Charles Debbas Architecture

I met Charles on a home tour. I was impressed by the renovation and even his furniture design. I asked him if he knew who did the landscaping and he said he did it. I said, “But you aren’t a landscape architect.” He replied, “Design is design.” Well, he went on to design my front yard hardscape and plantings, and it turned out to be quite eye catching, I think the best in my neighborhood. So, here I am in Dubai on an architectural tour, and happened to mention his name to one of the architect guides, and he knows of Charles! Additionally, Charles is a wonderful person.

I had the pleasure of working with Charles Debbas and his team on a major renovation spanning 2.5 years. Charles is a talented professional with incredible attention to detail, generous client-professional relationships, immense creativity with any design dilemma, a deep emotional investment in the success of each project, decades of experience and best of all a warm and open heart. Everywhere Charles goes he knows a friend and people seek him out. Any client would be lucky to work with Charles and his team.

We first met Charles Debbas when a friend suggested we consult with him on an addition to our Mid-century Ranch-style house. We needed extra space, namely a room that would double as a study and guest bedroom, as well as a guest bathroom and a laundry room. Charles walked into our house and immediately envisioned a number of creative solutions to meet our objective. From that moment on, there was no doubt that we would be working with him. Although we had consulted with other architects, we found Charles’ approach and proposed solutions the most exciting. He presented us with a functional and brilliant design. Charles’ sense of style, his superlative taste and his easy-going manner and personality left us feeling we would get what we wanted and more. He created a luminous, bright and warm space. Through an ingenious use of glass and windows, the addition allows us to enjoy our garden from any angle. We ended up with a finished project that seamlessly integrated the addition with the rest of the existing house, projecting a fresh and contemporary look. We were extremely satisfied with the final outcome of the project. We would highly recommend Charles to anyone who is considering any type of architectural design work.

The experience of working with Charles Debbas has been wonderful and impactful on our lives. My husband and I have worked with Charles on several projects, which have been diverse in nature, over the last 20 years. Why do we keep returning? We find Charles to be Brilliant in his problem solving, forward thinking and his ability to create an environment that is both functional, dramatic and always beautiful never fails. His environments stand the test of time. When friends come over, they still comment, 15 years later on the beauty of our kitchen, the creative use of materials, and the sophisticated palette. Currently we have been able to develop a large lot into a most magnificent garden space and entertainment center. People we do not even know stop by to stare and comment on how wonderful it is. It is difficult to put in to words how he conceptualized creating “privacy in an urban environment,” with materials and colors that are soothing, do not detract from the “garden environment,” yet stand alone and make a wonderful architectural statement. Simple yet complex, it is a most amazing garden. We would like to continue by raving about how wonderful he is to work with. He is a special person who listens to our needs and desires and is able to translate that to something “spectacular,” and like no other. His brilliance incorporates an attention to detail that is key. He stays through every stage of the project, and works to help achieve the execution at its highest and best, and to make modifications if and where needed. We feel that working with and knowing Charles has given us fulfillment and excitement as we have created something spectacular. We have experienced the delight of working with a true professional and genuinely warm human being.

I hired Charles after talking to numerous architects to remodel a building previously used as an automotive repair shop into a floral design studio .He had great ideas, worked with the contractor, kept me informed and stuck to a tight budget. The space turned out beautiful, held its own against all the floral designs and was a pleasure to work in.. Many times people would walk in just to look at the space. Charles did a great job!

Charles is a creative gem! His designs are sophisticated and refined; yet he creates environments quite comfortable to live in. He listens carefully to the client’s project requirements, and then, using his exquisite sense of aesthetics, designs solutions that surprise and delight. I was so pleased with the plans he designed for my extensive home remodel that, years later, I hired him again to develop another set of plans for a new house. Both times I worked with Charles, he not only met my project requirements, he far surpassed my expectations. It is a joy to work with Charles because he maintains his good humor throughout even the longest projects. Working in a closely collaborative manner, he brings his clients into the creative process, so that the end result feels like a perfect fit. I hope to have the pleasure of hiring Charles again, and I highly recommend him. Sincerely, Joan Davis Simons

Charles Debbas is a supremely talented architect and industrial designer, as well as a very gifted teacher. His houses and other buildings are highly inventive in the way each solves a particular problem of site or context, or meets a client need. They are elegantly organic in their use of natural forms and materials, and in the way they manipulate the play of light. His projects have won numerous design awards from Sunset magazine and other publications. I occasionally serve on juries for his Stanford University architecture studios and am always impressed with his ability to draw the highest levels of creativity from his students. I could not recommend Charles Debbas more highly.

Charles Debbas is an architect of extraordinary talent. He a spacial genius, able to envision ideas from clients into reality with his own strokes. We worked with Charles to create a new art gallery, studio space and living on a city lot 40 x 100 ft. Our first architects could not get through the strict planning department requirements; we went round and round with them until we found Charles who blew us away with a drawing he came up in three days. Once hired he also quickly slid through Berkeley design review and zoning boards with nods of approval from all departments. Any item of contention, from anyone, he would say, "yes, we can do that". Never an argument, never an ego that suffered rejection - it was as smooth and painless as it could be. We have lived in our house/gallery/studio for 12 years and there isn't a single thing we would change. It won an architectural award and continues to get many compliments from visitors to the gallery

Charles Debbas is a creative visionary who can take any project of any size on nearly any budget and transform it into a timeless piece of art. For an award-winning architect who is obviously so well known and talented, Charles is refreshingly personable, completely eliminating the intimidation of the design and drafting process. He was very patient in guiding us seamlessly through what could otherwise be a daunting process. Charles asked all the right questions, both general and specific, and did not mind when we reconsidered or revisited issues on various design concepts he created for us, all of which were, in our opinion, "jaw dropping," so that we could choose our final design. He genuinely listened to our needs regarding function, style and budget, and returned to us an incredible selection of design concepts that we would have never - never - considered, all of which were surprisingly cost-effective.