Michael P. Martinez – AIA, recently joined IS Architecture, bringing with him over 16 years of experience.  He is well versed in a variety of projects including high-end residential, rebuilding “fire storm” houses, multi-family housing, small additions, commercial and university work, and historic preservation.  The wealth of his experience and talent, not to mention his passion, is in high-end residential and historic preservation.  Creating quality design solutions for individual clients presents unique challenges and gives great rewards. He likes to point out that the best design means nothing if it is not well-executed. Great pride is taken in the quality of the documents that he produces and the fact that he has maintained good relations with present and past home owner clients, consultants, and contractors.

Mr. Martinez was previously with the firm Heritage Architecture, where he worked on a variety of historic projects.  His first project was an Irving Gill house in Coronado.  Two other projects of note while he was at the firm were the Jensen/Alvarado Winery in Riverside, a restoration project, and the Monrovia Santa Fe Depot, which was an adaptive reuse project.  In addition to physical work on the building, he was also involved in reports of existing buildings.  These projects ranged from an “existing condition assessment and repair recommendation report” on the Scripps Chapel to “adaptive reuses study” of Elsinore Naval & Military School.

Prior to Heritage Architecture, he was with Pacific Design Studio in Sacramento.  He served as the Project Architect on a variety of projects such as custom homes, track housing, apartments, industrial and commercial construction. This office had projects in a variety of locations such as the San Francisco Bay Area, the Sacramento Delta, and the Sierras. Each location required a unique response to the local vernacular and climate. Many of the projects were in older communities where it was necessary to fit within the historic architectural style.

Mr. Martinez started his architectural career while attending school at UC Berkeley.  He had the great fortune of joining the award winning firm Brocchini Architects, a well established firm in the San Francisco Bay Area that dealt in high-end residential, historic preservation, restaurants, and university work.  During his 11 years with the firm, he learned all aspects of projects starting out as an intern and ending up as a Project Architect. The firm is well known for its high-end homes and was sought out for its quality of design in the overall building as well as the interior spaces and detailing; it was also known for its collaborations between the client and the contractors. 

Overall Mr. Martinez is well versed in a wide variety of projects, highly skilled in all aspects as an architect, and fluent in most architectural styles.