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Architect, San Francisco License C22856

Karin Payson Arch. & Design

The city has issued 22 of the 26 San Francisco building permits that name Karin Payson Arch. & Design since 2018. The work is a mix of residential and commercial, led by offices. Their median plan-review permit, across all project types, took 10.2 months from filing to issue. Their busiest neighborhoods are Financial District/South Beach, Japantown and Pacific Heights.

Issued by the city
22 of 26 filed since 2018
Median plan-review time, all types
10.2 mo filing to issue
Rank for offices
No. 125 of 372 by offices issued
Overall rank
No. 325 of 1,543 architects and designers

What they work on

Every San Francisco building permit with Karin Payson Arch. & Design on the record since 2018, by project type. Most filed: 10 offices, 7 home remodels, 6 apartments and multifamily.

Residential and commercial, by permits filed

62% residential
39% commercial
Permits by project type, filed and issued
  1. Offices Commercial 7 of 10 issued 38% of filings.
  2. Home remodels Residential 7 of 7 issued 27% of filings.
  3. Apartments and multifamily Residential 5 of 6 issued 23% of filings.
  4. Home additions Residential 2 of 2 issued 8% of filings.
  5. ADUs Residential 1 of 1 issued 4% of filings.

Permits over time

Permits filed each year, drawn as a street with one building per year, and how many of all their permits the city has issued.

Busiest year
2019
5 permits filed
Latest filing
Mar 2026
85% of 26 issued
Permits filed per year: 2018: 2, 2019: 5, 2020: 5, 2021: 3, 2022: 5, 2023: 2, 2024: 1, 2025: 2, 2026: 1. The 2026 figure runs through October 20, 2026.

One building per year, its height the permits filed. Each floor line marks 1 permit; the 2026 building is dashed because it counts permits filed through October 20, 2026.

Issued by the city: 22 of 26 permits filed

85%

All San Francisco project permits since 2018 in this data

93% issued

4 not issued as of October 20, 2026. Source: SF Department of Building Inspection permits via DataSF.

How fast their permits come through

Filing to issue for permits that went through plan review. Karin Payson Arch. & Design has 10 of those across all project types; the citywide comparison is for offices, their most filed type, where 1,360 of 26,216 permits went through plan review and the rest were approved over the counter.

Karin Payson Arch. & Design, all project types

10.2months

Median months from filing to issue for plan-review permits. Karin Payson Arch. & Design, all project types: 10.2 months. San Francisco, offices: 3.9 months. Middle half of city permits: 1.8 to 8.1 months.
45 other architects and designers ranked for offices have a median for it; Karin Payson Arch. & Design has fewer than 3 issued plan-review permits for offices with usable dates Each circle is a firm's median for its plan-review permits for offices. Dashed line: the median of all San Francisco plan-review permits for offices, 3.9 months. Shaded: the middle half of those permits, 1.8 to 8.1 months.
0 3 6 9 12 15+ months Revel Architecture & Design: 4.9 months Huntsman: 6.6 months Gensler: 5.4 months Rmw: 3.5 months Asd | Sky: 2.6 months Brereton Architects: 3.4 months Forge Architecture: 8.2 months Smith Group: 2.7 months Studios Architecture: 7.2 months Costa Brown Architecture: 12.1 months Ia Interior Architects: 7.7 months Rapt Studio: 9.6 months Som: 2.4 months Msa Architecture+Design: 5.0 months Perkins & Will: 5.1 months Tmda: 2.6 months Woods Bagot: 4.2 months Maccracken Architects: 19.3 months Dowler Gruman Architects: 6.5 months Hok: 4.9 months Gensler Architect: 5.9 months Quezada Architecture Inc: 6.4 months Mbh Architects: 14.7 months Michael Castro: 5.5 months Tef Design: 13.6 months Wrns Studio: 8.1 months Russell + Lopes Architects: 7.5 months Vocon: 5.1 months Bohlin Cywinski Jackson: 10.3 months Mbh: 3.7 months Shubin Donaldson: 5.4 months Polytech Assoicates: 2.5 months Mithun: 4.3 months Archtectural Resources Group: 4.1 months Brick: 4.6 months Ssdp: 5.2 months Studio Architecture: 14.9 months Page & Turnbull, Inc.: 8.5 months Red Cloud Wireless: 5.5 months Stantec Architecture Inc.: 18.6 months Pacific Das: 2.3 months Natoma Architects Inc.: 10.3 months Atelier 424: 2.6 months Studio Gang Architects: 2.9 months Owow Design: 4.3 months 0 3 6 9 12 15+ months Revel Architecture & Design: 4.9 months Huntsman: 6.6 months Gensler: 5.4 months Rmw: 3.5 months Asd | Sky: 2.6 months Brereton Architects: 3.4 months Forge Architecture: 8.2 months Smith Group: 2.7 months Studios Architecture: 7.2 months Costa Brown Architecture: 12.1 months Ia Interior Architects: 7.7 months Rapt Studio: 9.6 months Som: 2.4 months Msa Architecture+Design: 5.0 months Perkins & Will: 5.1 months Tmda: 2.6 months Woods Bagot: 4.2 months Maccracken Architects: 19.3 months Dowler Gruman Architects: 6.5 months Hok: 4.9 months Gensler Architect: 5.9 months Quezada Architecture Inc: 6.4 months Mbh Architects: 14.7 months Michael Castro: 5.5 months Tef Design: 13.6 months Wrns Studio: 8.1 months Russell + Lopes Architects: 7.5 months Vocon: 5.1 months Bohlin Cywinski Jackson: 10.3 months Mbh: 3.7 months Shubin Donaldson: 5.4 months Polytech Assoicates: 2.5 months Mithun: 4.3 months Archtectural Resources Group: 4.1 months Brick: 4.6 months Ssdp: 5.2 months Studio Architecture: 14.9 months Page & Turnbull, Inc.: 8.5 months Red Cloud Wireless: 5.5 months Stantec Architecture Inc.: 18.6 months Pacific Das: 2.3 months Natoma Architects Inc.: 10.3 months Atelier 424: 2.6 months Studio Gang Architects: 2.9 months Owow Design: 4.3 months

