Founder and principle designer, Claire Howard, was raised in New England, with time spent living in Rome, Paris, Copenhagen and New York, before landing along the central coast of California. She brings a worldly sensitivity to her design practice along with a collected skill set. Prior to pursuing architecture, Claire’s work ranged from fine art, jewelry design, furniture design, sculpture and eventually large scale installation work. “All of my previous work explored the same subject matter in various scales; jewelry design is simply furniture design on a micro scale, and Architecture as the macro. I have found interior architecture to be the perfect intersection of all disciplines. 

Studio Darla is a modern interior architecture firm rooted in traditional craft.

Claire received a degree in Fine Art from the College of Creative Studies, UC Santa Barbara, before pursuing a masters in Interior Architecture from Pratt Institute with a focus on furniture design. Claire worked for multiple award winning firms including Champalimaud, Anacapa Architecture, and Corinne Mathern Studio, before opening Studio Darla in June 2024.