Our Story

For more than 30 years, the friendship and professional collaboration between architects Rick Tanaka and Mike Riley has developed as they honed their professional skills in project types as diverse as restaurants, health clubs, hotels, custom residential, as well as commercial and industrial developments. For more than ten years, they served as principals and vice-presidents of Scheer Tanaka Dennehy Riley (STDR) Architects, an architecture and interior design firm recognized as a leader in the field of restaurant design. Beyond company management, their responsibilities included managing design and production services for the majority of the firm’s largest restaurant and health club clients.

Tanaka + Riley Architects is the latest evolution of this quarter century partnership. The firm’s design approach is based upon a team system in which all members of the firm work together to achieve the project goals and ensure each project’s success. The organization of the firm allows the principals to pursue projects of all sizes and scopes while still providing participation of the team on all projects.