F36 is an Oakland-based design studio founded by Arlene Lee and Chip Minnick in 2008. Our design process aims to produce quality work assembled with sensible and economically viable construction techniques, without sacrificing moments of extravagance if and when appropriate.

The partners met while in the Master’s program at SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture.) Arlene did her undergraduate work at the University of Michigan. She came to F36 with considerable hospitality experience and worked as a designer on the fashionable downtown Los Angeles hotel, The Standard. Prior to F36 Arlene spent seven years as a designer and project manager at Peterson Architects in San Francisco. Chip came to California from Boston Architectural College, a work-study bachelor’s program. In LA, he worked as a designer on MIT’s Stata Center while at Frank O. Gehry and Associates before joining a residential firm that brought him to the Bay Area. Prior to starting F36, he was an associate at Schwartz and Architecture in San Francisco. Chip is a senior adjunct professor at California College of the Arts. He is a licensed architect in the State of California.