Principal: Kenichi Nakano
Size of firm: 11
Year founded: 1990
Annual revenues: $1 million
Specialties: Campus planning and design, park and recreation, transportation, public housing

While the size of the firm has stayed pretty constant recently, Nakano Associates has continued to branch out in the field of campus planning, completing master plans for the Unversity of Puget Sound and working on a plan for the South Campus of Western Washington University.

The firm has also been working for the last two years on Holly Park, and this year was on the Rainier Vista team. "Planning around light rail stations is an interesting aspect of both projects," said principal Kenichi Nakano. Other transit projects include the First Hill light rail station and three stations for SeaTac. The firm has been involved in commuter rail stations for Sumner, Puyallup and Tacoma, and bus transit centers in Bellevue and Renton.

Nakano Associates projects are still 80 percent public. "But the scale has increased," said Nakano. "It used to be design, but now we’re into the planning aspect. That’s how we like to market ... not doing individual buildings, but a new community-urban design."

Urban design is the focus of a study at King Street Station, and the firm has also been working on an urban design study around King Street Station and on the design of Union Station Square as a subcontractor to Parsons Brinckerhoff. Nakano Associates has also just completed a study on South Lake Union with Makers.

"I see smart growth and livable cities as a national theme that is very important," said Nakano. Members of the firm worked on the recent Salmon Friendly Seattle charrette sponsored by Seattle Public Utilities. Nakano is also working on Green Streets in the Denny Triangle as the city refines its Green Streets implementation policies, and has been busy with the Downtown Wayfinding project for the city of Seattle with SEATRAN, Maestri and Jon Bentz Design.