Architecture, planning and development
for investors in the U.S. and Mexico
Innovate. Sustain. Thrive.
For more than three decades, Raintree Design Group has helped developers and investors turn land into lasting value across the United States and Mexico. One team, fluent in both markets, from feasibility to completion.
Architecture, planning and development for investors in the U.S. and Mexico, from feasibility to completion.
Start a ConversationWho we are
Raintree Design Group is an architecture, planning and development firm working on both sides of the border. Our principals are AIA members, licensed in the United States and Mexico, with decades of hands-on design and construction experience. We work directly with developers and investors, from feasibility and entitlements through design and completion.
Our philosophy
Every project lives within three forces: environment, community and economy. None is more important than the others. All three must be in balance for a project to succeed.
We read the site first: its climate, resources and natural logic. The right materials and forms for a place are inherently sustainable.
We have no signature style. Every place has its own climate and culture, and its architecture should be authentic to it.
We are stewards of our clients’ capital. We look beyond first cost to the long-term cost to own and operate.
“A great building must begin with the unmeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed, and in the end must be unmeasurable.”
— Louis Kahn
Our approach
Every decision is tested against cost, performance and long-term value.
Sustainable by design, long before it was a household term, and driven by better returns, not only by code.
Decades of experience with alternative building systems: SIPs, adobe, compressed earth block, straw bale and aerated concrete.
We think like developers, so our designs are buildable, marketable and financeable.
The best measure of success: a project that moves from the drawing board to the construction site.
Building systems we detail
Structural Insulated PanelsS.I.P.
Continuous insulation with almost no thermal bridging; the fastest dry-in on a cold or remote site.
Wall6½ in165 mm
Nominal RR-24
AdobeSun-dried earth
Thermal mass, not resistance. In high-desert swings the wall carries the day's heat into the night.
Wall10–14 in250–360 mm
Nominal Rmass
Compressed Earth BlockC.E.B.
Soil pressed on site into a dimensionally exact unit. Adobe's mass with a mason's tolerances.
Wall10–14 in250–360 mm
Nominal Rmass
Straw BalePlastered infill
The deepest envelope we detail, rendered in lime or earth plaster. An agricultural by-product turned wall.
Wall18–24 in460–610 mm
Nominal RR-30+
Aerated Concrete BlockA.A.C.
One material doing structure, insulation and fire rating at once — and it cuts with a hand saw.
Wall8–12 in200–300 mm
Nominal R≈1.2 / in
Figures are nominal industry reference values for each assembly. Actual performance is set by the assembly, climate zone and the governing energy code on the project's side of the border.
“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work.”
— Daniel Burnham
Designed for well-being
We design places that are healthy to live and work in, and that create new opportunities for life. From a private residence to a resort, a campus or an entire community, people should leave better than when they arrived. Experience with government and large-scale university facilities gives us a clear view of how buildings perform over decades: lower operating costs, smarter systems, lasting assets.
Where we work
From the Teton Valley to the East Coast, Arizona and New Mexico, and along Mexico’s most sought-after coastlines, our work spans markets, climates and regulations. We know both systems.
What we do
Seven sectors, one team. The same principals carry a project from the first feasibility question to the day it opens.
Two countries
We connect Mexican investors with opportunities in the United States and U.S. investors with opportunities in Mexico. We bridge codes, culture, language and business practice so projects move forward with confidence.
United States
Zoning, design review and permitting set the calendar long before a shovel moves. We plan the approval path as part of the design.
Mexico
Uso de suelo, licencias and the chain of title define what is possible. Our collaboration with ARTC Arquitectos carries that front.
“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
— Abraham Lincoln
Selected work
Projects led by our principals in the United States and Mexico, many in collaboration with ARTC Arquitectos.
Leadership
Small by choice. The people who advise on the project are the people who sit across from you.
RA · NCARB · LEED AP
Founder & Director of Design
Steve founded Raintree and has led its design vision since 1993. A pioneer in sustainable and alternative building systems, he brings together design craft, resort and residential expertise, and large-scale institutional experience.
steve@raintreedg.com
RA · AIA
Planning, Architecture & Development
Rodrigo brings more than 25 years of planning and development experience in Mexico and the United States, connecting investors, entitlements and execution across the border.
rodrigo@raintreedg.comContact
Let’s talk feasibility.
Planning, Architecture & Development
Emailrodrigo@raintreedg.com Office(480) 289-9446 Mobile(480) 288-8466Partnerships
Credentials
AIA · LEED AP · NCARB · Licensed in the U.S. and Mexico
