HAVEN:
AN INTERVIEW WITH LUKE AND ANI WADE, WADE DESIGN ARCHITECTS
4 December 2024
I met Luke and Ani Wade, the tremendously talented husband-and-wife duo at Wade Design Architects, through my dear friend Cherie Slane who has a knack for bringing like-minded people together. I had admired their work from a distance for some time, and was excited to get to know the talent behind the beautiful images on their website. As imagined, there was deep coherence between the way we approach our work, intentionally building spaces that center first around our clients values, needs, hopes, and dreams for their homes. Sitting down with Ani and Luke to dive into what inspires them and makes them unique was a true joy, a heartfelt conversation that I’ll hold dear. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did."
MQ: Should we jump right in? What does beauty mean to you?
LW: As architects and designers, we defend the beautiful. We have a responsibility to work collaboratively to defend beauty. The question is, what does beauty arise from? It’s not superficial, not an overlay – it’s deeper than that – and it’s that deeper beauty that we try to discover and illuminate.
MQ: Tell me a little bit about what makes you, you.
LW: We’re at a point where we’ve moved past stress as a motivator. We’re in the post-analysis phase, where we can relax into who we are and trust our process. There is a confidence that comes with arriving at this place in our careers.
MQ: You are 18 years into running your own business, correct? When did you start to feel that shift?
AW: It was a progression that began maybe 4 or 5 years ago. It really clicked when we redesigned our website, looked at our portfolio and thought, ‘wow, we’ve done a lot!’ LW: That early energy and nervousness is exciting, but the continuous feedback loop over time, seeing the experience and work build up over time, is a revelation.
MQ: How did it all start?
LW: We met in architecture school at the University of Texas, and after graduation, moved to California together.
MQ: Why California?
AW: The West Coast called to us. We explored a number of cities, and then opportunity drew us to San Francisco, where we started out working for different firms. LW: When I was working for Howard Backen, a project in the wine country made me realize how close and accessible the beauty of nature was to San Francisco. I realized that creating architecture in the landscape, rather than in urban settings, is what suited me best. I love walking the land. Every single project has a uniqueness of place that we get to explore and then knit something into. Most of our clients feel that good fortune too – they want to be on the land for the right reasons.
MQ: When did you establish your firm?
AW: We started in 2007. We were strategic about the process of going out on our own. First, we got married. Then I joined Luke at Howard Backen, we worked together for a bit, and then we went out on our own. Working together unveils a whole new level to a relationship. It can put a lot of pressure on you as a couple. We’re both good at what we do, but Luke is really good at what he does. Our skills are complementary. My organization and management skills are strong… They balance Luke’s design and creativity. LW: Being a good designer and having the ability to run a firm are not the same thing. I am in awe of Ani and the way she holds our firm together.
MQ: What is it that distinguishes you from other firms?
LW: Our obsessively client-centric approach to what we do. Our client’s needs are what guide us.
MQ: What does your process look like?
AW: We have a formula that we think works, and of course we tailor it for each client and project. We have an extensive questionnaire, followed up by calls and more time spent together with our clients.
LW: We bring them into the process and, if they’re willing, we ask for frequent feedback. I let them know what I find interesting about what they have told us about their lives. I try to draw them out, and make inferences about how they live their lives. I’m fascinated by the way the things we make have emotional resonance. That resonance is a product of our clients sharing their experiences and memories with us. And we’ll dive deeper, asking secondary questions that can often be the most illuminating. We’re always asking “why?” The impact of this deeper dive is subtle, but clients recognize its importance..
MQ: There is just something about designing a home…
LW: Residential architecture is something you get to have for yourself. There aren’t many things in the world quite like it. Each of us has memories of materiality and space from childhood. Knowing this, and incorporating it into our present day experience, allows new spaces to be finely tuned, beyond the ordinary.
MQ: Your work has a certain character to it – a recognizable approach.
LW: We are led by each client, but we are informed by our values. For example, it is important that our clients can relax into our spaces, and we defend that value. One of the ways we do that is the careful modulation of light. Light that contrasts too sharply strains the eye muscles, and how can you be relaxed under that strain? So we work to let light into each space that is balanced, always coming from two sources, which softens the space and the light that comes into it.
MQ: I am so impressed by your thoughtfulness and intentionality.
LW: The most important element of our design is how the space makes people feel. We ask our clients for both current and aspirational uses, then we ask them to prioritize them. In our process, there is always a “why.” Our goal for our partnerships is that the whole design team works together to tell the story of the life that will be lived in our project.
My drawings are not about architecture, they are about how life is lived in the space I am creating. I'm setting the scene for life."
