OOMBRA / FIRM PROFILE
ARCHITECTURE
WITH CARE.
We turn complex and challenging sites into clear, beautiful and memorable places.
Founded in 2017 and based in Philadelphia, with work in Detroit, OOMBRA is a collaborative design practice. We make thoughtful buildings that shape communities and bring people together.
From umbra (Latin) and ombra (Italian): shadow. The play of light and shadow that gives form—and the “OO” of everyone we work with and for.
PEOPLE.
PLACE.
COMMUNITY.
Our portfolio spans mixed-use and multifamily housing, affordable and mixed-income housing, theaters and cultural spaces, hospitality, and adaptive reuse.
We work with what is there. Often, the most sustainable building is the one that already exists—a reused structure, fewer new foundations, lower carbon, and a story that continues.
From the Frank Furness–designed Kensington National Bank in Philadelphia to the New American Theatre in Pittston and mixed-income housing in Detroit’s Brush Park, each project is shaped by its physical, historical and social context.
Explore our workA SHARED
PROCESS.
LISTEN CLOSELY. TEST CLEARLY.
BUILD SHARED VISION.
Every project begins with a conversation. We listen to understand our clients’ goals, constraints and aspirations, then work with clients, consultants, builders and communities to define what matters most.
Drawing, modeling and building make ideas tangible. We test spatial and planning scenarios, distill complexity into purpose, material, light, shadow and form, and stay engaged through cost analysis, bidding and construction.
DEFINE + DISCOVER
Understand the vision.
Read the site and context.
Ask the right questions.
DESIGN
Study precedents.
Explore and test possibilities.
Make the ideas clear.
DELIVER
Coordinate and document.
Communicate the vision.
Carry it through construction.
REFLECT
Learn from built work.
Listen, observe and evaluate.
Bring that learning forward.
SLOWLY. DELIBERATELY.
PAYING ATTENTION.
Architecture is the art of light and shadow. We work in its depth, bringing together people and collective expertise to create thoughtful places with lasting value.
We earn the next project with the last. And we measure success one way: we succeed when all succeed.