Measure Architects PLLC is now CACAO studio. Washington, DC - October 1, 2023 –

Dear friends and colleagues, 

We're excited to announce our new brand, CACAO Studio and our related site for single family residential projects: CACAO Architects. After five great years, we are retiring our former trade name Measure Architects. We’d like to take this opportunity to introduce the new brand and assure our clientele that with so much change comes all the same passion, creativity, and dedication that you’ve come to expect... and so much more. 

First, as many of you already know, we broadened our decision-making team in 2022 by welcoming our newest principal JoseMi Jauregui. JoseMi's demonstrated design sensibility, technical know-how, and warm personality complement our process and workflow. As JoseMi likes to say, he and Joe are two peas in a pod. 

What’s next? 

By relaunching as CACAO Studio, we celebrate and clarify our reimagined approach and business posture. Our goals are summed up as follows: 

• DESIGN and TECHNOLOGY - We have renewed our efforts on design technology. At CACAO, we believe the future in design is tech. We envision a true integration of design (architecture, graphic design, product design), construction (budgeting, contracting, specifications), and studio administration. We seek to seamlessly synthesize client decision-making, selections and specifications, budgeting, environmental best practices, code compliance, and engineering coordination into a single, coherent workflow. As our client, you can expect a very high level of service. We strive for the elusive “on-time and on-budget” for every one of our projects. As a deliberately small and nimble firm, we have the unique capability to deliver professional design on par with firms many, many times our size. 

• HOUSING (market-rate AND affordable) - We plan to address the housing affordability crisis, particularly for minorities, first-time homeowners, and seniors. A swiftly-changing economy has laid bare the frayed foundations of our housing market and its role as one of the most elemental structures of society. The past five years have taught us all to reexamine everything. The historically unfair application of zoning and financing opportunities are at the heart of many of the problems we collectively face. We are excited to lend our expertise to the momentum towards a fair and equitable culture. A native of Ecuador and fluent bilingual, JoseMi’s leadership enhances our ability to reach further to minority clients and markets. CACAO is registered as a District of Columbia Certified Business Enterprise (CBE). We will be looking for more ways to bring our services to the affordable housing crisis in our city, and in new markets beyond it. 

• OFFICE-PLACE CHANGES - We seek to address the new tension between home and workplace and its effects on placemaking in the public realm. We work from home, just like you. As architects steeped in residential design at all scales, from complex multi-block urban master plans down to tiny homes and backyard ADU’s, we understand the space and budgeting demands of the modern city dweller as well as anyone. These demands present incredibly exciting opportunities for reimagination. Come test fresh ideas with us - we're confident we can make them happen. 

• CLIMATE CHANGE – We want to do our part to address the crisis of climate change by being clear-eyed on how design decisions affect our ecosystem and planet. We believe that building design should emulate nature, and that human communion with the natural environment should be a primary design goal. Like our buildings, we are designing CACAO to be resilient. Like the cacao tree itself, we must be solidly rooted to our location, sensitive to our natural environment, efficient with resources, self-sustaining, and contributors to society's collective health, security, and well-being. CACAO Studio will help our clients respond to a changing climate - and the related, fast-evolving regulatory environment by integrating best practices in our workflow, built-in expert consultation, and a commitment to globally agreed sustainable benchmarks. 

• COLLABORATION - We are actively investing in new opportunities. Architects are wonderful at design. But historically, we have been poorly positioned in the development and construction spheres. At CACAO, we seek to collaborate with developers, builders, realtors, non-profits, and pro bono/low-bono professionals and agencies. The future of construction is collaborative design-build, and we want to be at the forefront of the next cycle. 

More than a simple re-branding, our efforts represent a paradigm shift for us as architects. The last 5 years have demonstrated that change isn't just inevitable... it's present and constant. At CACAO Studio, you have a partner who is engaged, experienced, and excited to make the most of any design challenge.

We look forward to working with you. Let's get started! 

Sincerely,

Joe Harris and JoseMi Jauregui, CACAO studio