Oak Lodge Library is featured in American Libraries’ 2026 Library Design Showcase!

In a thoughtful new Forbes article, Jennifer Jay Palumbo brings together perspectives from several fields to question conventional standards of accessibility.

With housing costs out of reach for many people in Seattle, more city residents are thinking about going in with friends to buy homes together.

The Seattle project presents an out-of-the-box model, where investors are also residents, and the design focuses on longevity and tenant retention—not profit.

Nearly a decade ago, real estate developer Chad Dale made a purchase that changed the way he thought about how people live together.

A 65-foot-tall cylindrical concrete tower has sprouted at the corner of 24th Avenue Northwest and Shilshole Avenue in Ballard.

Set on a rare stretch of river-meandering land in Washington State, Pointing Dog by Johnston Architects reflects the spirit of the Methow Valley in a way that feels both grounded and quietly refined.

Johnston Architects experience with complex environments led them to create a family home that champions outdoor living, celebrates views in every direction, and feels grounded in its surroundings.

Nationwide, libraries are critical community hubs. Their uniquely responsive programs are increasingly visible through facilities designed as highly transparent civic beacons embodying shared values of learning, connection, and inclusion.

Shared Roof in Seattle's Phinney Ridge neighborhood is redefining multifamily living, prioritizing community bonds and shared resources to address the growing need for hyper-local connection in urban settings.

The Johnston Architects (JA)-designed building focuses on helping apartment residents build bonds with one another.

Chase and Meredith were impressed, not only with Johnston's credentials and many unique projects, but with his passion for the land, honoring with gratitude the first people and their traditional land. Ray understood the desire that Chase and Meredith had to create a house with a small carbon footprint and one that honored the surrounding natural habitat.

Around a decade ago, Chad Dale watched as some of his friends started to leave Seattle. “They wanted to stay in an urban environment, but the city was too expensive for them to have all the things that they wanted to have,” Dale says. So, what if he and several friends joined together to build their own apartment building—and all lived in the same place?

"It’s a continued expansion of ways of thinking about libraries that started a while ago, and people are continuing to push the envelope when it comes to nontraditional library spaces. Whereas a few years back, it might have been people adding multipurpose spaces into their libraries, now we’re adding a demonstration kitchen and a recording studio and creating space for community partnerships. We have a Discovery Garden where we’re putting power in the outdoor seating elements." - Mona Johnston Zellers