How Craig Curates an All-Star Team: Meet [Re] Union Creative

“Over the years, I’ve built strong relationships with builders, craftspeople, structural engineers, interior designers, and even permit expediters. This allows me to curate a high caliber team to help projects advance efficiently and smoothly.”  - Craig O’Connell

Craig’s clients, a chef and baker, wanted a unique, functional and beautiful kitchen. Craig turned to [Re} Union Creative to craft an oversized custom concrete sink and countertops to provide modern function and complement the organic wood cabinetry. Photo: Helynn Ospina

A successful architectural product takes much more than just excellent design and project management. It involves great relationships -- from the architect to their clients and the team they bring on. In his 20 years as a Bay Area architect, Craig has collaborated with high-caliber, talented general contractors, subcontractors, and craftspeople. And because of the great spaces they have created together, he has collected an all-star team he brings to his projects. 

“When I’m being interviewed for a new project, I tell the clients that I can be turnkey, meaning when you hire me, I bring high-quality subs, engineers and builders, which my clients appreciate,” says Craig. “It’s really a team effort to get a successful project to the finish line and I enjoy curating the entire ‘dream team’.”

Among Craig’s top go-to subcontractors are Eran Dayan and Roland Blandy who run [Re] Union Creative, a full-service design and fabrication shop mainly working with concrete and metal.  Craig and Eran met in San Francisco 15 years ago through their love of beer, bikes, Burningman and architecture. 

“I started plugging [Re] Union Creative in on a few architectural projects and they do really beautiful concrete work -- I can’t say enough good things about working with these guys. I know their process, and they know how I work.”

Roland Blandy (left) and Eran Dayan (right), co-founders of Re [Union} Creative in Oakland, CA. Photo by Jordan Rosen.

Working as an architect before he and Roland founded [Re] Union Creative, Eran specializes in woodworking while Roland is the in-house metalworker. The two met at an arts collective in San Francisco many years ago, and after the place shut down, eventually collaborated and founded their design-build studio based in Oakland.

The main work they do at [Re] Union Creative for Craig is their beautiful custom concrete countertops, as seen in Craig’s West Marin Organic Modern and this Pac Heights Victorian remodel. Eran and Roland work on all types of projects with other clients, from coffee shops to breweries, tech HQs (such as Google) to residential, and health food stores, among others.

Eran and Roland of [Re] Union Creative crafted this custom concrete sink and countertop for Craig’s Pacific Heights Victorian project, delivering an earthy, modern and functional touch. Photo by Helynn Ospina.

Pacific Heights Victorian showcasing [Re] Union Creative’s custom concrete countertops and sink. Photo by David Livingston.

Although they can’t pinpoint just one style due to the nature of custom work, Eran and Roland are both drawn to a modern, clean and minimal aesthetic. “Old school” art deco and Art Nouveau, as well as some ornamental touches, also inspire their work (with pieces like custom wood tables and a modern steel staircase in a 100-year-old Victorian). 

They design everything together, fifty-fifty. “Depending on where the project lands, one of us will lead the fabrication and we’ll design it together -- where we’ll sit down and really put our heads together,” says Roland. “When it comes to the fabrication, Eran leads the concrete and the woodwork and I lead the metalwork, and we love when those materials come together.” 

Custom Progress Bar booth seating by [RE} Union Creative. Photo by Jeremy Jachym.

Custom concrete tiles by [Re] Union Creative. Photo by Ali Pflaum.

“I feel like Craig is capable of designing every last detail of the house, but also gives respect to his subcontractors.  With us, he comes with an idea of what he wants to do and then he really opens it up to us to give him feedback on the best way to do it or what our feelings are -- where we can provide input or create a better product,” says Eran. 

He mentions it feels nice to have a clear direction of what Craig wants and also what the client wants. And because of their great time-tested working relationship, Craig brings Eran and Roland on early in the process so they can develop a relationship with the client and be involved in conversations from the beginning. 

“With architects we’ve never worked with before, there's a lot of administrative time to figure out how to communicate and how to set expectations. With Craig, he has confidence in our work so he gives us a lot of autonomy, and also trusts how we interface with the client. This makes the design process much smoother,” says Eran.

Craig mentions that working with the same trusted team instills more confidence in the client, as well.

“Working with people you know and trust like Craig gives us direction and the freedom to express ourselves,” says Roland.  “It always ends up being a much better product, where you can just pick up the phone and call about anything. We really try to cultivate relationships like Craig.” 

Proving his appreciation for the quality and caliber of their work, Craig commissioned Eran and Roland to create custom concrete countertops for his home kitchen in West Marin.