Oct 12, 2022

Architects West

Champion

Caleb Champion has been hired as an intern architect at Architects West. He brings over 10 years of leadership experience from the fabrication and construction industries to the firm. Champion earned his Associates of Applied Science Transfer Degree in Architectural Technology from Spokane Community College. He previously worked for local design and fabrication companies in Spokane.

He has a special interest in design as well as construction administration. Some of Champions current projects include schools in Wallowa, Washington and Ione, Oregon, and Mountain View Bible Church and Atlas Housing in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Seattle Design Festival

Chubb

Woland

Gatlin

Jau

Seattle Design Festival announced its incoming slate of design leaders who were elected to fill seats on its Board of Directors. These new directors will provide the strategic leadership required to advance SDF's mission “to unleash the design thinker in everyone to illuminate Seattle's challenges and ignite action.” The four incoming board members are Jenny Jau, Jeanette Gatlin, Jake Woland, and Mark Chubb.

Jenny Jau joins as director of finance. Jau has worked in product leadership roles for Redfin, Amazon, and Yahoo. She has an MBA and has been a nonprofit board member in the arts space. Jeannette Gatlin joins as director of development. Gatlin is a UX designer with Google and has also worked for Microsoft. She wants to support Google's involvement in SDF and develop the relationship. Jake Woland is the new director of m ember advancement. He has over 20 years of experience as a landscape architect and design leader. He regularly lectures at UW and is the author of a textbook on sustainable site design. He has worked across a wide variety of urban conditions and scales, including waterfronts, civic open spaces, transit facilities, streetscapes and mixed use and commercial projects. Mark Chubb joins as director of development. Chubb is the former director of technical services with Code Unlimited, LLC. He is an experienced emergency management and public safety executive with diverse professional, technical and academic experience in public, private and non-profit organizations.

Mayer/Reed

Simms

Mayer/Reed, Inc. announced the promotion of Shannon Simms, ASLA to associate principal and shareholder of the Portland-based interdisciplinary design studio. Simms is a landscape architect and leader in active transportation and urban design projects. She joins principal and owner Jeramie Shane, ASLA in leading the firm's landscape architecture and urban design group. Together with principal and owner Kathy Fry, SEGD, who heads the firm's visual communications group, the trio is forming the next chapter of Mayer/Reed's leadership.

Rice Fergus Miller

Gladics

Kelly

In celebration of the firm's 35th Anniversary Dean Kelly and Gunnar Gladics have joined Rice Fergus Miller's ownership team. Gladics brings over 20 years of experience as a regionally-recognized designer for emergency response facilities. His deep knowledge in the field is rooted in his many years as a volunteer firefighter and EMT. His focus, Gladics said, is on designing for the health of firefighters with an eye on innovating for the future. Kelly has extensive experience designing housing for specialty communities, such as regional Tribes or for seniors.

Wittman Estes

Crain

Hagen

Wittman Estes has welcomed two new employees. Emily Hagen joined the firm as an architect. Hagen is a licensed architect and has lectured nationally and internationally on innovative building technologies including advancements to the world of mass timber. Her award-winning conceptual design for a cross-laminated timber high-rise building were published in the book “Timber in the City.”

Hagen received her Bachelor of Architecture from Virginia Tech and attended the University of Oulu's Modern Nordic Architecture program. Her design experience spans a diverse scale of work including houses on Bainbridge and Camano Islands, a midcentury renovation in West Seattle, commercial projects across Seattle and San Diego, prefabricated mass timber projects across Washington state, and healthcare developments in rural Haiti and Guatemala.

Her current projects include Studio Nebraska, new mixed-use building in Georgetown with CLT construction; Hideaway, a custom home in Coeur d'Alene and Montlake Renovation, a home remodel and backyard redesign in Montlake.

Heather Crain joined the firm as an architect. Crain holds a Master of Architecture and a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies with a minor in Construction Management from Washington State University, where her thesis focused on design through the lens of spatial memory. She is a licensed architect in Washington State and enjoys returning to her alma mater as a guest critic or participation in Mentor Days at WSU's School of Design and Construction. She has nearly 10 years of experience leading residential and commercial projects from conception to construction.

Her current projects include, Mercer Grove, a new custom home on Mercer Island; Highland Park Improvement Club, a rebuilding of community center in West Seattle and The Overstory a new custom home on Marrowstone Island.

Oct 05, 2022

BCRA

Hull

McElroy

Isaiah McElroy has joined BCRA from BLRB Architects and brings nearly five years of construction administration and architectural design experience to the firm. He is a Washington State University graduate where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Architecture Studies. He previously worked in the education market and will be supporting BCRA's multifamily residential and retail markets at the firm's Tacoma office.

Jessica Hull also joined BCRA, from Thomas Architecture Studios, where she primarily worked on multifamily residential projects following the completion of a Master of Architecture program at Washington State University. She is a current member of the Olympia Heritage Commission. Though her previous experience is in architectural design, she is interested in exploring interior design concepts and will have the opportunity to support the interiors department through BCRA's retail market. She is also based in the Tacoma office.

