About BOA

Buchanan Opalach Architects is an Oakland-based, award-winning architecture firm specializing in custom homes, additions, and remodels. We love hearing from homeowners and learning how we can help them create their ideal home.

Partners

  • Bethany Opalach

    Architect and CFO

    • Bethany Opalach has lived in Oakland most of her life and has worked as an architect since 1997. She has designed new homes, residential remodels, multi-family housing, accessibility solutions, and once in a while her favorite treat, color consulting. She’s passionate about photography, cooking, and Brazilian music and dance.
    • CA License C28946

      Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts, UC Santa Cruz (1991)

      Master of Architecture, UC Berkeley (1997)

      LEED-AP

  • Ed Buchanan of Buchanan Opalach Architects

    Edward Buchanan

    Architect and CEO

    • Ed Buchanan has worked as an architect in the Bay Area since 1990. Originally from Detroit Ed’s uncles and grandfather were all architects and his great-grandfather founded the University of Detroit School of Architecture. Ed came to Berkeley in 1988 for graduate school and never left, falling in love with the landscape, the culture, and the architecture and how they are interconnected.  Because architecture is an amalgam of so many things, he draws inspiration from his winemaking projects, live music, hiking, art and his three sons, not necessarily in that order.

    • CA License C-24594

      Bachelor of Science in Architecture, University of Michigan (1988)

      Master of Architecture, UC Berkeley (1990)

Staff

  • Brook McCurdy

    • Project Designer
      Brook holds a bachelors of Architecture from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and has been working as an architect for over 20 years. She specializes in residential architecture, and enjoys working at BOA because the firm is committed to providing highly accurate plan sets that clearly communicate their clients visions. When not drafting, Brook enjoys morning walks in the forest with her dog, sunny days on the Trinity River, and working on independent design projects in beautiful Humboldt County, where she lives with her family.
  • Kai Alcharabi

    • Project designer
      Adept in both cutting-edge design and technical aspects of architecture, Kai has honed his expertise in high-end residences and complex commercial with experience at the global architecture firm OMA and Bay Area firm BAR Architects. In addition to his work with BOA, Kai is working towards his architectural licensure and teaching various courses at the Academy of Art University. Originally from Damascus, Syria, Kai holds four degrees – one from Syria and three from the US including a Masters of Architecture from SCAD.