AIA Seattle Announces 2019 Honorees

Each year, AIA Seattle recognizes leadership and achievement in design and the built environment through its honors program.

Honorees are nominated by their peers and selected by the Fellows & Honors committee each spring. AIA Seattle is delighted to recognize these recipients for their exceptional contributions to the profession and our community.

Please join us in congratulating the 2019 Honorees! We will celebrate their achievements at the 2019 President’s Dinner on Saturday June 15, 2019 at Palace Ballroom in Seattle.

2019 HONOREES

Young Architect Award

Peggy Heim AIA

Peggy Heim AIA, CPHD is an architect with VIA Architecture. Her interest in integrated and passive house design helps to create sustainable, urban communities by way of long-lasting, high quality buildings. Peggy has worked on a variety of project types with a focus on affordable and market-rate multi-family housing in urban environments. She is an effective and conscientious project manager and enjoys the collaborative process between the client, architect and contractor. She effectively utilizes building information modeling and visualization tools and has a seasoned understanding of the challenges and opportunities presented by the construction process.

Peggy currently holds the Advocate Director position on the AIA Seattle Board of Directors and is a representative for AIA Seattle on the AIA Washington state board. She has been active on tracking and supporting sustainability issues related to the built environment at the state level as a member of the AIA WA Climate Committee. Peggy is also very passionate about supporting and mentoring women in the design profession. Before becoming a board member with AIA Seattle, she was a co-chair of the AIA Seattle Women in Design committee and planning co-chair of the 2015 AIA National Women’s Leadership Summit.

Honorary AIA Seattle Membership

Eugenia Woo

While growing up, Eugenia was fascinated by architecture, history, cities, and how communities work. She parlayed this interest into a career in historic preservation—finding a profession that she is passionate about. Eugenia Woo has been Historic Seattle’s Director of Preservation Services since 2009, where she develops and implements preservation policies and initiatives; provides technical assistance for constituents; engages in community outreach; and coordinates advocacy efforts with grassroots groups, individuals and local government.

Past experience includes working as a preservation consultant at Artifacts Consulting in Tacoma and staffing the International Special Review District and Columbia City Landmark District through the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. Eugenia has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Urban Planning and Preservation Planning certificate from the University of Washington. Eugenia currently serves on the Governor’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. She is a co-founder and current board member (Treasurer) of Docomomo WEWA (Documentation and Conservation of the Modern Movement, Western Washington) and a past board member of the Vernacular Architecture Forum and the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation.

Michael Yantis

For more than 40 years, Michael has been a consultant in architectural acoustics and vibration, mechanical system noise and vibration control, environmental noise assessments, and electronic sound system design. He earned his Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington.

What does he love most about his work? The variety. The Stantec team of acousticians works on over a hundred projects a year, and they range from performing arts and K-12 schools to residential and office buildings. Recently Michael worked on the Vashon Allied Arts project, a new performing arts center for Vashon Island, Washington. It seats about 325 and has an emphasis on music, but it also accommodates drama. With all of those different work opportunities, Michael says that sometimes “we have to stretch our own understanding of our discipline to find the right solution for a project.” When he’s not at work, Michael spends nearly all of his free time with his family, which includes three grandchildren, so he gives it freely (most of the time). When he has the opportunity, he loves to golf.

Matthew Richter

Matthew Richter has spent the past 25 years creating arts and cultural spaces in Seattle, from pop-up temporary storefronts to years-long projects in giant urban warehouse spaces. His work has placed him at the intersection of the arts and real estate time and again, and he has gained a unique perspective from that vantage point. Art in America has referred to him as “an arts visionary” for his decades of work advancing the presence of the arts in the urban fabric. In 2013 he joined the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture as the Cultural Space Liaison, the first position of its kind in the country, leading a body of work around the creation, activation, and preservation of cultural spaces. Matthew is an arts entrepreneur and was the founding director of both the Consolidated Works contemporary arts center and the Rm 608 gallery for visual and performing arts. He spent two years building the Storefronts Seattle program, which activated 27 storefront spaces with projects throughout Seattle and in suburbs from Auburn to Mount Vernon. He has served as the Performance Editor of The Stranger, and is a nationally published feature writer. He has created a series of Dinner Theater productions at On the Boards and elsewhere, is an accomplished furniture designer and builder, and has lectured internationally on the state of the arts. He lives in Seattle with his wife, the playwright Holly Arsenault, and their son.

Kelly Rodriguez

For nearly two decades, from 2000 to 2019, Kelly Rodriguez served as the executive director and editor of ARCADE, a Northwest non-profit organization concerned with reinforcing the principle that thoughtful design at every scale of human endeavor improves our quality of life. During her tenure, Kelly helped to produce over 60 issues of ARCADE magazine, and a host of original programming and partner events in the community. Among her numerous volunteer engagements, Kelly participated on the architect selection advisory committee for the Bullitt Center; served as commissioner and frequent panelist for the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture; and from 2017-‘19, Kelly assisted architectural historian and University of Washington professor emeritus, Grant Hildebrand, with every aspect of his latest book project, Gordon Walker: A Poetic Architecture, to be published by ARCADE (07/’19). Kelly holds a Bachelor of Architecture with Distinction from the California College of Arts and a Master of Architecture from the University of Washington, and she has been a ballet dancer for most of her life.

