TEAM
Our team is an intensely creative, collaborative group who lead project experiences focused on modern craft, from start to finish.
Architecture Team
Jim Zack, FAIA
Principal
Jim has an irrepressible interest in how buildings are designed and detailed. Licensed as both an architect and contractor, he brings a wealth of knowledge, deep commitment and emphasis on craft to lead Zack | de Vito’s practice of architecture and design build. Hands-on experience and a love of making is evident in Jim’s attention to exquisite detailing and intuitive sense for what materials can do.
He learned to build before he learned to design, tinkering and working with metal, wood and motorcycles, then working as a journeyman carpenter and contractor in Carmel, California—designing and building his first residential projects by age 23.
Deeply respected, Jim’s body of work spans a diverse range of project types—all with a focus on modern principles. He is also an accomplished furniture designer and maker, with a number of custom furniture pieces in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) permanent collection. Jim received both a Bachelors and Masters degree in architecture from UC Berkeley, before founding the firm in 1995.
Elevated into the AIA College of Fellows in 2025, Jim joins a prestigious group of architects who have demonstrated outstanding work and lasting impact on the field of architecture.
Lise de Vito
Owner/Principal
Lise is an innovative thinker and designer known for her bold and graphic design sensibility and deep commitment to the collaborative process. Her work integrates informed construction techniques, thoughtful detailing and material consideration, while maintaining a focus on human-centered design and biophilic principles.
With extensive design experience in single-family homes and small-scale multi-family residences, Lise has worked on a diverse range of project types, including retail, commercial, hospitality, and design-build development projects—often serving both as the designer and “client” for market-driven projects. In addition to architecture, she is skilled in landscape and interior design as well as furniture design.
Lise’s creative passion for architecture and design was nurtured by her parents and an extended family of architects, city planners, industrial and graphic designers and visual artists. Her own fine art informs her design projects. Originally from Montreal, Canada, Lise grew up in the Bay Area, an experience that influenced her design perspective.
Lise holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where she is a second-generation alumni. She worked with architecture and design firms on both the East Coast and in California before co-founding Zack | de Vito Architecture in 1997.
Lise is also a co-owner of a San Francisco based retail and art store where she curates local artists and makers as well as unique merchandise. Lise also continues her own fine arts interests and making.
With a strong drive to explore the very personal and individual design processes of other artists, designers, and architects, Lise created and moderated the Makers Series of talks in collaboration with AIASF and the Center for Architecture and Design. Virtual programming was launched during the COVID lockdown and continued into 2022 and 2024, offering a platform a creative dialectic. Plans are underway for 2025 on-site programming at the Center in San Francisco, which will include related exhibitions and book signings.
Sean Baccei
Senior Project Manager
sean@zackdevito.com
Gordon McDonald
Controller/Office Manager
gordon@zackdevito.com
Marion Girard
Senior Designer
marion@zackdevito.com
Leland Classen
Project Architect
leland@zackdevito.com
Site/Construction Team
Phil Coe
Construction PM
phil@zackdevito.com
Jeff Hunt
Site Supervisor
jeff@zackdevito.com
Victor Martinez
Site Supervisor
victor@zackdevito.com
Gabino Ottoman
Carpenter/Metal Craftsman
gabino@zackdevito.com