Karin Payson

Karin Payson is the principal architect of Karin Payson Architecture + Design (KPa+d), a design-oriented, San Francisco-based firm with projects completed throughout Northern California as well as Wyoming and New York.

At KPa+d, Karin has been engaged as an architect and interior designer in a wide variety of new buildings and substantial renovation projects for homeowners, public libraries, and various commercial and institutional clients. She brings a rich set of skills and interests to her work. Drawing, clothing design and fabrication as well as frequent travel in search of fresh experiences are essential to her practice as an architect and inform her continuing study of the characteristics of natural light, landscape, and materials.

Before founding KPa+d in 1992, Karin’s professional experience included several years in the New York office of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates where, as a Project Architect, her work focused on the planning, programming, and design of large-scale commercial buildings and adaptive re-use of historically significant buildings.

Karin holds degrees from Columbia University and UC Berkeley and is a licensed architect in California and New York. Her work has appeared in several exhibitions and publications, including Library Journal; California Homes; Upstate House; Gentry; Architectural Digest; Science & Spirit; San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Magazine; Sunset Magazine; The Sacramento Bee; The San Francisco Examiner Sunday Magazine; and The New York Times.