CO Architects is a practice dedicated to making buildings that enrich people’s lives — places of lasting significance that appeal as fully to the spirit as to the intellect. Their extensive portfolio includes large and complex institutional, civic, academic, medical education, science and technology, and healthcare projects.

Their practice is founded on a culture of integrity and mutual respect, and committed to continuous learning in support of professional and personal growth. They couple their depth of experience with a genuine delight in the craft and technology of building.

They believe that good buildings reinforce the coherence of their surroundings and maintain their physical and cultural significance over time. They are renowned for functional, green, and graceful design solutions that embody the timeless values of the institutions they serve, while fulfilling programmatic and technical expectations.

CO Architects is dedicated to perpetual innovation and continual improvement — it’s how they think; it defines how they operate.

A Culture of Discovery

CO Architects serves mission-driven clients with designs that are catalysts for collaboration and progress — places that support new ways of working, learning, healing, and innovating.

Design emerges through a creative, iterative process of discovery. Clients and consultants are collaborative partners in their persistent search for the solution that best fits the needs of the program and site. Principals actively lead project teams in a practice founded on a structure of participation. Their senior staff share a common store of knowledge and expertise, developed over nearly three decades, which informs every project.

Founded in 1986 as a regional office of Anshen + Allen, CO became an autonomous office a decade later. In recognition of their commitment to collaboration, cohesion, and commitment, the independent firm became CO Architects in 2005. Over the past 37 years, the CO philosophy has propelled the firm’s growth with a diversity of multi-disciplinary designers and staff, supporting clients and projects and two office locations (Los Angeles and San Diego).

RANKINGS (2021-23):

#52 in Architectural Record’s Top 300 Architecture Firms

#2 on Los Angeles Business Journal’s “The List” of Architecture Firms

Trends in Healthcare for 2023

by Gina Chang, Principal, CO Architects

The first few months of a new year is always a great time to reflect on the past year and the trends affecting the healthcare industry today. The Advisory Board’s State of the Industry webinar discussed many market disruptors causing transformation, which include global stressors, demand volatility, vertical ecosystems and innovation investment.

How do these market disruptors affect the trends in healthcare? Some trends we are seeing at CO Architects include a renewed focus on health equity, staff recruitment & retention and innovation in technology. Currently in construction, our forward-thinking design of the UCI Medical Center Irvine supports industry change and is prepared to accommodate future evolution in healthcare.

Excerpt edited for length and content.

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