• PODDS
  • Interactive Learning Pavilion, University of California Santa Barbara
  • Voxman Music Building, University of Iowa - Ceiling
  • Vancouver Convention Centre West - Aerial View
  • Tobin Center for the Performing Arts
  • Interactive Learning Pavilion, University of California Santa Barbara
  • ION2
  • Division of Continuing Education Building, University of California Irvine - Exterior
  • Benaroya Hall Octave 9 - Interior

Our design process is rooted in curiosity, research, and community.

We’re always pursuing new ways to align fundamental project criteria like program, context, and user experience with discovery and innovation in craft, building performance, and project delivery.

To shape a project’s big ideas, we develop design concepts through a variety of lenses: program typology, construction and cost drivers, research and innovation, and site concerns. Our methodology is grounded in iteration and testing – we explore a variety of approaches and compare and contrast them to generate new discoveries. We empower clients with inspiration and data to make informed decisions to achieve their project vision.

Program

The programming process is essential to shaping the soul of a design assignment. Beginning from a project’s specific program requirements and technical needs, our approach embraces spatial organization and functionality as critical design drivers. We distill these core qualities into clear program objectives expressed in the aesthetic character of the design.

Context

Architecture should be inspired by its surroundings, while mindfully augmenting its context in intentional ways. Our approach is deeply informed by the desire to be respectful to the existing qualities of a place, balanced by our belief in the power of design to shape its context. Reflective of current and future possibilities, our work contributes to the equitable evolution of the physical and cultural fabric of a community.

Research & Innovation

Our creative process is rooted in data-driven exploration to back big ideas with rigorous research. We believe the most aspirational goals for shaping a better world can be brought into form through rigorous experimentation and testing. We apply the latest technologies in modeling, delivery, and construction to achieve cost savings and project efficiencies.

Craft

Our practice is rooted in exploring the potential of design through craft and making. Design ideas emerge from the interplay between abstract and physical exploration, allowing us to unlock the potential of materials, form, and light with solutions informed by craft, fabrication, and delivery. Our approach brings us to a common ground with craftspeople, artists, and specialty fabricators, augmenting our collaboration and yielding artifacts that are beautiful, buildable, and lasting.

Environmental Sustainability

We prioritize an efficiency of resources, minimizing energy consumption, and reducing embodied carbon to create places that harmonize with the natural environment. We leverage new and emerging technologies throughout the design process to ensure ambitious performance outcomes. We are committed to decarbonization as a critical response to the climate crisis and capitalize on adaptive re-use and renovation work whenever possible. We are always looking for ways to achieve zero-carbon certification in our projects as we meet the AIA 2030 Commitment.

Voxman Music Building, University of Iowa - Exterior
Architecture

Architecture has the power to advance the social experience of the public realm. Our projects create transformative engagements between individuals and the community. We seek to create an architectural expression that is unique to each building’s purpose and place, creating experiences that support people in imagining and building a more inclusive future.

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Downtown Seattle Hotel - Interior
Interior Design

At the human scale, we design interior environments that modulate between the urban experience and the refined material scale. Our emphasis on craft prioritizes resolved solutions that balance practical needs with project aspirations to create holistic interior experiences. Always looking to the future, our interior designs support people within changing built and natural environments.

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Sound Transit University of Washington Station - Aerial View
Planning

Our planning work ranges from architectural pre-design services and programmatic planning to complete campus master plans and urban precinct studies. Often visionary in nature and typically research-oriented, this strategic work carefully studies existing conditions and anticipated developments to lay the groundwork for future built solutions that enable sustainable and flexible long-term development.

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Seattle Asian Art Museum - Interior
Renovation + Adaptive Reuse

The future of architecture and the built environment is as much about reuse and adaptation as it is new construction. Committed to resource conservation and resilience, our expertise encompasses renovations, modernizations, expansions, and facility improvement studies. Our approach to the modernization of public projects is to create well-loved places that are durable, flexible, and future-ready to stand the test of time.

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Cleveland Convention Center & Civic Core - Aerial View
Urban Design

Public space must fulfill increasingly complex social, physical, and environmental needs. Our approach to urban design begins with relationship building, allowing design responses to evolve from a community’s priorities and identity. Our multidisciplinary expertise leads to solutions that prioritize health and wellness and are seamlessly interwoven with larger urban systems and infrastructures, contributing to long-term resiliency strategies.

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