Jim Williams and Jack Paddon launched their architectural firm Williams + Paddon in Roseville in 1981, and though it was a time of recession, they persevered and built tremendous success that endures 40 years later. Today, that entrepreneurial spirit and resilience make the firm a home to a diverse and highly loyal team of architects and interior designers with offices in Roseville and Sacramento.
“From the start, this firm has embraced entrepreneurship and innovation,” says Naaz Alikhan, managing principal and interior designer. “Jim Williams and Jack Paddon also instilled their community participation and the goal of becoming one with the community. We see this as the legacy of Jim and Jack.”
“We’ve nurtured four decades of design excellence, developed strong client relationships, grown with our communities and look forward to another successful 40 years.”
— Naaz Alikhan, Managing Principal
The firm established a focus on commercial work with projects in the office, education, lifestyles/hospitality and retail markets, providing enough diversification to weather economic ups and downs over the decades. “It was a strategic plan to have footholds in various markets so we could more easily ride out recessions,” Alikhan explains.
One of the firm’s newer markets is housing, something they sidestepped for many years but have taken on eagerly in the past five years, specializing in multifamily, mixed-use and affordable housing. “We’re pleased to be part of the solution to California’s enormous need for housing,” Alikhan says. “We’re developing innovative concepts for small-space living that are a welcome and needed departure from generic, institutional designs of the past.”
Principal partners today include co-founder Jack Paddon, Terry Green, Greg Tonello and Naaz Alikhan. Alikhan has been with the firm for nearly 30 years, while Green and Tonello have been there for more than 30 years, forming an executive team of vast experience. The firm’s entire team is multi-generational, with older and younger members collaborating with different perspectives to create solutions.
Alikhan concludes, “We’ve nurtured four decades of design excellence, developed strong client relationships, grown with our communities and look forward to another successful 40 years.”
