Our Story

From Left to Right: BASE Design cofounders Gokhan Akalan and Katy Briggs wear informal but professional grey suits, smiling to the camera from their San Francisco office window.

The story of BASE Design Structural Engineering begins with a shared conviction between two engineers who believed that structural design should be connected to the people it serves.

Founders Katy Briggs and Gokhan Akalan met while working at another structural engineering firm, where they quickly discovered a mutual respect for thoughtful design, technical rigor, and collaborative problem-solving.

A team meeting of five people from BASE Design Structural Engineering in San Francisco, sitting around a glass conference table in a meeting room, engaged in discussion and smiling.

Over time, the firm where they worked merged with a much larger company. And, with that change, came a shift in focus.

Projects grew in size and scale, and so did layers of management and separation between engineers and clients. The work became less personal and more procedural.

While the projects were impressive in scope, something essential was lost: the sense of authorship, dialogue, and creative ownership that had drawn them to the profession in the first place.

Principal of BASE Design Structural Engineering, Katy Briggs, stands at the head of the meeting table leading a meeting for members of her team.

Rather than accept this new direction as inevitable, Katy and Gokhan made a bold decision. They chose to step away from the security of a large firm and build something that reflected their original values.

Their goal was not simply to start another engineering practice, but to create a studio rooted in collaboration, responsiveness, and design integrity.

They envisioned a company where engineers were not hidden behind layers of administration, but instead worked directly with clients and design teams, shaping solutions through conversation as much as calculation.

From Left to Right: BASE Design cofounders Gokhan Akalan and Katy Briggs review planning documents side by side from their San Francisco office.

The full name of the company, Briggs Akalan Structural Engineering (BASE), carries both personal and symbolic meaning.

By using their last names, Katy and Gokhan make a statement of accountability and pride in their work.

The acronym “BASE” also captures the essence of their mission. A “base” is what supports and stabilizes, and in that sense, the name expresses both their technical role and their belief in strong foundations—structural, professional, and relational.

Three team members of BASE Structural Engineering enjoy a moment of humor as they review documents around a table in the San Francisco office.

Today, the creation of BASE Design Structural Engineering stands as a response to an industry trend toward scale and detachment.

In leaving a larger firm to form their own, Katy Briggs and Gokhan Akalan reclaimed the kind of work that first inspired them—and built a practice designed, quite literally, from the ground up.

Learn more about our team