PROJECTS / PUBLIC & COMMERCIAL

 

First Church

Brambles Golf Course

Orcas Island Community Space & Farm Kitchen

Truckee Art Haus

Bertschi School

 
 
 

Designing Beautiful and Functional Commercial Spaces

Commercial spaces have different design criteria than residential projects, and yet both require great design awareness and problem-solving skills. Often a business wants their space to reflect their values and show off what makes them different or special, all within their business proforma. Our techniques for tailoring a house to its residents can also be successfully used to fit a commercial space for a business client. As experienced commercial architects, we can get to the root of what is unique about your business to find inspiration to design a space that suits your needs.

The ‘client’ for the design is not just the business owner, but also their patrons. Commercial architecture requires meticulous planning and has additional regulatory constraints – different building and energy codes, accessibility requirements, food safety and zoning challenges are all common issues. As commercial architects, we are well-equipped to help business owners navigate these challenges to create spaces that are right for their needs.

Restaurants, bars, stores, wineries, clubhouses, offices, theaters and multi-use developments – all these building types can benefit from custom modern design that will provide a fresh new look and feel to the spaces. We have provided tenant improvement designs as well as plans for new buildings to suit a variety of businesses.

We are not necessarily the architecture firm that will churn out dozens of franchise locations for rock-bottom prices – our strength lies in our ability to translate the personality and soul of an organization into custom-built form. As your commercial architect in Seattle or any other jurisdiction, we will help you define what is different and special about your business, and ensure your building reflects your values and character while also fulfilling your needs.



Public Architecture for Any Building

Public architecture is a broad specialty, but the DeForest Architects staff has varied experience designing beautiful and memorable public and institutional buildings, including but not limited to:

Park Buildings
Churches
Libraries
Museums
Transit Facilities
Schools 

In our capacity as public architects, design for community is important to us and provides incredible opportunities for creating communal spaces that will endure and be shared for generations. Often these public buildings can take on great importance to a wide spectrum of users, providing wide-ranging opportunities for public architecture to improve the lives of building inhabitants.

Many institutional and public projects require community input. We are experienced at organizing and leading workshops and public meetings to invite and collect feedback and build rapport with stakeholders. Community meetings can increase buy-in, smoothing the way for the remainder of the design process and leading to public architecture that reflects the values of its community.



Public + Commercial Buildings We Have Designed

Our Seattle First Church project is an example of a savvy modern church group in the market for a ‘non-church architect’ to help them chart a new path for their congregation. Workshops with the congregants were an important part of the design process. Check out this adaptive reuse project nestled in Seattle’s popular South Lake Union neighborhood.

The Truckee Art Haus in Truckee, CA is a three-screen movie theater and community arts center designed for the Truckee Railyard Redevelopment Area. The concessions area doubles as a bar, cafe, and meeting area for the neighborhood, and auditoriums can be used for non-cinema events like local dance performances.

Brambles is an example of a non-traditional golf course looking for a non-traditional golf course architect to help them build a clubhouse and other support structures on their beautiful Lake County, CA site. A modest scale and engagement with the natural landscape mark a departure from typical golf course construction.

 

Our Public + Commercial Design Process

o   Contact us to schedule a phone call or zoom
o   We’ll guide you in aligning expectations for scope, schedule, and budget with your goals
o   Successful projects start – and finish – with strong teams. We’ll help assemble and lead the team that’s the best fit for your project.
o   Our variety of design tools, from hands-on to digital, will assist in visualizing and communicating throughout the design process.

Seattle and California-Based Commercial + Public Architects

Our Seattle architecture studio is located on Portage Bay near the University of Washington. However, our expertise is not limited to the Seattle metro area or the Pacific Northwest – we can execute commercial and public architecture projects in many jurisdictions. Our Lake Tahoe, California studio, located in Alpine Meadows, CA, is convenient for projects in California, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and elsewhere.


FAQs for Public + Commercial Architecture

  • Public meetings, presentations and workshops are some ways public architects can share a design with the community, solicit feedback and present design options – and often they are mandated by local regulations. This process helps build a dialogue between the design team and the public, fostering community building and increasing the likelihood of a successful built project. Engaging exercises that respect the different ways people communicate and understand design ensure that all participants have the chance to understand the project and have their feedback heard. We have experience in designing and leading a variety of public meetings and workshops, so we can help tailor the right type of meeting to your project.

  • Sustainable design is a philosophy that seeks to minimize the environmental impact of a building, while improving the health and welfare of its occupants. Sustainable design for public buildings has the potential to have a greater impact than it does in other building types, due to the larger scale and greater number of occupants of most public buildings. Institutions that own public buildings also tend to have a vested interest in reducing long-term operating costs, even if it means greater initial capital expenditure. Sustainable design can reduce building energy and water use, reduce waste and use more long-lasting materials that increase the lifecycle of a building – all plusses for institutional building owners. For commercial building owners, improving the comfort and health of occupants can increase productivity and employee retention in the long term.

  • A Seattle commercial architect should understand the relevant codes and regulations for commercial buildings, including building, zoning, accessibility and health codes, among others. However, for the design to succeed, a commercial architect needs to be a great listener and experienced with eliciting the essence of what makes your business special and translating that into built form. They also need to understand efficiency and project budgets, to help you assemble the team and tools you need to make sure the project fits within your budget.

  • Commercial and public architects can use design to enhance the efficiency and flow of functions within a project. By designing a thoughtful flow through a building, a commercial or institutional architect can help orchestrate an experience that is beneficial to the public as well as to the business or institution. Open, glassy facades can improve visibility and transparency, increasing engagement with passersby. Clever solutions to accessibility challenges can help budgets while still providing improved services for patrons. Better daylighting can reduce energy bills and user experiences. Cohesive materials and finishes can reinforce brand identity and increase recognition.