Community Service Award

Rob Widmeyer AIA

As President of Seattle ACE Mentor Program, Rob has been a relentless force in expanding resources, scholarships, and building industry participation. His efforts have led to an incredibly diverse and expanding pool of high school students pursuing careers in the built environment. As a board member, active fundraiser, and past president of the Seattle Architecture Foundation, Rob advanced the efforts to create public awareness of the value of design. As Co-chairman of funding for the Center for Design, he led the campaign to raise funds to design and construct a new home for AIA Seattle, Seattle Architecture Foundation, Design in Public, and the Washington Council AIA. He has also served on the boards of WCAIA, DBIANW, and volunteered for United Way and his community council. At LMN Architects he works across market sectors, with an emphasis on convention center and performing arts projects. Representative projects include the Vancouver Convention Centre West; Marion Oliver McCaw Hall; and the Hawai’i Convention Center.

Allied Organization Award

Forterra

Forterra secures places—urban, rural and wild—that are keystones of a sustainable future for people and nature in the Pacific Northwest. Over its thirty years Forterra has completed more than 450 land transactions and protected greater than 275,000 acres—from remote wildlands, to working farms and forests, to city parks, to urban property for cultural and community sites and attainable for-sale housing.

Emerging Professionals Travel Scholarship

Jaclyn Hensy Assoc. AIA and Tristan Walker Assoc. AIA

Jaclyn Hensy Assoc. AIA is an architectural designer at Robert Hutchison Architecture. Jaclyn received her Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas. She recently led the development of models, drawings, and installations for RHA’s solo exhibition entitled “MEMORY HOUSES: Nine Allegorical Works of Architecture” at Gallery 4Culture in May of 2018. Previously, Jaclyn held positions at design offices in New York and Seattle. Since 2014, she continues to collaborate with W. Mark Gunderson, a sole practitioner based in Fort Worth. Jaclyn is interested in building as a result of life, architecture as a process of critical reflection, and what can be documented of the ephemeral.

Tristan Walker Assoc. AIA is a designer at the Miller Hull Partnership. His recent professional work has included United States Embassies in Central America and North Africa, as well as progressive education institutions in Seattle. Bringing architectural and organizational form to values and respecting the dignity of people and places is central to his current work. He contributes to Robert Hutchison’s Memory House project, bringing visualization to architectural forms and memories. Tristan received his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas. He is curious about the patterns, perceptions, and cultures of humans, and in design’s ability to speak to us through these channels.

View the 2019 Travel Scholarship announcement for more information about Jaclyn and Tristan’s proposal.

STATE HONORS

Jennie Sue Brown Award

Geoff Anderson AIA

Geoff E. Anderson, AIA is a Principal at Schemata Workshop. As a professional, Geoff’s practice has focused on community projects, with an expertise in parks & recreation, aquatic centers, and affordable housing.

Geoff has been working to serve the architecture profession for over 20 years. Since his time serving as AIAS President at the University of Washington, to serving on the AIA Seattle Board, and his recent tenure as President of AIA Washington Council, he has found great pride in bettering the practice for architects at all levels. He service to the profession has included serving on committees for the Seattle Architecture Foundation and as Chair of the Laddership mentoring program for over 10 years. He also continues to serve the AIA Washington Council as the Chair of the Livability and Affordability Committee.

REGIONAL & NATIONAL HONORS

2018 Regional Emerging Firm Award

goCstudio

Seattle based goCstudio is an innovative architecture and design studio founded in 2012 by Jon Gentry AIA and Aimée O’Carroll. The studio’s work is driven by the unique opportunities and constraints of site specific projects which evolve through close relationships with clients, artists, and craftsmen. Each project is strengthened through these relationships, grounded in a strong consideration of site, material, and craft resulting in authentic and tactile buildings that aim to enrich their cultural landscape. The work spans a variety of project types, bridging the disciplines of art and architecture through collaborative design. The work purposefully engages various scales with the same attitude and process. The studio strives for design excellence in every project and brings an internationally diverse background of experiences to each endeavor. The resulting projects maintain their individuality while retaining a coherent design thread as a complete body of work.

2019 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award

Karen Braitmayer FAIA

Karen Braitmayer, FAIA is the founder and managing principal of Studio Pacifica, an accessibility consulting firm in Seattle. She and her team provide consulting services to local governments, school districts, architects, engineers, companies and individuals concerned with complying with Federal laws and State codes, as well as simply creating spaces that work for the unique needs of individual users. Karen also leads presentations and workshops around the country to further educate professionals about codes, standards, and inclusion.

Early in her career, it occurred to Karen that as an architect and a wheelchair user, it was possible for her to make a unique contribution to the field. Her professional focus on accessibility and her advocacy efforts for inclusion have certainly done that!

As a registered architect, Karen was admitted to the prestigious College of Fellows by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). In 2010 she was appointed by President Barack Obama to the United States Access Board, a policy position that she still holds today.