PBLC is an architecture studio based in Los Angeles, practicing globally. We begin each project by identifying the specific problem embedded in a site, program, existing condition, or idea. Each project starts from the same place: finding the question worth asking. Rather than imposing a predetermined formal language, we develop geometric solutions that respond directly to the particular demands of each project.

Structure, circulation, material, and form are developed as a single, integrated proposition, so that the architecture grows from the logic of the problem itself. This process produces buildings that are both precise and surprising: clear in their organization, yet capable of offering richer spatial experiences over time.

Working across residential, workplace, cultural, and speculative projects, PBLC is interested in architecture whose distinctiveness comes not from style, but from the careful transformation of constraint into form. The name reflects a broader conviction that even the most private building enters a public world through the lives it shapes and the larger context to which it belongs.

The aim is to create architecture that is rigorous in conception, exacting in execution, and rewarding in experience.

Principal: Steven Christensen AIA NCARB LEED AP

Steven Christensen is an architect and founder of PBLC. A graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, he has taught design, construction, and representation at the University of Michigan and UCLA, and has served as an invited critic at institutions including Harvard, SCI-Arc, USC, Woodbury, Michigan, and Cambridge. Before establishing his independent practice, he worked on widely published and exhibited projects for Preston Scott Cohen, Gensler, and CORE. His work is shaped by parallel interests in architecture and psychology, and by an ongoing interest in how geometry, perception, and use intersect in the experience of buildings. His projects have been widely published, exhibited, and recognized through awards from The Architectural Review, Architizer, The Architect’s Newspaper, Architect, AZURE, Interior Design, and the AIA.

Our environmental approach:

PBLC approaches sustainability through restraint, precision, and longevity rather than image. Each project is an opportunity to preserve more of what already exists, reduce unnecessary intervention, simplify where simplification improves performance, and use material with greater discipline. The goal is not to make environmental responsibility visible as a style, but to embed it in buildings that are durable, resilient, and exacting enough to justify the resources they require.

Awards:

AR Future Projects Award, The Architectural Review + MIPIM: Liepāja Thermal Bath

A+ Awards, Architizer, Jury Award: Liepāja Thermal Bath

A+ Awards, Architizer, Special Mention: Emigration House

A+ Awards, Architizer, Special Mention: Heptagon House

Young Architect’s Award, The Architect’s Newspaper

American Architecture Award: Liepāja Thermal Bath

American Architecture Award: Bandersnatch

Best of Year Honoree, Interior Design Magazine: Emigration House

Architect Magazine Residential Architect Design Award, Honorable Mention: Emigration House

American Architecture Prize, Silver: Liepāja Thermal Bath

American Architecture Prize, Honorable Mention: Heptagon House

Best of the BEST Award, IIDA Intermountain Chapter: Venafi Headquarters

BEST Award, Work over 15,000 SF, IIDA Intermountain Chapter: Venafi Headquarters

BEST Award, Live – Single Unit, IIDA Intermountain Chapter: Broadway Loft

AZ Award of Merit, AZURE Magazine: Liepāja Thermal Bath

AZ People's Choice Award, AZURE Magazine: Liepāja Thermal Bath

Architect Magazine Residential Architect Design Award: Heptagon House

AIA Los Angeles NEXT LA Design Award, Citation: Bandersnatch

IDA International Design Award, Gold: Liepāja Thermal Bath

IDA International Design Award, Bronze: Heptagon House

AIA California Council Residential Design Award, Merit: Heptagon House

AIA Los Angeles NEXT LA Design Award, Merit: Heptagon House

AIA Los Angeles Next LA Design Award, Citation: Liepāja Thermal Bath

AIA Los Angeles NEXT LA Design Award, Citation: Pop-Up Chapel

Curriculum Vitae