Aidlin Darling Design bridges the demands of artistic endeavor, environmental responsibility, functional pragmatics, and financial considerations. As a multidisciplinary firm, we believe that innovations discovered through the process of design and construction can be applied to projects of any scale, use, or purpose.
Partners Joshua Aidlin and David Darling have cultivated a team that strives to deliver the highest level of project management, service, and design. Our approach is client and site specific, and questions conventional assumptions. A collaborative process with clients, consultants, fabricators, and builders allows an open and impassioned exploration and enables a clear understanding of appropriate solutions. In each project, we seek to uncover and inherent spirit of place and interpret constraints as catalysts for performative design. The individual character of each project emerges through poetic spatial relationships, material richness and exacting detail.
Samples of Projects
Wexler's
The interior of this nouvelle barbeque restaurant is composed of a restrained palette of zinc and rift-sawn oak warmed by the honey glow of indirect lighting. Reminiscent of an agrarian heritage, the materials are given an uncharacteristic sense of refinement similar to the cuisine itself. Evocative of smoke and charred wood, a dynamic undulating ceiling installation composed of laser cut MDF fins bridges the gap between old and new by linking the modern insertion to the historic facade.
Partners Joshua Aidlin and David Darling have cultivated a team that strives to deliver the highest level of project management, service, and design. Our approach is client and site specific, and questions conventional assumptions. A collaborative process with clients, consultants, fabricators, and builders allows an open and impassioned exploration and enables a clear understanding of appropriate solutions. In each project, we seek to uncover and inherent spirit of place and interpret constraints as catalysts for performative design. The individual character of each project emerges through poetic spatial relationships, material richness and exacting detail.
Samples of Projects
Wexler's
The interior of this nouvelle barbeque restaurant is composed of a restrained palette of zinc and rift-sawn oak warmed by the honey glow of indirect lighting. Reminiscent of an agrarian heritage, the materials are given an uncharacteristic sense of refinement similar to the cuisine itself. Evocative of smoke and charred wood, a dynamic undulating ceiling installation composed of laser cut MDF fins bridges the gap between old and new by linking the modern insertion to the historic facade.
355 11th Street
This mixed-use renovation of an historic industrial structure has recently become San Francisco's first LEED Gold building. A new performative skin of perforated metal unifies functional, perceptual, and historic criteria. This diaphanous zinc scrim creates a dynamic facade of shifting and dissolving boundaries, referencing the original building's corrugated siding during the day and unveiling its reclaimed interior at night.
Sonoma Spa Retreat
ut into the landscape by two curved earthen walls, this new spa and swimming pool extend the outdoor living spaces of an existing rammed-earth house. A rustic trellis provides shade from the California sun and frames distant views of San Francisco to the south. The spa pavilion opens to the landscape, embracing its temperate climate and provides an intimate private retreat from the main house.
ut into the landscape by two curved earthen walls, this new spa and swimming pool extend the outdoor living spaces of an existing rammed-earth house. A rustic trellis provides shade from the California sun and frames distant views of San Francisco to the south. The spa pavilion opens to the landscape, embracing its temperate climate and provides an intimate private retreat from the main house.
Oak Knoll Residence
Perched on a hilltop with sweeping views of a valley below, the tendrils of this new house unravel between the existing oak trees to create a complex layering of architecture and landscape. Punctuated by a single, quiet tower, the balance of the new construction is rendered in small, single-story volumes that rest carefully beneath the tree canopy. Exterior courtyards and interior spaces are sculpted with a similar language and scale, blurring the boundary between building and site.
Perched on a hilltop with sweeping views of a valley below, the tendrils of this new house unravel between the existing oak trees to create a complex layering of architecture and landscape. Punctuated by a single, quiet tower, the balance of the new construction is rendered in small, single-story volumes that rest carefully beneath the tree canopy. Exterior courtyards and interior spaces are sculpted with a similar language and scale, blurring the boundary between building and site.
Marin Coastal Residence
Embracing panoramic views of San Francisco Bay, this hillside home is gently woven into the coastal terrain. Surrounded by gardens and nestled among existing oaks, the solar-powered and passively-cooled residence takes maximum advantage of its microclimate. The spatial composition elegantly balances the contrasting phenomenon of dynamic expansion and intimate repose. An organic materials palette embodies a sense of permanence and complements the natural landscape.
Embracing panoramic views of San Francisco Bay, this hillside home is gently woven into the coastal terrain. Surrounded by gardens and nestled among existing oaks, the solar-powered and passively-cooled residence takes maximum advantage of its microclimate. The spatial composition elegantly balances the contrasting phenomenon of dynamic expansion and intimate repose. An organic materials palette embodies a sense of permanence and complements the natural landscape.
Willits Retreat
This 2,700 square foot retreat perches discreetly within the pines on 500 acres of virgin California landscape. The completely off-grid structure is composed of two parallel but staggered monolithic walls, which edit and frame views of the rugged terrain. Cantilevered Corten steel appendages project from wall planes, providing entry from the east and a floating shower to the west. Disengaged roof planes and close proximity to the trees reinforce tactile perceptions of earth and sky.
This 2,700 square foot retreat perches discreetly within the pines on 500 acres of virgin California landscape. The completely off-grid structure is composed of two parallel but staggered monolithic walls, which edit and frame views of the rugged terrain. Cantilevered Corten steel appendages project from wall planes, providing entry from the east and a floating shower to the west. Disengaged roof planes and close proximity to the trees reinforce tactile perceptions of earth and sky.