MQ: Are there any other major drivers for you?
AW: It’s important to us to create contrasting scales of space.
LW: Small spaces – a window seat, a banquet – are like eddies in the stream, that create a kind of leavening. They balance the grandness of the home’s larger spaces and give a sense of perspective. They also enable the home to be comfortable for a group or for a single occupant. AW: Another driver is materiality. We like to have a softness to balance the amount of glass that is used to capture views and let in light. LW: We love anything that makes a home feel lived in.
MQ: Can you tell me about your first project?
AW: It was in St. Helena, on the floor of the Napa Valley – a small farmhouse for a client from Oklahoma. He had shown us a photograph of a white farmhouse from the midwest – a true farmhouse. He took a chance on us – we had no portfolio but he hired us because he felt he could trust us. He appreciated our ability to listen. He was a developer, so he had the confidence to make that choice.
MQ: So from the beginning, listening was a core value.
AW: We’ve always believed that we are providing a service. If you are in a service business, how can you not listen to what your client is saying? LW: We’ve never been self-indulgent. We are careful not to over persuade, and we work to help our clients understand the trade-offs…the pros and cons of each design decision.
A lot of decision-making involves paths not taken, but exploring the choices and the ramification of those choices is a valuable part of the process."
MQ: When did each of you know that you wanted to be an architect?
AW: My dad put the idea in my head in high school, and it stuck. I was artistic, and also good at math. I also love to teach – I could have seen myself becoming a teacher, and I tutored during college. Once I began to study architecture, I loved it. I still love it, but I’ve also come to love running our business. LW: I probably decided to become an architect when I graduated from architecture school! I’ve always loved communication, and thought I might become a lawyer. Communication is still a critical part of our practice. I loved architecture because the coursework was broad and interesting – it incorporates so many disciplines. It’s an ancient practice, but also cutting edge. I also like the idea of doing something that lasts. Growing up, I loved exploring and I spent summers building tree forts, so maybe it was always there.
MQ: Do you have any new projects you are particularly interested in?
AW: We are working on a project in an Elk Preserve on thousands of acres in Mendocino County that includes a historic ranch house. We are actually working on a number of projects for this client and this is exciting because we have built a strong relationship with the family. LW: Part of the fun of this project is the rusticity. If you polish something too much, it becomes too smooth and loses its sense of individuality. We try to stay away from the tendency to fetishize design. Working on this project, we’re reminded of the charm of the simplicity and straightforwardness of vernacular, working architecture – what would a ranch hand build? Just because something is considered doesn’t mean it is complex.
MQ: Which brings us to the subject of timelessness.
LW: We’re not big fans of “notice me” architecture. It can become too loud for the life that is being lived there. Doing work that is non-categorical makes it timeless.
MQ: What is the highlight of working together as husband and wife?
AW: It’s a gift to work together with someone whose strengths are different and complementary to your own. We also know that there is often more than one right answer, and there is value in having multiple perspectives. And we are pretty good at boundaries. Our offices are separated, which creates a sense of distinction that works for us, for our staff and for our clients. They appreciate the transparency and balance.
LW: Dream with Luke, wake up with Ani!
Each project is like a ship you build, and then let sail."
We love to finish up with some fun, rapid-fire questions, so here we go…
MQ: What’s the one thing you love most about what you do?
AW: Being at a job site under construction is what I love the most. Seeing our projects built and assisting the construction team to get there, in the most efficient and straightforward manner possible, is what I’m most passionate about.
MQ: Who — or what — inspires you?
AW: My team is what inspires me. Every person who works for Wade Design Architects is inspiring in one way or another, and I look up to every one of them.
MQ: If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing?
AW: I love architecture so much, this is a very hard question to answer, but if I had to choose something, it might be being a teacher or a professor in either art or mathematics. (I’m not sure I would want to be an architecture professor!)
MQ: How do you love spending time outside of work?
AW: I love cooking, and I love being with friends and hosting them in my home (again, usually cooking), but the one thing that I do outside of work that’s most nourishing is my yoga practice. I recently built a space for this in my home, and it has been one of the most gratifying things I’ve ever done.
MQ: What is one thing that most people don’t know about you?
AW: I think I might be too transparent for people not to know a lot about me!
MQ: Last book you read?
AW: The last (really good) book I read was Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.
MQ: Do you have a favorite quote? If so, we’d love to hear it!
AW: Sure… I like this one: ‘Your mind is a garden, your thoughts are the seeds. The harvest can either be flowers or it can be weeds’. It is credited to William Wordsworth.