DLR Group

Vander Ploeg

DLR Group has promoted Michael Vander Ploeg to regional workplace leader, focusing on the Northwest region. In his new role, Vander Ploeg will advance the growth of DLR Group's workplace market sector across Oregon and Washington, guiding a team of integrated design and engineering professionals. He will continue innovating the future of the workplace with existing client partners while sparking new partnerships in DLR Group's focus areas, including science+technology, mass timber, and sustainable design and development.

Vander Ploeg is currently researching new ways to collect sensor data from built environments to make them more sustainable, enjoyable, and healthier. In addition to this research, he is working on methods for fabricating new prototype spaces and interactive design installations that engage technology clients with the communities in which they live and work.

FSi

Kelly

FSi announced the addition of Rex Kelly to its engineering office in Spokane. Kelly brings an EIT and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Boise State University. Kelly will focus on energy modeling and supporting Inland Northwest client projects with plumbing and HVAC design.

MG2

Unzelman

MG2 recently announced the promotion of Wendy Unzelman to chief financial officer. Unzelman has more than 35 years in finance and accounting, serving most recently as the firm's vice president of finance. In her new role, she will be responsible for the financial strategies that support the firm's short and long-term business growth.

In her fourteen years at MG2, she has strengthened accounting processes to improve the quality of data and reporting her team provides. Unzelman joined MG2 in 2008 as controller, taking on greater and greater responsibility, including financial planning and analysis, budgeting and forecasting, and succession planning. She was promoted to vice president of finance in 2018. Earlier in her career, she was a CPA in the public accounting firm Yergen & Meyer (now Moss Adams) with a specialty in audits. Unzelman is a graduate of Southern Oregon University and earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She is a past president of the Seattle/Bellevue area chapter of the Washington State CPA Society and is Lean certified.

In addition to elevating Unzelman, MG2 promoted eighteen employees in the firm's Seattle office. Tracy Schneider was promoted to associate director, public relations, Dallas Dyer, was promoted to program manager, Bonnie James is now BIM account manager, Emily Walker is now marketing manager, Katie Bartman is now HR generalist, Lauren Muller has been promoted to marketing coordinator, Colleen Hannah has been promoted to studio administrator 2 and Angelique Brown to contract specialist.

Brittany Hazzard has also been promoted to contract specialist. Sarah Simchuk, in now associate 5, Crystal Fairley is associate 4, Alina Pinchuk is associate 4, Elise Braun is associate 3, Savannah Moller is associate 3, Tehilla Ben Gershom is associate 2, Jessica Bone is associate 2, Katie Fenn is associate 2 and Sruthi Sundaresan is associate 2.

Parametrix

Baker

John Baker has joined Parametrix as a senior construction manager based in Puyallup. He has over 30 years of experience in construction management working with government, petroleum, aerospace, manufacturing, and pharmaceutical clients.

Baker comes to Parametrix from Akana. He specializes in field project supervision, project management, regulatory compliance, and quality control for construction, environmental, and health and safety projects. His project experience includes serving as construction inspector for Metro's Central Waste Transfer Facility Stormwater Treatment System project.

The Riley Group

Angel

Chou

Charlie Chou has joined The Riley Group's geotechnical engineering department as a licensed project geologist. He began his career in 2016 working in the environmental and storm water pollution sectors after earning his Bachelor of Science in Geology from California State University, Fullerton. Chou later expanded his hands-on field experience by working on a variety of complex geology projects which included exploration and collection of data for tidal and infiltration studies.

During this time, he also performed site-specific historical research for Phase I ESAs and aided in environmental report preparation and documentation. In 2020, he received a Master's in Applied Geosciences from the University of Washington, after which he dedicated himself to the geotechnical engineering sector.

Currently his work includes performing geotechnical construction monitoring services on large scale residential plats and infill projects. This work generally consists of performing compaction testing, monitoring of pile installation soil nails/tiebacks, and completing foundation/footing observations. Chou is a certified erosion and sediment control lead. In this role and generally during construction activities, he directs temporary erosion control measures and best management practicesto retain sediment and water onsite. He works directly with the site owner, contractor, and subcontractors to coordinate these efforts. Lastly, he is adept in performing sieve, moisture, proctor, and Atterberg Limit tests in the RGI soil laboratory.

Sam Angel has also joined RGI, as a senior staff geologist, within the company's geotechnical department. He has over three years of experience providing geotechnical, environmental, and hydrogeologic consulting services in the Pacific Northwest and is actively pursuing professional licensure. Originally from Missoula, Montana, Angel began his career working on Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments in his hometown. Currently, his expertise is in construction, involving exploration geology during design phases and construction monitoring. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Geosciences while attending Pacific Lutheran University, and his Master's in Applied Geosciences from the University of Washington.

During his graduate program, Angel focused in slope stability and drafted a landslide inventory and shallow/deep landslide susceptibility models for the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe. He uses his strong academic background in exploration work and in making recommendations during construction earthwork.