Practice
We design for how a house wants to be used over decades, not how it photographs in its first year. A small number of commissions a year, principal-led from sketch to walkthrough.
Studio
Reservoir is a small studio. We take six to eight projects a year so that the principal, and the people you'd actually hire us for, are present from first sketch to final walkthrough.
Our work is largely residential and largely in the Pacific Northwest, though we travel where good clients are. We design for how a house wants to be used over decades, not how it photographs in its first year.
01
Topography, water, light, prevailing weather. The site decides more than the brief does.
02
Cedar that will silver. Concrete that will mark. Steel that will patina. We build for time.
03
The work is in the joints, the reveals, the way a door is hung. Detail is restraint, not decoration.
What we take on
New residence
Single-family residences sited to their land. Cedar, blackened steel, concrete, and glass, drawn for the way you actually live.
Renovation / addition
Thoughtful additions and whole-house renovations that respect the original structure while opening it to light and the site.
ADU
Small, dense, and beautifully detailed. Studios, guest houses, and backyard cottages that read as part of the whole.
Adaptive reuse
Giving older buildings a new purpose. Reservoir House began as a pump station and is now a family home.
Cabin / retreat
Small footprints in remote sites. Inlet Cabin, in the San Juans, is 1,800 square feet that lives twice its size.
Hospitality
Boutique lodging and short-stay retreats designed with the same material care as the homes we build.
Process
01
A site visit, a long conversation, and a written design brief. We agree on scope, schedule, and budget before any sketches.
02
Schematic design through design development. Two principal-led design sessions per month, never a junior associate.
03
Construction drawings, permitting, contractor selection. We bid the project to two or three trusted GCs.
04
On-site administration through final punch. Twelve to eighteen months from groundbreak to move-in for most homes.
Begin
We take a small number of new commissions each year. The more you can share at first, the better we can know whether we're right for the work.