Richard Best came to Los Angeles in 1980 to study under the world renowned architect, Charles W. Moore, FAIA while pursuing a Master of Architecture degree at the Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning at UCLA. Charles Moore soon became Richard's mentor – heavily influencing his approach to design, sensitivity to materials, and respect for the built environment.
While at UCLA, Richard was awarded a scholarship to attend the 1981 session of the International Laboratory of Architecture and Urban Design, organized and taught by Italian architect Giancarlo DeCarlo.
After graduating from UCLA with his Masters Degree in Architecture and apprenticing under Charles W. Moore, Richard Best became a California licensed architect in 1986, subsequently becoming nationally registered by NCARB in 1989 and a LEED® Accredited Professional in 2010 (BD+C). In 1988, with a full breadth of professional experience behind him and believing it incumbent upon architects to continuously strive to improve the human condition and respect the natural environment, Mr. Best established Richard Best Architect, Inc., in Los Angeles, California.
As a seasoned professional practice with a deep understanding of sustainability concepts and technology in energy, waste, carbon emissions, green building and other areas, the firm is able to identify tools, capitalize upon opportunities and mobilize resources for sustainability planning and implementation. Richard Best Architect, Inc. specializes in sustainable design and corporate sustainability visioning, culture building, strategic program creation and implementation to leverage the social, branding, and financial values of sustainability into profit-driven initiatives, operational cost reductions and risk diminution.
Richard Best Architect, Inc. provides their clients with homogenous real-time sustainability solutions for short-term business needs and long-term corporate sustainability success.
We believe in building design that emphasizes the LEED strategy of "Triple Bottom Line" - environmental, social and economic prosperity. We believe that eco-conscious design, fiscal responsibility, and high aesthetics are best combined into a design-synergy with overlapping benefits. We have a long history of eco-conscious architectural design begun in 1979 by our principal architect Richard Best, when he designed his first eco-conscious buildings.
Sustainable architecture is environmentally conscious building design which utilizes natural, technical and artistic forms and devices arranged to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings by enhancing efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, and development space.
Sustainable architecture is an integral part of the larger discussion of sustainability - pressing environmental, economic and political issues of our world. Most simply, the idea of sustainability, or ecological design, is to ensure that our actions and decisions today do not inhibit the opportunities of future generations.
Available upon request.