THE SHORT STORY
Studio Nova A Architects creates highly sustainable contemporary designs, mostly in custom residential and small scale commercial projects.
With the Client's program as the foundation, the Studio creates rigorously designed spaces. Design and sustainability are seen as two sides of the same coin. With our clients, the work produced by the Studio integrates high design and high sustainability. This integration in design is also an opportunity to collaborate with clients to create something greater than either would achieve separately.
The Studio is based in Los Angeles and was founded in 2002 by Stuart Magruder, an architect licensed to practice in California and New York. Stuart’s architecture career started at Princeton University, where he majored in the field. He earned his masters at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, with a thesis on the Nature of Los Angeles.
He has extensive experience working in high-end design firms, including Pritzker Prize winning Richard Meier & Partners, and creative visionary, Eric Owen Moss Architects.
WHAT'S IN A NAME
An old name for a new studio based on an old world name for the new world.
The Studio aims to bridge old and new, history and contemporaneity. Reinforcing this, the name taken by the Studio is both old and new. It alludes to the Englishman Sir Francis Drake’s discovery of California in 1579 - he and his crew stayed five weeks, built a fort, and met the local Indian tribe. He named the region Nova Albion, or New England.
For the Studio, the name represents a connection to the past, the first Western name for the area. The area itself, though, lives in our collective imagination as the place that is always new. California is the terminus of the movement west. Some would argue that it is now stale, and that all of the “newness” has been paved over. The Studio posits that this is not the case; that California – and Southern California in particular – is constantly being renewed as different populations migrate in and away from the area. It is said that Los Angeles is the most diverse city on the planet. The Studio embraces this messy diversity of LA, believing that tremendous creative opportunities exist when groups with different assumptions are thrown together.
The name also alludes to the history of the Studio’s founder, Stuart Magruder. Stuart is a fifth-generation Californian, and his two children are sixth-generation. Stuart was raised and educated mostly back East, but returning for graduate school at the Southern California Institute of Architecture provided the opportunity to reconnect with his roots.
The Studio does not turn its back on the history of Los Angeles, of Southern California, or of our polyglot culture. But neither is the Studio interested in regurgitating that past. The Studio's feet are firmly planted in our collective past while our aspirations rush to greet all that today has to offer.
APPRENTICESHIP UNDER RICHARD MEIER AND ERIC OWEN MOSS
Fresh out of SCI-Arc, Stuart spent two years in Eric Moss’s office. The strange forms produced by Eric were extremely difficult to describe spatially, mandating a firm grasp of 3D capabilities by all working in the office.
Ready for a new challenge, in 1999 Stuart went to Richard Meier’s Los Angeles office, working under the direction of principle Michael Palladino. There, Stuart worked on the design of the San Jose Civic Center, a $300 million project and his focus for five years. He was involved in all phases from the initial schematic design to the attainment of certificate of occupancy.
President, 2012
Undergraduate Degree, 1989
Graduate Degree, 1997
Stuart Magruder, architect
Apprenticeship with: