Following an extensive renovation and restoration project, the landmarked structure is today the site of a vibrant arts and cultural center that acts as a new anchor for the arts and community in Auburn. The center features several gallery spaces for diverse exhibits as well as production spaces for local artists and offers a multitude of arts and cultural education, programming, and events. It is also a rental venue.

JA Partner Alison Walker Brems sat down with Mansion Global to talk about taking a 1950s kitchen into the 21st century.

The Winthrop Library, completed in 2022 through a unique collaboration with the Friends of the Winthrop Library, Town of Winthrop, and Prentiss Balance Wickline Architects, was selected for an AIA Seattle Award of Honor.

The design team’s refreshing take on agrarian vernacular also delivers on utility, practicality, and cost. “We turned to a light-frame wood and steel structure as both an expression of the region’s historic architecture and for its affordability, sustainability, and ease to construct with local crafts persons.”

Johnston Architects’ Founding Partner Ray Johnston was recently interviewed by the grassroots organization Don’t Clearcut Seattle and featured in part of their short film, Canopies of Green Urban Density.

WoodWorks has announced its 2023 Wood Design Awards winners, celebrating excellence and innovation in mass timber, heavy timber, light-frame, and hybrid building design. The annual award program charts wood’s growth as a material of choice and recognizes developers and design teams whose creativity and emphasis on quality continue to expand the possibilities for wood buildings.  

This month, the Winthrop Library is celebrating Women's history! In the newsletter, we decided to continue the celebration by taking a behind the scenes look at the four women architects who designed our Winthrop Library.

Johnston Architects has promoted Architects Sarah Burk, Maggie Ciaccio and Siyao Zhang to Associate, and Marketing Director Liz Wasson Coleman to Principal.

A Theoretical Physicist Wanted His Seattle Home Devoid of Curves. ‘It’s The Influence of Linear Algebra on Me.’

Inspired by the open-air agrarian buildings and barns in the region, the design for the new library includes broad overhangs, open roof trusses, and a visible interior structure. Johnston Architects’ co-founders’ deep roots in and knowledge of the Methow landscape and community are reflected in the design’s intentionality and aesthetic.

The Library Journal Design Institute was held in the fall of 2022 at the Missoula Public Library. Staff from five libraries were paired with library architects to help identify their different design challenges and explore potential solutions. JA was paired with the Yolo County Law Library, based in Woodland, California.

JA Partners spoke on panels at the Library Journal’s Design Institute in Missoula, Montana. Together, library designers discussed new needs, tools, and techniques for library design in inspiring surroundings.

Johnston Architects has hired Lina Baker as an Associate and Interior Designer, Jay Johnson as an Architect and Project Manager, and Jake Woll and Sierra Borsari as Project Architects.

Their Seattle-based company, Johnston Architects, is now a rarity in the male-dominated architecture profession, recently adding two more women partners to bring its partnership team to four women and two men. Ray and Mary’s daughter, Mona Zellers, is one of the partners. Two-thirds of staffers are women.

Architects around the world, including a few in the Seattle area, have attempted to represent the tesseract in residential construction. It’s an obscure genre that requires considerable abstraction. But the tesseract is also frequently employed less literally as a plot device in science fiction, including the young adult bestseller “A Wrinkle in Time,” a cherished book in the Bacon household.

Johnston Architects, co-founded by husband and wife Mary and Ray Johnston in 1991, recently added two new partners: Alison Walker Brems and Mona Zellers. This brings the firm's partnership team total to four women and two men.

Pacific Northwest-based Johnston Architects’ Twisp Cabin was originally designed as a vacation cabin located in the Methow Valley of Washington State. The home design has since proven remarkably adaptable.

SMPS Seattle recognized Johnston Architects with awards for Best Marketing Collateral, Best Small/Women-Owned Business, and Marketing Advocate of the Year.

Johnston Architects has promoted Shane Leaman and John B. Simons to Associate, and Kathy Justice and Liz Wasson Coleman to Senior Associate.

This year for Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month we’re highlighting some new organizations that advocate, connect, and empower AAPI designers and architects.