer at Design Draw Build Architects and Builders in Oakland, California.

Sayem Shah is an emerging design professional who holds a master's degree in architecture from the City College of New York. He joined Design Draw Build and relocated to the San Francisco Bay area from New York City to explore and learn more about the Design Build environment. Sayem has contributed to several multi-family and single-family residential projects at DDB. Sayem advocates for diversity and inclusion in the architecture and design industries. He is an active member of AIA East Bay and several local ethnic organizations. Sayem spends his free time following his favorite sport, cricket. He is also a big fan of Marvel comics.

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Claire is a designer and BIM professional with five years of experience in the Bay Area. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Game Art & Design from UC Santa Cruz and began her career in architecture through technical modeling at a Santa Cruz-based design studio. Drawing on her background in design and expertise in BIM, Claire works at the intersection of creativity and technical execution to support successful project delivery. She is particularly interested in community-focused projects and is passionate about improving the built environment through thoughtful design. Outside of work, Claire enjoys backpacking, playing Dungeons & Dragons, and completing jigsaw puzzles.

Portrait of a smiling Marketing Manager at Design Draw Build Architects and Builders in San Francisco Bay Area.

Yanit Mehta is a seasoned Marketing Communication professional with experience in journalism, branding, photography, and filmmaking for diverse publications, renewable tech industries, educational institutions, and now a thoughtful community-driven design-build firm. Yanit uses his skills to develop cogent documentarian stories about housing and energy policy. You can find him training for marathons, photographing local musicians, interviewing folks around the Bay Area, or tutoring the under-resourced students at 826 Valencia.