Who we are
At Studio Ovo, authenticity is at the core of our mission. We prioritize integrity in all aspects of our work, from our relationships with clients to executing their unique visions. We believe in the raw beauty of natural materials and celebrate the way they age and patina over time. We embrace modern design that is warm, tactile, experiential, and non-toxic. As a woman-owned architectural firm, our design practice is inclusive, approachable, and always centered on creating spaces that are both stunning and functional. We are passionate about making the process of designing and building easy, enjoyable, and deeply personal for each client, ensuring that the end result feels genuinely theirs.
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Founder / Design Principal
Caroline Nassif is the founding architect at Studio Ovo. An Egyptian American with over 21 years of experience in the San Francisco Bay Area, Caroline began her career designing student and multi-family affordable housing at Pyatok Architects in Oakland. She then spent a transformative decade at Lundberg Design under Olle Lundberg, leading award-winning projects across various sectors, including single-family homes, restaurants, office remodels, wineries, and spas.
Caroline’s approach to design is shaped by curiosity, empathy, and highly attuned listening skills, attributes rooted in both her professional journey and personal story. Her family immigrated from Cairo to Houston when she was nine, requiring her to navigate an unfamiliar culture and often create ways to make herself understood.
Starting a new architectural project — from permits and budgets to understanding drawings — can feel like stepping into a foreign world for many clients. Caroline is dedicated to demystifying the design process, creating a shared language, and collaborating closely to bring her client's visions to life.
A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin’s five-year Bachelor of Architecture program, Caroline also holds a dual B.A. in the Plan II Liberal Arts Honors program. She is a licensed architect in California, a LEED Accredited Professional, and a member of the National Organization of Minority Architects. Outside of her practice, Caroline enjoys knitting, watercolor, playing the ukulele, cooking with her toddler, and exploring San Francisco on urban hikes while listening to audiobooks and podcasts.
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Studio Director / Project Manager
Misa brings 12 years of experience managing high-end residential, restaurant, and retail projects, beginning at Swatt + Partners (formerly Swatt Miers Architects) and most recently at Lundberg Design, where she met Caroline. Her passion is in managing complexity in support of beauty. To Misa, design involves a constant interplay of detail and vision, carefully wading through a labyrinth of considerations and problem-solving exercises without losing the central idea, all while ensuring her clients have a trustworthy and compassionate guide to help them through the process.
Misa earned her B.A. in Japanese from Dartmouth College, where she spent two summers abroad immersing herself in the language and culture of her heritage. During this period of reconnecting with her roots she fell in love with the modular simplicity and connection to nature that is central to traditional Japanese architecture. This influence, combined with an upbringing steeped in creativity thanks to her artist mother and a deep love of math and spreadsheets, eventually led her to the Architecture program at California College of the Arts in San Francisco where she could pursue the perfect fusion of the technical and the aesthetic.
When she is not at her desk, she can be found chasing around her two children, teaching herself how to garden, or dreaming of long hikes through the redwoods.
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Design Creative
Ying Ying is a Design Creative and consultant at Studio Ovo, collaborating with the team since reconnecting with her longtime friend Caroline after their early days working in affordable housing. Raised in Malaysia and frequently moving homes, she was inspired to pursue architecture to create thoughtful places for family. After earning her degree from UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, she finally fulfilled her dream of designing her family’s condo in Malaysia.
At Studio Ovo, Ying focuses on early concept and schematic design, sketching by hand to test ideas and grounding them in material honesty, site context, and history. Researching each client’s story guides her toward spaces that feel timeless rather than trendy. Outside the studio, she recharges by cooking and spending time with her standard poodle, Enzo; her dream project is a tiny Sea Ranch cabin with a bathhouse overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
What we stand for
We embrace modern design that is warm, tactile, experiential, and non-toxic. We celebrate the natural beauty of materials and honor how they age and patina over time. We are committed to architecture that is deeply PERSONAL, genuinely APPROACHABLE, and always ACHIEVABLE.
Why Ovo?
When thinking of how to name our firm, we were inspired by the most elegant, elemental design we could imagine: the egg.
Symbolically, all of life starts with an egg, which grows into something more. It’s our first home — a beautiful and perfectly-designed structure whose purpose is immediately understandable. To hold an egg is to know flawless design, to admire its coolness as well as its warmth. This is how we imagine great architecture to be, too: elegant, simple, easy to understand and navigate while possessing that magical raw quality that connects us to nature and to our roots.