While we've been a bit quiet here on the blogosphere, our team has been incredibly active in and out of the office!

This past May was Bike Everywhere Month - "a month-long celebration of pedal powered movement" - hosted by Cascade Bicycle Club, whose mission is to improve human lives and the environment through bicycling. 

As part of Bike Everywhere Month, our formidable b9 team, consisting of Brad, Brian, Manuel, Tom, Josh, and Lisa, participated in the Washington Bikes Bike Everywhere Challenge. We are proud to share that we recorded 836 miles, reduced our carbon footprint by 736 lbs, and ranked 299 out of 1739 teams!

As community-builders, we constantly strive to improve our environment with an awareness of the impact we make in both the field of design and construction and our personal lives, and bicycling (and public transportation for the rest of our team..!) is just one of the multiple ways we address that impact. The Washington Bikes Bike Everywhere Challenge was a wonderful way to engage with our community with a greater vision, and we can't wait to participate in the next challenge!

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A big happy new year from us to you. 2015 has been a particularly exciting year for us as we continue to grow both our practice and our breadth of work. A number of our apartment projects are in permitting stages and a slew of new projects are underway. We will update you on the progress of our projects throughout the year.

In the meantime, we'd like to introduce you to three new (and one returning) additions to our team :

Minjae Kim, Designer

Minjae graduated from University of Washington in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies and Painting. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Architecture degree at Columbia University GSAPP in New York. Minjae’s interest is in self-guiding nature of design within the appropriate context and challenge.

Along with his architectural pursuit, Minjae also enjoys working on small scaled projects such as designing and building chairs. 

Saghar Behinaeen, Designer 

Saghar received a Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies at the University of Washington in 2015 as well as a Bachelor of Computer Science at the University of BIHE in Iran in 2010.  Saghar is interested in the connection between art and science and the way it affects people’s life. 

Saghar also likes to travel to different countries and get familiar with their cultures. In her free time, she likes to go hiking and do outdoor activities.

David Aleman, Designer

David was born in Venezuela, and growing up, he was raised between Venezuela and Puerto Rico. He received his Bachelors degree in Architecture from the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico. Prior to joining b9, David worked as a freelance designer in a number of  architecture studios in Puerto Rico and as well as a manager in the hospitality industry with Marriott international. Over the past year, Davis has been interested in Latin American architecture and its development, mainly in the sense of enhancing the city and the community. 

Because David is new to Seattle, he will dedicate himself to exploring the city and meeting new people.

Josh Carel, Designer

Josh received his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Oklahoma and his Master of Architecture from the University of Washington. He has over four years of experience working in architecture firms in Oklahoma, New Mexico and Washington State.  His architectural interests include investigating the future sustainability of cities and regions at the scales of policy, zoning and infrastructure.  Josh believes that are positive potentials for architecture in the utilization of digital design tools and hopes to explore those on future projects. 

Outside of work, Josh enjoys trail running, Ultimate Frisbee and weekend camping trips.

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We also had our holiday party fashionably late this past Thursday due to the temporary return of Lisa and Angela from New York while they were home for the holidays. This past week was filled to the brim with sweets, booze, and games thanks to cookies from "Mother Teresa" (Lisa's mom), cupcakes from Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co. in Belltown, doughnuts from Top Pot, craft beers from Optimism Brewing, and competitive bocce at Rhein Haus (what new years resolution..?). To top it all off, we introduced the latest b9 t-shirts, decorated with abstract versions of everyone on our team. Very little documentation of this little event was made as.. well... no need for explaining. So, prost to 2016 !

flights, flights, flights !

Jeff, Brad, Saghar, Lisa, and Brian in uniform

You're invited! 

Please join us at b9 architects as well as a diverse panel of architects, developers, educators and more for a discussion about the relationship between zoning and equity here in Seattle.

When: Tuesday, September 22 from 5-8pm

Where: b9 architects, 610 2nd Ave, Downtown Seattle

In the meantime, feel free to stop by our storefront and experience our exhibition, which addresses the connection between zoning and equity. 

For more information, please see our facebook post below:

Seattle Design Festival 2015 at b9 architects!ZONING :: EQUITYSeptember 22, 2015, 5pm-8pmThe exhibit and event will...

Posted by b9 architects on Thursday, September 17, 2015

We are proud to share that our latest project View Haus 5, Seattle's first multifamily housing project built to passive house standards, has won 1st Place in the Multifamily category at the 2015 North American Passive House Conference. Hosted by PHIUS (Passive House Institute US), the conference brings "together building scientists, engineers, policy makers and others to share the latest knowledge and experience in passive building." (PHIUS website)

For more information and press on View Haus 5, check out these recent articles:

"Inside View Haus 5: Passive House" (KOMO news)

"Green building: Keeping pace with Seattle’s boom" (Crosscut)

"Multi-zone Heat Pump for Pioneering Passive Multifamily" (Mistubishi Electric Case Study)

As designers, homeowners, neighbors, and community builders, we at b9 strive to help improve the quality of living through design and construction. Our project is a testament that urban living can be environmentally conscious and responsible.

Viewhaus 5 is just the beginning.

Poster presented at the North American Passive House Conference 

Envelope Section Diagram

Section Diagram highlighting design elements

Our friends over at Build LLC have the latest on an exciting new project that we have been collaborating on. Check out their blog here for some excellent writing on the subject:

As urban planners, architects, landscape architects, designers, and people who simply enjoy living in the city and thinking about good design, it doesn’t get much better than this. Projects of this complexity and potential community benefit are what most of us on the design team were trained to do in school, and it’s exactly what we love getting our heads around in the profession.

We have just completed our Early Design Guidance Design Review in front of the East Neighborhood Board, and we're excited to begin designing with the recommendations from the Board and the public!