Opticos Design, Inc.

Have you met the individuals leading the site planning and architecture team at Opticos Design? They design walkable, context-sensitive places and help take projects from early visioning and sketching through implementation. Their work is rooted in human-scale design, distinctive placemaking, and creating buildings and neighborhoods that feel authentic to their setting.

Their project experience includes work on:

- Culdesac in Tempe, AZ — a mobility rich, climate-responsive neighborhood and national innovation in walkability
- Prairie Queen in Papillion, NE — described as the nation’s first all–Missing Middle neighborhood
- The Shoals in Athens, GA, West Village in Florence, AL, and a new community in Georgetown, TX
- Bayview Heights in Erie, PA – a courtyard infill development in the West Bayfront neighborhood
- West Village in Florence, AL – stitching back the urban fabric with an extended main street, connected third spaces, and a variety of housing types
- River House Cottages in Healdsburg, CA,
- Civic Center Apartments, a Homekey funded permanent supportive housing adaptive rehab of a Motel 6 in Richmond, CA

Across these efforts, the team brings expertise in architecture, site planning, urban design, sustainability, and Missing Middle housing, with experience ranging from infill housing and transit-oriented development to larger neighborhood design.

Their focus is consistent: creating beautiful, connected places that welcome people of all ages, incomes, and stages of life.

👉 Want to learn more or connect with the team? Get in touch - [link in bio]

Have you met the team leading urban design work at Opticos Design?

They’re shaping neighborhoods, downtowns, and housing strategies across the country by bringing together planning, architecture, feasibility, and community insight to create places that are walkable, connected, and built to last.

Their work spans:

- Downtown, corridor and specific plans in places like Healdsburg, CA and Littleton, CO
- Missing Middle Housing studies and regional toolkits in Sacramento, Puget Sound, and statewide in Utah
- Comprehensive plans such as Memphis 3.0 and neighborhood-level implementation across Memphis, TN and Kauaʻi County, HI
- Form-based codes and zoning updates in the Bay Area, Texas, and across Kauaʻi County
- Housing and mixed-use development studies in Louisville and the Omaha area, that support policy, regulatory change, and decision-making that delivers housing choice
- Neighborhood plans and disposition strategies to deliver attainable housing on city land in Santa Fe, NM and Mammoth Lakes, CA.
With expertise spanning urban design, zoning, architecture, and community engagement, this team works from early visioning through implementation by helping communities turn complex ideas into clear, actionable solutions.

Their focus is simple:
design places shaped by people, context, and long-term impact.

👉 Want to learn more or connect with the team?
Get in touch (link in bio)

We build in time to keep our skills sharp, and our weekly Sketch Throwdowns are one way we do it. Just 15 minutes to practice rendering, try things out, and keep getting better at how we draw and communicate. It’s a space to explore, pick up new techniques, and connect over the craft. Here are a few drawings from our most recent sketch throwdown!