PLACE is an award-winning architecture and design firm dedicated to shaping environments that nurture the people who work, play, and live in them. Naturally curious collaborators, we work side by side with our clients to bring form to concepts, ideas, and dreams. We are convinced that the best projects come from a respectful sharing of skills and vision, drawing on the diverse perspectives of every member of the team.
Established in Seattle, Washington in 1999, PLACE offered a fresh perspective on design and practice in the Northwestern US.
A move north in 2007 led to a new way of working. Leveraging technology and distributed collaboration tools, we’ve grown into the Vancouver, BC based hub of a network of experienced, talented architects, designers, technologists, and engineers with whom we share work every day.
Our portfolio is diverse. The focus is always on building sustainable community in every sense of that phrase. Housing, from adventurous modernism to sensitive midcentury and character renovation, is a cornerstone. We’ve completed cherished public recreation, arts and cultural centers, as well as neighborhood retail, restaurants, breweries, and urban spaces. Commercial projects, office buildings, and technical work such as heritage, healthcare, and industrial projects make up the balance of our work. We have significant experience in the public and commercial sectors and have been privileged to work with private retailers, developers, user and community groups, businesses big and small, home owners and non-profits.
We have a deep interest in the urban realm, recognizing the critical relationships between interior and exterior; building, city, and region. Every new building creates new outdoor space. Those spaces are essential components of our built environment, and our built environment is, in turn, part of the ecology of the region in which it exists.
As we become increasingly aware of the impact that human activity has on our planet, PLACE has redoubled our efforts to immediately and definitively become a part of the solution. Nothing less than the survival of our way of life here depends on this commitment. We have ever more tools and choices available to us that allow us to make the built environment a positive force in the ecology of our world as well as in users’ day to day lives. PLACE is committed to advancing the cause of healthy community, integrating our work with the living systems of our urban and rural contexts, and respecting the impacts and connections between our built environment and the natural world.
PLACE principal Heather Johnston Architect AIBC, AAA, MAA, SAA is a registered architect in Washington, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. PLACE is a Washington State certified WBE (Woman Owned Business Enterprise) and was listed as a Top 50 firm in the Pacific Northwest in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.