Meet Stephanie Ragle of office42 architecture

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Ragle.

Hi Stephanie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
office42 architecture began nearly two decades ago in apartment #42 located in downtown Los Angeles’ Arts District by me and my husband Ben Ragle. Our business began with one residential project, and we now have 50-60 large and small residential, commercial, and non-profit projects all over Los Angeles, and we have truly built up our business one brick at a time. Our firm now works on various City and County projects and the firm now has 15 employees.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Honestly, we have been lucky, and through hard work and perseverance we are fortunate to now be one of the architects selected to be on the bench for the City of Los Angeles. We were also chosen to be one of the selected architects for other agencies such as the City of Long Beach, County of LA Department of Parks and Rec, the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority, to name a few. However, getting verified for the City of Los Angeles was a special point of pride so that we can work in the city that we reside and there were many hurdles. Being able to partner with bigger firms as a small business helped get us in the door and we have been fortunate to stand on the shoulders of a couple of firms who have supported us for years. From here, we’re now able to be that firm…The one that can successfully manage large projects and also help smaller businesses to get in the door.

Our mission has been to provide the largest impact in the City and the County we love. These pre-approval bench opportunities have allowed us to be able to work on civic and public projects, and we continue to work with non-profits and agencies that support underserved communities.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about office42 architecture?
My husband and business partner Ben and I met on the first day of architecture school at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1993. We have lived in New York, India, and traveled all over the world. This experience has contributed to how we work, our vision as designers, and our commitment to building strong communities. We truly believe that good design can change and improve people’s lives.

We started office42 architecture in 2007 during the housing recession and pivoted the firm to design-build and bid directly to sub contractors to have the firm directly run the construction projects. After successfully completing a number of projects in this model, when the economies favored a traditional construction approach, the firm pivoted away from design-build. However, we have retained that sense of ownership of budget and schedule to make sure that we are serving our clients best with great design that also meets the budget.

In addition to being a licensed architect, I am also a certified interior designer. Within the past five years, office42 has helped to install over 1600 beds for new apartment units in permanent supportive housing across Southern California. We have also built into those contracts a Community Build Day, which is a community engagement mechanism for office42 to work directly with staff and residents to directly complete a small piece of the project. We lead this workshop to paint pots or murals, plant vegetation, or otherwise help the end-users to get involved in the completion of their shared spaces to build a sense of community and ownership.

Further, our firm recently became the first B-Corp (Benefit Corporation) certified architecture practice in Los Angeles, reflecting our commitment to ethical and sustainable design for all. This has been a significant achievement for office42 architecture and is a driving force in our continued commitment to community, inclusivity, and environmental sustainability for our clients.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
I really love the diversity of people, experiences, and opportunity in Los Angeles. In our City, neighborhoods are not dictated. I love the juxtaposition of things. You can have a cool restaurant next to a taco cart or mom-and-pop grocery store right next to a luxury high-rise apartment. In other large cities, your status is often based on where you live. Even in the dense urban areas where we live and work in Echo Park and Cypress Park, I know and care for my neighbors and believe in connection and supporting each other for a cohesive ecosystem. Los Angeles has a pioneering spirit of making things happen, and I still have hope that we can each create the life we want here. In some cities you can have a lifestyle, but in LA you can have a life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://office42.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/office42architecture/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/office42architecture/?viewAsMember=true

Image Credits
Stephanie Ragle and Claudia Espino