A•Squared

08/25/2026

08/11/2026

Recovery is more than rebuilding a home.

After a wildfire or other disaster, moving forward involves far more than plans, permits, materials, and construction. It means navigating loss, making complex decisions, finding reliable guidance, and creating a path forward through uncertainty.

Recovery is also about rebuilding a community’s capacity to move forward.

When people have access to shared knowledge, trusted resources, and space to ask questions, they can make more informed decisions and move through the rebuilding process with greater clarity. Homes may be rebuilt individually, but the recovery journey is shared.

At A•SQUARED, we are exploring how architecture can make recovery more understandable, connected, and resilient. Through our Disaster Recovery Guide, Architectural Process Guide, and The Imprint Collective, we are translating recovery lessons into practical tools and a more community centered way of approaching what comes next.

This work began with wildfire recovery in Northern California and Los Angeles, but the ideas extend across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, and beyond. Every disaster, place, and rebuilding journey is different. Still, every community deserves access to clear information, meaningful support, and a more thoughtful path forward.

Rebuilding is not simply about restoring what was lost. It is an opportunity to reimagine the spaces, systems, and connections that help communities endure.

Explore our wildfire recovery tools and The Imprint Collective at www.asquared.studio

08/04/2026

Wildfire recovery is no longer a single-state conversation. As fires move across California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, and other western states, the need for clear, accessible, and community-focused rebuilding support is only growing.
Drawing from years of post-wildfire work in Northern California and the Los Angeles regions, we have been rethinking how recovery and rebuilding work | not just for individual projects, but for entire communities. The result is an architecture-led set of tools designed to make the process more understandable, more coordinated, and more resilient.

We follow coverage from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, KSL, and other trusted news organizations closely, because their reporting on wildfires across California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, and beyond helps inform how we refine our architecture-led, community centered approach to recovery and rebuilding. We are here not only to disrupt outdated paths of rebuilding, but also to listen, to be a sounding board for people’s stories and decisions, and to let those lived experiences continually shape and sharpen our work.

Our disaster recovery tools currently include:

Disaster Recovery Guide | A series of flashcards that simplifies the wildfire recovery journey, from insurance and clean-up to costs and the rebuilding process, with quick, actionable guidance at each step

Architectural Process Guide | Companion flashcards that demystify the architectural journey, breaking down phases, contracts, schedules, budgets, and construction roles into clear, accessible insights for clients and communities

Imprint Collective | An innovative, community-focused approach to rebuilding that turns architectural expertise and recovery lessons into shared tools, resources, and collaborations for more resilient and purposeful rebuilding

Most rebuilding methods are still antiquated. Our goal is to disrupt that standard path by testing an architecture-led, community-informed framework that can be translated and adapted for wildfire-impacted communities across California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, and beyond.

If you’re navigating wildfire recovery or planning for future resilience, we’re working to make the rebuilding process clearer, more collaborative, and easier to move through with confidence. Learn more about our disaster recovery tools and the Imprint Collective a www.asquared.studio/guides

07/27/2026

Big day for one Altadena couple. They broke ground earlier this month on their new home, rebuilt after the 2025 fire. A•SQUARED provided the schematic design.

It's been a long road for this community, and recovery is still uneven for a lot of families. We're grateful to have helped shape the early vision for this household's return home, a design built around how they actually want to live.

We'll be cheering on the rest of the build as it moves forward. Thank you to everyone who continues to support Altadena's rebuild, in small ways and big ones.

07/21/2026

Losing a home to fire is chaos. The first three decisions you make set the tone for everything that follows.
A•SQUARED has helped clients recover from fire loss in Northern California since 2017. After the 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires, we formalized that experience into a disaster recovery guide and an architectural process guide | built for anyone facing this for the first time, wherever they are.
Swipe through for the overview, then grab the full guides at asquared.studio/guides.

07/14/2026

Utah just unlocked “backyard homes.” SB 284 now requires most cities with 5,000+ people to allow detached ADUs—backyard cottages, guest houses, and studio suites.

Our Aspire series is A- SQUARED’s wildfire‑aware, Park City‑rooted take on that change: compact, code‑aligned units tuned for mountain living, defensible space, and multi‑generational housing.

Curious whether your lot qualifies? Use our free ADU Finder (link in bio) to see which unit fits your site and needs, then book a 1‑hour design consult to check eligibility under SB 284 and start shaping a plan.

07/07/2026

When fire strikes, the days that follow can feel disorienting. Questions about safety, insurance, debris removal, and what comes next often arrive all at once.

Drawing from years of disaster recovery work in California, A•SQUARED is preparing a Utah-focused Disaster Recovery Guide, a series of flashcards shared over time to offer clear, easy to digest information as relief and recovery efforts unfold.

Each card is created with care to help families understand what to do next, and to gently ease some of the stress and uncertainty that can follow a devastating fire. If this resource is helpful to you, or if you know someone who may need it, we would be grateful if you shared it. And if you would like to share your story with us, we welcome you to reach out at www.asquared.studio or [email protected].


 
 
 
 
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KSL Tony Garcia Kola Jessides KSL 5 TV

06/30/2026

Architecture in the mountain west has its own language.
It speaks in snow loads and solar angles, steep slopes and dramatic views. The language evolves from season to season, in the way a hillside holds heat in July and bears the weight of snow in January. Every season here asks something of a building. Good design answers all of them with the same integrity.
At A•SQUARED, climate is the first conversation on every project, not the last. Listening to the land, understanding it deeply, and letting it inform the work is what separates a home that endures from one that simply exists in a place.
Place. People. Climate. In that order.

Kola Jessides Tony Garcia

06/23/2026

Some places never leave you.
Our founding partner Jessie Whitesides, grew up in Park City | hiking the trails, learning the rhythm of mountain winters, watching her parents build an innovative home in the 70’s that took advantage of passive solar design. That experience and the place is embedded in who she is.
At A•SQUARED, we believe great architecture starts long before our pencil touches paper. It starts with understanding where you are, the topography, the light, the way a hillside asks something of a building before the building asks anything of it. It starts with knowing the people who love that place | their routines, their stories, the life they're trying to build. And it starts with respecting the climate that defines it | the snow loads, the cold mornings, the long golden hours of a mountain afternoon.
Place. People. Climate. When those three things inform every decision, architecture stops acting as structure and starts living your story.
Your story. Your design. Your place.

Kola Jessides Tony Garcia

06/16/2026

We love designing the spaces that hold the in‑between moments—five minutes with a book, a quick homework check‑in, a pause between rooms. Those are the pieces that make a custom home feel like it really fits the way you live.

Kola Jessides Tony Garcia