FOUNDING PRINCIPAL
Tima Bell, Assoc. AIA
Tima founded Bell Design Group on a conviction that architecture and art are inseparable disciplines . Raised across the contrasting landscapes of Venice Beach and Peaks Island, Maine, he came to architecture through painting, using the canvas to investigate how light, volume, and material shape human experience. That instinct to see space as something felt before it is built remains the animating force behind BDG’s work.
He trained at Rice University and the Southern California Institute of Architecture, extending his education through immersive study across Europe and a year-long artist residency in Israel. The breadth of that American rigor, European precedent, and artistic practice informs his design sensibility as intellectually grounded and deeply spatial.
Tima is an AIA Associate and the recipient of two AIA Hospitality Design Awards, a former adjunct professor at Woodbury University, and a recurring guest juror at universities across Los Angeles. His work and thinking have appeared in industry publications and on panels and podcasts throughout the profession.
“Our work is more than getting things built. It’s translating need, budget, and desire into spaces and environments that feels effortless and enjoyable to experience.”
Diverse, Intentional, Complimentary and Ecologically Sustainable. Episode 553 Features Tima Bell of BDG.
This issue of local Venice newspaper, The Argonaut, features founder Tima Bell discussing the passion we put into our work on the renowned V Hotel.
In this episode of the Business of Architecture, Tima Bell and host Ryan Willard discuss How Passion and Process Built a Thriving Firm.
