04/16/2026
Meet Rachel Hettipola, our featured colleague this month! Rachel has been with Skurman since she graduated from the architecture program at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. She says she was interested in a residential firm with a smaller studio atmosphere, and Skurman ended up being a great match. A perk for her was returning to the West Coast, which feels like home to her - she grew up in far northern California. Rachel has risen through the ranks over the years, and now manages numerous projects for the firm, as a Senior Architect. Rachel says that to her, "Classicism is timeless appeal - design that pays attention to proportion, symmetry, and historical precedents. It can be extremely ornate, or pared back and simple, and either way the end result is well balanced." Right now she's working on a Spanish Revival style residence in Palo Alto. She is also deep into remodels of two historic homes by Arthur Brown Jr. - he is perhaps best known for his civic work (including San Francisco’s City Hall), but he designed many beautiful residences in the Bay Area as well. We're certainly very lucky and very glad to have Rachel at Skurman Architects.
Headshot by Sarah Thompson Studios
