BAR Architects & Interiors fully embraces Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in our workplace as integral to designing better environments. Striving for a world that is equitable and inclusive, our aim is to dismantle prejudice and racism and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion within our firm, our profession, and in the communities we serve through education, advocacy, professional development, outreach, and pro-bono services.

We recognize that we all have a responsibility to create an inclusive environment where each of us is welcomed, valued, respected, and empowered to bring our authentic selves to work every day. Design professions have historically, and continue to be, predominately comprised of individuals identifying as white and male. This is especially true in leadership roles. Change making requires reflection, recognition, and goals. As a business we have the opportunity to choose who we are and how we work together. As designers we have the opportunity to impact how communities change. Not afraid of lofty goals, BAR has several initiatives, both internally and externally, which aim to address inequities in the design profession and in communities at large.

Who We Are Today*

Transparently Tracking Who We Are

Through optional and anonymous survey participation, BAR’s Human Resources department tracks our staff diversity. As a firm we track how staff identify their gender, race, and religion. We evaluate these metrics based on staff at large, as well as by specific leadership bands.

Gender Identification

BAR is approximately 57% male and 43% female. This is above the industry average which is approximately 25% female.

Racial Identification

BAR is approximately 55% white. This is less than the industry standard which is approximately 71% white.

BAR’s non-white staff is majority Asian, which parallels census data for our offices’ locations.

BAR’s staff represent a broad spectrum of generational diversity.

*current as of January 1, 2024

Building a More Diverse Staff

We are committed to having a more diverse staff and have identified near- and long-term goals for our firm, which are based on census data for the Bay Area and Southern California, graduating rates of design schools, and industry trends. We are moving towards a goal of our Ownership team being a minimum 50% female and 40% minority; supported by a staff which mirrors the gender and racial diversity of California. Striving to lead the way we have diversified where we place job postings, broadened the schools from which we source interns, and made strategic investments of time and money in external organizations aiding emerging professionals.

Additional Internal Initiatives

Trainings & Workshops

BAR has instituted trainings, workshops, and professional development opportunities focusing on equity, inclusion, and unconscious bias for staff at all levels. This has included professional led trainings, digital/recorded lessons, and conference attendance.

DEI Group

Formed in 2020, BAR’s DEI Group is made up of a cross section of staff. The Group raises our awareness of intolerance, prejudice, and racism within our society and profession, and holds the BAR community accountable to living up to our ideals. They provide opportunities, resources, feedback, and vision to push for a better future. The Group meets monthly with the firm’s leadership, issues a quarterly DEI Newsletter, tracks the firm’s progress towards goals, organizes office-wide forums to bring diverse voices together around present-day issues, and holds us accountable on our journey towards anti-racism.

Working with Partners with Similar Goals

BAR strives to work with partners that share a similar commitment: ensuring a diverse representation of individuals and groups on our project teams, encompassing a range of characteristics, including, but not limited to, race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability/disability, national origin and body size. We look to partner with firms who provide an equitable workplace, a cultural environment where fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all people is the norm. In consultant RFP’s we request statements outlining commitments and goals.

External Initiatives

Partnerships with Industry Organizations.

We are committed to addressing the under-representation of minorities in our practice and profession, and to creating opportunities for current and future generations of BIPOC architects and designers. We are a President’s Circle member of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), and active in NOMA’s Project Pipeline in San Francisco and Los Angeles. We have staff contributing to the AIA’s Women in Architecture, Latinx in Architecture, and Latinos In Action, as well as Arquitina. The goal of these engagements is to build broader representation, and ensure a more equitable means for the career advancement of BIPOC designers.

Probono Work

Design is a right, not a privilege, and architecture has the ability to bring greater equity and inclusion to our built world. As a firm and as individuals, we channel our passion for design to support local and globally based non-profits dedicated to improving education, the environment, and access to the arts to help ensure opportunities for all. Each year BAR commits 1% of our time to pro bono design opportunities. We have provided probono architecture and/or interiors services for The Children’s Academy (Haiti), Blue Bear School of Music, Habitat for Humanity, Bayview BOOM, and SF Mime Troupe, among others.

Community Service

In addition to probono work we enjoying breaking free from design to clean up beaches and rivers, restore parks, pack food at Food Banks, organize toy drives, and design parklets. We also volunteer in schools, focusing on design thinking with students, to help ensure a more diverse pipeline of future designers.

+Future

BAR recognizes the need to create a more equitable environment for black and brown communities who bear a significant brunt of climate change, air quality, and access to clean open space. We are dedicated to achieving Environmental Justice in our projects to help do so. Please visit our +Future page to learn more.