Mark Cavagnero Associates Architects

Mark Cavagnero, FAIA, founded Mark Cavagnero Associates in 1988, and has guided its growth into a design-centered practice serving clients internationally. His work embodies a timeless quality, visible in a broad range of renovation and new construction work. Mark is focused on creating tangible spaces that encourage the ephemeral aspects of human interactions.
As the founding principal of the firm, Mark provides leadership over the design of all projects within the office. He brings over three decades of expertise in the planning, design and construction and has been recognized for seamlessly integrating environmental, cultural and contextual strategies to curate a holistic design approach, through various building types from education, museums, civic buildings, theaters, and residential buildings. 

His projects are known for careful attention to balanced natural light through all parts of the building, in support of activities and wellness of the occupants. Mark Cavagnero Associates’ approach in design has garnered the firm more than 100 awards from international, national, state, and local organizations.
Mark has personally been recognized with the AIACC 2010 Distinguished Practice Award and the AIACC 2015 Maybeck Award for outstanding lifetime achievement, among many other accolades. He is currently engaged on projects throughout North America, including the new San Francisco Moscone Center Expansion; San Francisco Conservatory of Music; the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, Quest Diagnostics headquarters in New York; as well as projects for Salesforce spanning across Asia, North America and Europe.

Aaron Jon Hyland, FAIA, serves as Managing Principal for the firm. Aaron is an architect with more than 30 years of experience in design, preservation and placemaking. He is an active voice in the Bay Area design and construction community. As Managing Principal, Aaron is responsible for the development and implementation of the firm-wide strategic plan, coordination of the firm’s practice globally, and the requisite management and support to projects office-wide. Prior to joining MCA, Aaron spent more than two decades at Architectural Resources Group, including as Managing Principal for eight years.

Aaron believes that the meaning and memory that places carry are the foundation on which to build our future. He thrives on engaging people and communities to create memorable, inspiring places to live, work and play — connecting them to each other and to their sense of place. By celebrating our shared history, the intangible cultural qualities of place and the tangible work of architecture and urban design, we better understand the meaning imbued in the built environment and thus, how to best preserve and adapt its value for now and the future.

His experience spans just about every architectural typology, with a concentration in higher-education and civic work. Notable projects include the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley, the proposed renovation of the Oregon State Capitol, the renovation and expansion of the Oregon State Hospital, the restoration and cultural interpretation of the Angel Island Immigration Station, and the adaptive re-use of Sunset Center in Carmel California into a state-of-the-arts performing arts venue.  His decades of higher education experience includes work at University of Illinois, University of Arizona, UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco, University of Virginia, Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley, CalTech, University of Southern California, Ohlone Community College, and Deanza Community College.

Aaron’s leadership transcends his accomplished architectural practice with his commitment to civic engagement, professional service and mentoring, and as a result was elevated to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows in June 2019.  Aaron has served for 6 years and is the current President of the San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission, is the current President for the Architectural Foundation of San Francisco (AFSF) and served as the 2016 President for the San Francisco Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

 

Kang is a Principal of the firm and is actively engaged on the design and management of a diverse portfolio of Civic/Cultural, Institutional, Theater, Workplace, Justice, Historic Renovation, and Federal projects. Kang brings continuous leadership in design and execution of resilient, technically complex projects.  He has over 25 years of large scale project expertise and direction of award winning projects such as SFJAZZ, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, SF Opera Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera, 555 Howard Street and Monterey Bay Aquarium's Center for Ocean Education and Leadership.

John Fung is a principal at Mark Cavagnero Associates. He joined the firm in 2001 and has over 20 years of unique experience in both architecture and engineering, overseeing diverse teams of consultants and agencies.  His background in engineering ensures that a project’s original design intent is well developed and met, while being technically sound and thoroughly-documented. John’s recent experience includes the design and construction of the Oakland Museum of California renovation and expansion project, which received 11 design awards, and the design and construction of the College of Marin completed in 2015, which received five design awards. John is currently overseeing the design and construction of the St. Mary’s College High School Student Chapel project in Albany, California, the Santa Rosa Junior College Burbank Auditorium, and the SFSU Creative Arts Replacement Building in San Francisco.

Brandon is now Principal at Mark Cavagnero Associates. With the firm since 2004, Brandon has worked on several award-winning projects including the Clovis Memorial District Conference Center, Marin Horizon School, Park City Museum, Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County, and The Terrace at the California Academy of Sciences.
Most recently he worked on the design of the Moscone Center Expansion - a complex, multi-phased project executed as a team of SOM with Mark Cavagnero Associates. The $350 million project is currently in construction to expand and repurpose the existing 1.2 million square foot facility to a more contiguous 1.5 million square foot facility while also improving its surrounding pubic realm in the heart of San Francisco. Currently, Brandon is overseeing the global design of Salesforce’s unique workplace and specialty spaces stretching across the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Felicia Dunham is a Senior Associate at Mark Cavagnero Associates. She joined the firm in 2008 and brings 30 years of experience on public and commercial projects, such as the California Academy of Sciences, Oakland Museum of California, Whole Foods Market, Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera, San Francisco Justice Facilities Master Plan, College of Marin and SFJAZZ Center. She is adept at managing large scale projects and consultant teams and highly sensitive in integration of historic and new building elements in recognizing the value of place making. Her portfolio of work includes various LEED Certified projects, achieving Silver, Gold and Platinum Certification. She is currently managing 555 Howard, the San Francisco Unified School District ArtsCenter and the Hamlin School.

Paul joined the firm in 2007 and brings a diverse range of in-depth experience in higher education, civic, lab, healthcare and cultural projects, as well as experience in a variety of procurement methods. Paul managed the programming, design and construction of the new Mammoth Lakes Courthouse and the UC Berkeley Durant Hall, and also assists the office in the technical design and implementation of projects ranging from SFJAZZ to the Palo Alto Art Center.
During 2013-2016 Paul worked in Seattle as a Principal at LMN Architects where he led the design management for a large scale Convention Hotel in downtown Seattle and the technical exterior design for the Clean Technology Lab Building at Washington State University. Rejoining the firm in early 2016, Paul shares his keen eye towards the design ambition and technical implementation of our work and enjoys working collaboratively with our teams to achieve it. Paul received his degrees and architectural registration in his native England, and was a founding member of the San Francisco chapter of the RIBA.  Paul has a passion for the value of design and teaching and is involved in the ACE Mentoring Program as well as having sat on the organizing committee of the Seattle Design Festival, and guest teaching at WSU and Cal. Paul is currently managing all phases of the Weill Institute of Neurosciences.

Christopher brings over 15 years of professional experience in a range of projects in the U.S., and Asia — including academic, cultural, high-end office and residential projects.  Christopher has lead the design team on a number of important projects including the Lakeport Courthouse, the San Francisco School of the Arts, Mission Square, and Executive Briefing Centers for Salesforce.  His design sensibilities are complemented by strong 3D graphics skills and a solid understanding of construction, resulting in a clear and well-documented design process.

Rosanne Nocerino is a Controller at Mark Cavagnero Associates. She brings over 15 years of experience managing all aspects of administration of an A/E firm.