Mission

In service to our clients, through a commitment to quality, and to creative, sustainable solutions, we strive to improve communities..

Project Types:

• Educational Facilities
• Civic / Governmental Facilities
• Master Planning / Urban Design
• Multi-Family Housing / Senior Care
• Industrial / Maintenance / Transportation Facilities

Approach to Design:

In an effort to tie our projects to societal values and our desire to improve the communities in which we work, we approach our projects through the integration of Building Design, Urban Design, and Sustainability.

Urban Design:

Foundational to our design approach is our desire to make positive contributions to the communities in which we work through urban design. We search for appropriate design responses at the neighborhood, community and regional levels in an effort to promote better social behaviors, human interaction, and more livable communities. We view our work as part of the community fabric rather than only isolated, individual buildings, recognizing that the spaces between buildings are often as important as the buildings themselves. This recognition provides greater purpose to the process of "building" whereby, among other things, we strive to create:

• Successful outdoor spaces and the connections between buildings (including the creation and preservation of open public spaces).

• Successful streets that support pedestrian-friendly environments.

• Successful integration of automobiles and parking with building design.

Building Design:

We search to discover simple, creative and affordable solutions to a client's program and site that will result in rational, well-resolved, and well-crafted buildings. Specific goals common to our projects include:

• Locality and Context: A sensible and sensitive response to culture, history and climate, resulting in buildings that are "good citizens", creating a sense of pride and place that is part of the continuum of a community.
  
  
• Building Structure: Logical, rigorous, and well-detailed structural systems that are clearly expressed, giving occupants a sense of comfort and order through visual comprehension of how a building is resisting the forces of nature.
  
  
• Clear Circulation: Simple, straight-forward circulation systems and patterns that become the organizing elements of a building, effectively connecting program functions and providing occupants with a heightened sense of orientation.
  
  
• System Integration: Logical, economical, and thorough integration of structural, mechanical and electrical systems, supporting sustainability goals.
  
  
• Materiality: Appropriate integration of materials guided by our desire to use the best materials afforded by the available financial resources.

• Daylight: Orient building forms and key program areas to gather, yet appropriately control, maximum amounts of daylight.

• Style: Appropriate to the region and place in which we work, responsive to climate, culture and context.

• Detail: Resolution of detail demonstrating a respect for our client's investment and for the craft of Architecture.

Sustainability:

In each project we strive to appropriately and creatively integrate economic, social, and environmental considerations in support of our client's goals, aspirations, and financial resources. In doing so, we aspire to create buildings that advance toward a more sustainable society, both technically (energy conservation, water conservation, storm water management, etc.) and in such a way as to help people connect visually and emotionally with a building's "greenness", recognizing and appreciating a building's attempt to be more humane and environmentally sensitive. We also help our clients to evaluate design options that provide for greater durability and longevity, thereby reducing a building's overall life cycle costs and optimizing a client's return on investment. We use a variety of tools including LEED, Washington Sustainable Schools Protocol, and others, as means to establish benchmarking goals, consistent with our client's goals and our commitment to improving communities.