We started SG Design Studio because the way structural engineering gets practiced in Los Angeles hasn't kept pace with how the rest of the construction industry works. Architects design in 3D. GCs manage projects through cloud platforms. Owners expect responsive, professional service. And then they bring a structural engineer onto the team and the experience drops back into the 1990s.
SG Design Studio is a Los Angeles–based structural engineering studio working on residential, commercial, multi-family, and development projects across Southern California. We engineer everything from a single beam over a kitchen opening to ground-up multi-family construction on hillside sites.
The work is technical — every plan we issue carries an engineer's stamp and the legal weight that comes with it. But the practice doesn't have to be. We've built a studio where calculations are rigorous, plans are clean, communication is clear, and clients always know where their project stands.
That's the whole idea. The engineering should be the hard part. Working with the engineer shouldn't be.
Three principles guide every project we take on. Engineering rigor, design clarity, and a workflow that respects everyone's time.
The calculations are right. The details work in the field. The plans hold up in plan check. Nothing about the structural side of a project should be a surprise — not to the owner, not to the architect, not to the framer, and not to the building official.
A plan set is a communication tool. We organize ours so the inspector finds what they need on the first look, the framer doesn't call with questions the plan should have answered, and the architect can see how the structure lands inside the design intent.
Same-day response to client emails. Honest timelines and the discipline to hit them. Project files organized so a contractor can find what they need at 7am on a Tuesday without waiting for us to dig through email. The work should move at the pace of the project, not slow it down.
Souren founded SG Design Studio to bring a more modern, responsive approach to structural engineering in Los Angeles. He’s a California-licensed Professional Civil Engineer (C 93320) with structural design experience spanning hillside residential, multi-family, commercial, and retrofit work.
Before founding the studio, Souren worked on dozens of projects across the LA basin — from custom hillside homes in the Hollywood Hills to multi-family buildings in the Valley to commercial tenant improvements in Glendale and Pasadena. The studio is built around his core belief: engineering work should be as clear and well-organized as the building it produces.
— Recent project sheets, stamped and ready for permit submittal.
The studio is based in Sherman Oaks, with most projects within a 60–90 minute radius. We work throughout Los Angeles County — from coastal sites in Malibu and Long Beach, through the LA basin and the Valley, to the hillside neighborhoods of Mulholland, Glendale, and Pasadena.