wHO WE ARE
Heleo is an award-winning, San Diego-based full-service architecture and design practice, committed to creating innovative experiences through the built environment. Our expertise lies in commercial, retail, adaptive re-use, and residential markets, with projects spanning across California and the southwestern states. Since establishing in 2015, our mission has been to challenge the status quo and improve our surroundings with pragmatic solutions that reflect their context and the people who inhabit them.
As a young and dynamic team of architects and designers, we are dedicated to delivering excellence and exceeding expectations. Through our innovative design approach and use of cutting-edge technology, we strive to push the boundaries of what is possible and create solutions that are both aesthetically pleasing and socially responsible. We are committed to sustainability, diversity, and collaboration, and we work closely with our clients to ensure their vision is realized in every project.
Team
BARBARA LEON, AIA, PRINCIPAL / CO-FOUNDER
Barbara Leon is a co-founder and principal of Heleo Architecture + Design, a multidisciplinary design practice in San Diego. She holds a bachelor's degree in architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture, Los Angeles), having also received architectural training at Kyoto Seika University in Kyoto, Japan. As a licensed architect in California, New Mexico and Colorado with over 14 years of professional experience, she leads the studio’s projects in the commercial, retail, and residential markets throughout California, the southwestern U.S. states, and Baja California with the goal of creating progressive experiences through the built environment.
She currently serves on the AIA San Diego Chapter’s Board of Directors as Co-director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Justice to help promote the advancement of underrepresented groups in the architecture field. She is a LEED accredited professional and is also a member of the San Diego Architectural Foundation and the National Organization of Minority Architects.
JOSUE BRAGANCA, ASSOCIATE / SENIOR DESIGNER
Woodbury University B. Arch ‘20
FRANCISCO GUTIERREZ, BIM LEAD, DESIGNER
Butic The New School, Spain, Masters in BIM Management ‘20
STEPHANIE ABSALON / OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
B. Arch Woodbury ‘15
CARLOS E. HERNANDEZ, ASSOC. AIA, LEED AP, PRINCIPAL / CO-FOUNDER
Carlos Hernandez is a co-founder and managing principal of Heleo, and holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Southern California Institute of Architecture, Los Angeles. He holds certificates in the USC Ross Minority Program in Real Estate, and the Turner school of Construction Management. He manages and leads Heleo’s projects to ensure their successful outcomes with a passion for design excellence, and 12+ years of expertise in commercial, mixed use, multifamily residential and urban planning.
AMARANTA MORTON, AIA, PROJECT ARCHITECT
Southern California Institute of Architecture, B. Arch ‘09
GERMAN ITURRIOS, DESIGNER
Escuela Libre de Arquitectura, ‘21