History
In 1977 Ed Weinstein founded an architecture office with Michael Canatsey to design custom homes for families in the Seattle area. Over the next four-plus decades, his practice gained attention for the quality of buildings it produced and expanded its reach to design ever more complex projects serving larger communities in Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii. The firm designed the National AIA Honor Award-winning mixed use building that was designated as “One of the 220 Key American Buildings of the 20th Century” (the Banner Building in Belltown), the first HUD HOPE VI mixed income community in the Northwest (NewHolly), and downtown’s flagship Fire Station 10.
With each evolution, our focus on making thoughtfully conceived architecture available to everyone serves as a touchstone for the firm and quality shared by all the buildings we design. Today, Weinstein A+U provides comprehensive architecture and urban design services on a broad array of project types: urban mixed-use buildings, multi-family residential projects, adaptive reuse and renovation, academic, public sector, public safety facilities, not-for-profit facilities, office buildings, and places of worship.
Methodology
Our firm works together closely to be highly accomplished in a wide diversity of project types. As a generalist firm, our strength is not an expertise in any particular project type, but in a disciplined design approach that we bring to all projects, regardless of scale or type. Our approach recognizes that each project exists in a specific geographic, political, and economic context. The best design is conceived by a clear concept informed by the unique circumstances of each project and a rational decision-making process based on what we have learned. Our practice seeks to integrate architecture and urban design as part of this process to realize projects that positively contribute to their communities. We take the time to observe, document and analyze the site and its context to establish a unique concept for the design that guides our decision-making process throughout a project’s development. The resultant buildings are cohesive and wholly inseparable from their surroundings.
Community
Spending time working with the communities affected by our projects represents a significant part of our process. We are invested in the success of the neighborhoods we work within and seek outcomes that benefit the community because that translates to success for everyone involved. We value our conversations with neighbors and future occupants of every place we design because of their irreplaceable perspectives. Our conversations generate new ideas, challenge preconceptions, and result in buildings that these communities claim as their own.
We take great satisfaction that these same projects also garner the acclaim of our colleagues in the architecture profession. To date, we have received over 80 awards on a wide range of projects, many of which are for buildings with limited budgets, complex scope, and funding sources, and involve large groups of diverse stakeholders. They recognize our success with a wide range of project types, including civic buildings and not-for-profit organizations that serve the most vulnerable in our communities.
Teamwork
Our small-team culture reflects our generalist approach. We staff projects with accomplished and nimble designers who possess broad experience on a wide variety of project types. We succeed because of our collective desire to improve the work we do and our ability to share this knowledge widely with our staff.
We value the diversity of our staff and the perspectives that each brings and take great care in supporting their growth. We prioritize clear communication, organization, and rigor in the design process, and actively encourage questions. We assemble project teams to possess complementary skills to share and strengthen skills. This approach leads to a more comprehensive understanding of the profession and a higher quality outcome for our clients and the communities we work within.
Leadership
Weinstein A+U is led by partners Ed Weinstein, Robert Kiker, Dávila Parker-Garcia, Kirsten Wild, and Matthew Zinski, and principals Milton Won and Daniel Goddard. This leadership group collaborates with a team of associates and managers to guide the firm.