From Left to Right: Erin Conner, J. Conner and Anne Tierney. Photo by Sita Rupe.

Tierney Conner, based in Oakland, CA, is a full-service firm integrating the fields of architecture, landscape and interiors. The two co-founders, Anne Tierney and Erin Conner, decided to create their own practice after the two each became mothers. For this weeks Small Studio Snapshot, we talk with the team about their journey. 

How many people are in your practice?

5.

Why were you originally motivated to start your own practice? 

We met in 1994 while working in a retail nursery and quickly became good friends over our love of plants, modern architecture, California living and earl grey tea. After both completing our Masters degrees in architecture and working for other firms, we decided it was time to go out on our own when we became mothers. 

How did starting a practice help with the transition into motherhood?

We shared a similar vision for work and life, so partnering enabled us to have both dedicated design time and family time. The flexibility afforded by our own practice was one of the keys to our success as moms of young children!

What hurdles have you come across?

Getting our name out! Over the years, we've dedicated ourselves to our clients to make sure they are getting the best design and work while also marking sure our kids are getting the benefits of more direct parental involvement. That leaves little time for engaging in finding new clients. We've been lucky to have many repeat clients and referrals which has sustained our business. 

After 10 years, J. Conner—who had been working with us in the background while working at another architecture firm—recently joined our practice. He brings experience in multi-family and commercial projects, so now we do it all. We're in an exciting period of growth as we move beyond our mom and mom model.

Is scaling up a goal or would you like to maintain the size of your practice?

We would like to grow but not indefinitely. We foresee our practice gaining several more designers in the future, but we would like to remain agile at around 10 people. With a firm of that size, we would still be actively involved with all of our clients as that's one of the things we really enjoy.

What are the benefits of having your own practice? And staying small? 

Being a small practice enables us to offer close collaboration with our clients and makes us an ideal team for large, long-term projects because we are able to devote our time to guiding clients through each step. Our projects thrive off of this high level of interactivity—it is often the case that our clients become long term friends. Our office atmosphere is one of a tight knit team that works hard and plays hard.