Edwin is the founding principal of Edwin Bruce Associates. Before starting the firm in 1985, he worked in Bay Area firms both as an Architect and Project Architect. He received his Bachelor of Architecture from Auburn University in 1977 and is a licensed Architect, a member of the American Institute of Architects, and past president of the AIA Silicon Valley Chapter.
During his more than 44 years of experience, he has worked on everything from business and retail interiors to high end custom residential designs, over 60 restaurants, hundreds of major apartment remodels, and more than 50 façade improvements throughout the Bay Area and Central Valley. This experience over time, has honed a keen ability to understand, communicate, and focus on client needs and goals and the processes needed to achieve their desired results. He provides oversight of all project coordination and gives consistent, and attentive support to our clients, overseeing project operations, and reviewing all projects for quality assurance. The main focus of the firm’s current practice and primary areas of specialization are multifamily and commercial business remodeling for asset rebranding and repositioning.
Edwin and his wife Susan live in the Cambrian Neighborhood of San Jose.
Frančeska is a Santa Clara Valley native who began her career with Edwin Bruce Associates after completing her Master of Architecture in Urban Design from UCLA in 1996. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture and a Minor in English from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and has also studied abroad at ČVUT (České Vysoké Učení Technické) in Prague where she completed a technical certificate program in architecture.
She is a licensed Architect, a member of the American Institute of Architects, and served a two- year term on the Santa Clara Valley AIA Board of Directors as Associates Director. She became a firm Associate in 2000 and has been Managing Architect for a variety of projects including site and architectural improvements for apartments, new and remodeled restaurants, exterior building improvements for the City of San Jose Redevelopment Agency’s Neighborhood Business Districts and custom residential designs. After 13 years with the firm, Frančeska took a few years hiatus from architecture to start her family. She rejoined Edwin Bruce Associates in 2017.
She is invaluable to the firm because of her thoughtful problem solving, unique design solutions, ability to relate smaller project decisions against bigger project experience, and her intensely thorough construction documents. She thrives on project research and interaction both with city departments and with our clients.
Frančeska enjoys cooking (and eating!), swimming, watercolor painting and travel. She and her husband Mike live with their two sons in nearby Willow Glen.
A licensed architect in India, Gauri has a Bachelor of Architecture degree from The University of Mumbai in India, and a Masters of Design Science (Sustainable Design) M.Des degree from The University of Sydney in Australia with an emphasis on environmentally sustainable architecture.
She is a LEED Accredited Professional, and has experience working on green building projects abroad, tenant improvement and motel projects, and Interior and exterior design for residential and office spaces.
She has been a part of the EBA team since 2010, finding solutions to tackle some challenging projects with critical thinking and creativity. Her main responsibilities are project design and research, documentation and drawings and project coordination. She loves to utilize her experience in Landscape Architecture when our projects require redesigning site or pool areas.
She is an excellent photographer who took many of the photographs on this website. She and her husband Amol and daughter Tvisha live in San Jose.
Charu has a Master of Architecture degree from the Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL where her favorite subject was ‘Architectural Systems and Environments,’ which studies the role of building technology and systems in providing human environments and their subsequent impact upon the natural environment. She moved to the Bay area shortly after her graduation and started working at Edwin Bruce Associates in 2018. We soon learned that this quiet and confident designer is a great team player.
She contributes to project planning, producing construction drawings, corresponding with clients and collaborating with consultants. She is organized and adapts easily to changes required by the clients and the Planning and Building divisions of the City. She is a licensed architect in India, where she received her Bachelor’s degree from School of Architecture-IPS Academy, Indore. Charu enjoyed her role as a graphic designer for the University, where she designed posters, web banners, and brochures for her school.
She is adept at using different design and rendering programs, as with architectural drawing software, and helps us create presentation drawings and 3D models. She lives in San Jose with her husband Archit, and they love to explore the beautiful California wine country.
Joonhee Lee studied at Pratt Institute, New York, for two years and later at Academy of Art University in San Francisco where he graduated with his Bachelor’s degree in Architecture.
Joon actively engages in designing in multiple scales from overall spatial planning to developing details, and thrives in communicating the design and strategies. From his academic years, he has been passionate about clearly representing design solutions with graphic skills, including 3D modeling and rendering. At Edwin Bruce Associates, he takes on the responsibility to manage projects, to prioritize tasks, and deliver projects to meet deadlines. We value his contribution to bigger projects for drawings and research.
Joon not only shows all the enthusiasm and curiosity, but is also collected and capable of giving constructive inputs. Joon does interesting sketches in his notebook, on coffee cups and on reminders pinned to the ever-increasing plant collection on his desk. We all enjoy the architecture school studio atmosphere and the fresh perspective that he brings to the firm.
Ishani joined as an intern at Edwin Bruce Associates in 2012, working summers and winter breaks. She graduated in December 2014 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from Iowa State University. Fortunately for us, she decided to return to our firm after graduation.
She soon learned about the realities of project execution and was always willing to take on any project task. Her responsibilities are directed towards construction drawings, zoning and material research, code research, and design. Ishani has proven her capabilities time and again with efficient project planning and execution. She loves a challenge and we make our best efforts to accommodate her wishes! She is extremely focused and serious when she works, and equally fun all other times.
Ishani played collegiate volleyball at DeAnza College and loves to dance. She grew up in India, Africa, and the United States, attending high school in Sunnyvale. She now lives in San Jose with her husband Yevgeniy, son Donovan and daughter Dhara.