Principal: Thomas Rengstorf
Size of firm: 5
Year founded: 1983
Annual revenues: $300,000
Specialties:Multi-family housing, urban residential

Throughout the current boom, Thomas Rengstorf Associates has stayed within the urban residential market, working with developers and architecture firms such as Driscoll, Mithun, GGLO and Weber + Thompson on infill design projects. The firm is looking to get deeper into the school and commercial markets, according to principal Thomas Rengstorf.

Recent and current projects include the Seattle Pacific University Library, the Opus IV site in Bellevue and the Avalon Bellevue, and five-story residential building, and Auburn High School.

"Everybody’s busy," he said. But although the demand is high for design services, and clients are determined to build, "most of them still watch the bottom line."

The firm is also working on a memorial garden for Mercer Island Presbyterian Church. The congregation wants a multi-purpose space for a variety of church ceremonies, and is emphatic that it not resemble a traditional cemetery in any way. From Rengstorf’s perspective, this is an opportunity to practice essential landscape architecture: the creation of site-specific outdoor space for programmatic, philosophical and cultural purposes.

"The memorial garden concept may be seen as a development of the rural cemetery movement in American history," said Rengstorf associate Robin Hanway. "We have looked to that history-and to examples of sculptural monuments like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, for design precedents and philosophy."

The firm has five church projects going. "My heart’s there," said Rengstorf. "They’re giving more of their time than money. People out there need to refocus about gifting some of their time and money to help more churches, who are worried about getting enough parking or day care."