Ordiz-Melby Architects, Inc.

Exciting things are coming to Delano Union School District’s Almond Tree Middle School December 2027! 🎼We are transforming their existing 4,300 square-foot music building into a modern multi-purpose performance and practice space. Designed to support band, orchestra, and choir, the renovated facility will feature enhanced acoustics and upgraded audio-visual technology to create an inspiring environment for student musicians. Go Lions!

We’re excited to share a project highlight for Endeavour Elementary School’s outdoor lunch shelter, coming Summer 2027. OMA, in collaboration with Icon Shelters Inc., designed a 3,600‑square‑foot metal lunch shelter. Inspired by the school’s namesake, the NASA shuttle Endeavour, and its journeys through the cosmos, our team incorporated custom elements in the concrete. The flatwork features a central point representing the sun, with concentric concrete joints and embedded elements symbolizing the locations of the planets at the time the campus first opened in September 1995.

Go Wildcats! Mullen Gymnasium at Taft Union High School is getting some much needed upgrades and modernizations. Once completed, the basketball gym will feature new bleachers, a new hardwood athletic floor showcasing the Wildcat mascot, new Tectum panels to enhance acoustics, and a new coat of paint that reinforces school spirit and identity.

This week, we welcomed three 6th grade Gate classes from Stockdale Elementary to our office to explore architecture as a career path. Students learned about what architects do, the journey to becoming a licensed architect, and how thoughtful design helps create places people enjoy and experience every day. They took part in a “Building Bridges” activity, using spaghetti and marshmallows, putting their creativity to the test.

We loved sharing our passion for architecture and hope we inspired a few future designers along the way!

We’re proud to highlight one of our recently completed projects for Kaiser Permanente’s pharmacy expansion at their Stockdale location in Bakersfield. This renovation transformed the existing pharmacy to align with Kaiser’s national brand standards, creating a more open, modern, and welcoming member waiting area. One of the project’s biggest challenges was coordinating construction and phasing while minimizing disruption to pharmacy operations and revenue. To streamline the process, the team strategically elected to temporarily close the pharmacy for a focused 10-day period, allowing the full remodel to be completed efficiently with minimal overall impact.

We’re grateful for the collaboration and teamwork that made this successful renovation possible.

We’re headed back to school! 📝We’re excited to share a behind-the-scenes look at one of our current in-progress projects at Taft Union High School. Coming Summer 2027, the campus cafeteria is getting an upgrade. Originally built in the 1920s, with its last update in 1950, this space is ready for a new chapter.

Our renovation will introduce an all-new culinary classroom, along with a welcoming outdoor dining area featuring a cantilevered shade structure. To honor the school’s history, the design also incorporates Art Deco embellishments added to compliment the adjacent Administration Building, blending modern upgrades with the campus’s original character.

The update to Morningside Elementary’s TK and Kindergarten classrooms is nearing completion! Our firm designed three new buildings—comprising of seven classrooms—and a vibrant new playground. Students will enjoy two age-appropriate play structures, a dedicated tricycle track, an “alphabet bridge,” and a physical-fitness activity zone. The project addresses the Delano Union School District’s growing enrollment needs while providing students with a colorful, engaging outdoor environment that encourages creativity, exploration, and learning.

It’s ! This week every year serves to celebrate architectural design professions and inspire the next generation of architects. 👷‍♂️✨ We are highlighting one of our current projects that is in construction, the new Basic Needs Hub at California State University, Bakersfield—coming Spring 2026. Our team designed a modular building that will centralize essential services including creating a Food Pantry that is four times larger than the current space. It will be a one stop shop offering food assistance, CalFresh support, emergency housing resources, and connections to campus and community resources to better meet the needs of the roughly 800 students and faculty who rely on these services each week.

To kick off Day One of Architecture Week, the team at Ordiz Melby Architects turned away from our screens and back to the fundamentals with a sketch assignment. The challenge: draw something in our office that inspires you. ✍️ ✏️

This was a fun reminder that before the models, the details, and the construction… every project begins with a hand-drawn idea.

Celebrating the process, the creativity, and the people behind the work. Happy Architecture Week! 🏛️🎉

✏️We’re putting pen to paper with Kern High School District’s ROC Construction Trade Students for our very own OMA Sketch Day. Students were encouraged to sketch our building and landscape in our office complex, highlighting how architects still sketch on paper to express their ideas before designing on the computer.