2 firms with medians over 15 months are drawn at the right edge.

Where they rank

Ranked by permits the city has issued since 2018, first across every project type, then for offices alone.

  1. 323 Edmonds & Lee Architects 22
  2. 324 Pho Architects 22
  3. 325 Karin Payson Arch. & Design 22
  4. 326 Peter Braun & Asscociates 22
  5. 327 Vocon 22

All permits issued, 1,543 architects and designers Full ranking

  1. 123 Mrh Architecture 7
  2. 124 Handel Architects,Llp 7
  3. 125 Karin Payson Arch. & Design 7
  4. 126 Studio Architecture 7
  5. 127 Studios 7

Offices issued, 372 architects and designers Offices ranking

Where they work

The neighborhoods where Karin Payson Arch. & Design files the most permits, and how many architects and designers count each one among their top 4 neighborhoods.

  1. 01 Financial District/South Beach 386 architects and designers count Financial District/South Beach among their busiest neighborhoods
  2. 02 Japantown 32 architects and designers count Japantown among their busiest neighborhoods
  3. 03 Pacific Heights 221 architects and designers count Pacific Heights among their busiest neighborhoods
  4. 04 Noe Valley 231 architects and designers count Noe Valley among their busiest neighborhoods

Questions for the first call

  1. Which of your recent San Francisco permits are closest to my project in type, size and neighborhood, and can I see the permit numbers?
  2. How long did those permits take from filing to issue, and what did plan check send back?
  3. Who on your team draws the set, who stamps it, and who answers the city's comments?

Other architects and designers for offices

Firms ranked near Karin Payson Arch. & Design by permits issued for offices.

  1. 121 Ssdp 7 offices issued · 5.2 mo median for offices
  2. 122 Harvey Hacker Architects 7 offices issued
  3. 124 Handel Architects,Llp 7 offices issued
  4. 126 Studio Architecture 7 offices issued · 14.9 mo median for offices
  5. 127 Studios 7 offices issued
  6. 128 Mark Dilworth 7 offices issued

See all 372 architects and designers ranked for offices

Sheet
A-325 No. 325 of 1,543
Drawing
Permit record, Karin Payson Arch. & Design
Architect, San Francisco
License
C22856 check with CAB
Data as of
Oct 2026
Scale
Not to scale

Built only from public San Francisco Department of Building Inspection records (permits, permit contacts), updated 2026-10-20. It is not a review or an endorsement, and Karin Payson Arch. & Design has not paid to be listed. Project addresses are never shown.

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