Halperin and Christ, started as Built Designs in 1987, is a unique Bay Area architectural firm that has gone through several transformations in response to the changing times.
We started as a design build firm, building out many of our design projects with a custom construction crew led by Eric Christ. Fran Halperin ran the architectural department and designed jobs that were built by our own crew in a traditional design build relationship, as well as projects that were built by other contractors. Over the last 30 years we have remodeled hundreds of homes, built over 30 homes from the ground up, designed countless additions to existing houses, designed and built a Napa Valley winery and designed several commercial spaces.
In 2001 Eric and Fran transitioned to Halperin and Christ Inc. primarily practicing architecture with some occasional construction consultations.
In 2007, in anticipation of the "great recession", we closed our offices and went on a 7 month road trip around the US, including some time (3 weeks) working on a Katrina affected home. Due to the economic uncertainty following 2008 we began doing design consultation for clients who desired professional assistance, but who didn't want to incur the cost of full architectural services. We have found that these "fly-by" consultations make the best use of our time and are very effective for our clients. We are able to kick-start jobs, help clients visualize design possibilities, solve space problems quickly or guide people through the entire design and construction process.
We both enjoy architecture, construction and creative approaches to unusual problems. We also appreciate small, well designed spaces, unusual solutions to special constraints and making homes more livable. For the past 12 years we have been involved in retrofitting existing homes to make them accessible, allowing current residents to "age in place". We are interested in sustainability, livability and design solutions that tread as lightly as possible on the planet.
Our firm is happy to work on a project as small as a tile splash design for a kitchen, or as large as a new home.
