Summer 2025 – Newsletter
SHELTER
Water as Design Legacy
All the water that exists on earth is all the water that has ever existed on earth. Every material, product and system choice shapes what ultimately flows into our water.
Paints are the #1 source of microplastics in our oceans. Choosing lime-based paints, like those we used in our Mint Hill project, eliminate plastic-based compounds that can leach into waterways. For exteriors we specify whole materials like wood, clay, stucco and stone and avoid plastic composites. Laundry microplastic filters like this one from Filtrol are installed as standard in our projects capturing synthetic microfibers from clothing at the source—your laundry room—preventing them from entering wastewater streams.
Beyond preventing pollution, we also focus on regenerating water systems. At our Ocean Beach Surf House Project we installed a green roof and pervious surfaces including sand set pavers and a native or naturalized garden by Edgelands Designs to allow rain water to percolate and recharge the groundwater. At our Mission District House Social project we partnered with Water Champions to install a gray water system to collect water from showers, sinks, and laundry, redirecting it for toilet flushing, laundry and to nourish landscapes instead of sending it down the drain. The gray water system for this family of fours saves on average 1,000 gallons /month which means this home diverts less water from the Tuolumne River. Purple pipes safely distribute this recycled water, ensuring treated non-potable water remains distinct from drinking water.
Together, these practices—microplastic
[Photo 1: URBAN SHELTER By Leslie Williamson]
[Photo 2: SURFHOUSE By MARGARET AUSTIN]
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COMMUNITY
Honoring Place
We’re honored that our Land Sails project was shortlisted by the residents of Marou Village for the LAGI 2025 Fiji exhibition—and will be featured in the upcoming book, Climate Art: Powering Island Communities in the 21st Century.
This unique design competition invited the world to imagine an artwork that could generate clean energy and drinking water for Marou’s 67 households—supporting both daily life and long-term resilience. Our submission began by listening—to the land, to the wind, and to the cultural wisdom embedded in traditional Fijian vessels, migratory birds, mangroves, and even vertebrae.
Rather than resist nature, Land Sails moves with it—a biophilic design rooted in partnership, place, and mutual respect.
[Photo 3: landsails]
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research
Restoring San Francisco’s Hidden Water Source
Beneath San Francisco’s west side lies the Westside Basin Aquifer—a natural reservoir disrupted by pavement and over-pumping. Instead of soaking into the ground, rainwater now rushes into storm drains and out to sea, taking our water supply with it.
Red Dot has partnered with Westside Water Resources to change this story. Through collective rooftop catchment systems, exploring silicone-based roofing for clean runoff without microplastic contamination, West Side Water Resources is capturing stormwater and returning it to the aquifer where it belongs. These aren’t just drainage solutions, they’re restoration projects that rebuild a critical local water source while reducing pressure on aging infrastructure.
In the recent webinar hosted by the Sierra Club and Green SF Now, our principal Karen Curtiss joined DJ Jacuzzi of Westside Water Resources and shared how water-conscious design is reshaping San Francisco’s relationship with this precious resource.
→ Watch the full webinar recording
[Photo 4: OpenSFHistory / wnp15.355/circa 1910/Outer Sunset
Galleries: Willard E. Worden]
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culture
Focusing on our Future
Last month, our team gathered for part two of our team retreat at Red Dot Ranch to explore our core mission and define our guiding principles. Through collaborative dialogue, four fundamental pillars emerged to guide our practice:
Research – Remembering and innovating within regenerative systems, especially in water-safe design.
Shelter – The most ubiquitous building typology in the world, we create homes that shape well being for people and the planet.
Community – We design community places of care that knit the social and ecological fabric together.
Culture – We believe humans can be a beneficial part of the ecosystem.
Thanks to Operations Manager Jackie Adams for capturing these moments of discovery, and to Red Dot Ranch for providing the perfect space where ideas could take root.
[Photo 5: jackie at red dot ranch during our retreat]
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about us
Red Dot Studio is an architecture firm that believes when you listen, watch, and learn the making comes naturally. We are a multidisciplinary firm engaging in research and design to build shelter for people and communities.
Red Dot Studio is located on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ramaytush Ohlone. We wish to recognize Indigenous perspectives and pay our respect to the Ancestors and Community of the Ohlone and to affirm their sovereign rights as First Peoples.
