Our Bainbridge Island Studio
This 3/4-acre property teemed with activity during the early part of the 20th century as part of the Fort Ward military base serving the U.S. Army and Navy. But after the fort’s 1958 decommissioning, the site quietly fell into disrepair, its original 1911 structures abandoned and vandalized. Around 2015, Perkins&Will chief sustainability officer and principal Jason F. McLennan acquired the property with the hope of converting the two remaining buildings—a former stable and barracks—into a mixed-use development anchored by an architectural studio and professional school of regenerative design.
Concerns from the surrounding residential community that the site’s character would become too commercial were allayed with the completion of the project’s first phase. Our 1911 stable-turned-studio honors the site’s history and architecture and proves that even the most rundown building can become a net-zero facility. It has become not only a regenerative asset to the environment, producing its own renewable energy and treating the site’s stormwater, but also an asset to the neighborhood. The reactivated lot hosts workshops, community open houses, and a dozen designers who enjoy bicycling to work and eating outdoors on a small lawn surrounded by native plants. Phase 2 will revitalize the former barracks into a mixed-use hub complete with a small neighborhood café.
Jason F. McLennan
Though the linear, roughly 20-foot-wide building was listed on the local historic registry, it was largely written off as a teardown. Its time serving as a stable and coal storage facility showed: The bottom two feet of the structure had rotted away under layers of dirt, coal ash, and other waste such that only six cast-iron stanchions kept it standing. But from two feet up, the beauty of the original wood framing and roof trusses was apparent through the dust and debris.
We cleared out its dirt floor, poured a new concrete slab with in-floor radiant heating, connected it to the existing perimeter foundation, and sistered new wood to the existing structural members. Carefully preserving all 58 original rafters and wood roofing, we topped the building with a new metal roof with skylights, solar tubes, and an 8kWh solar array. We also chose wood siding to match the historic profiles from 1911. With careful planning and detailing, the stable now has another century of productive life ahead in the story of Bainbridge Island.
With our deep expertise in sustainability, we know how to turn existing assets into deeply green, healthy, and inspiring environments. Starting with outdated, dilapidated structures and more contemporary energy hogs, we have achieved great sustainability outcomes without the waste of demolition and constructing anew.
Our Bainbridge studio is powered exclusively from its rooftop solar panels, using the grid as primary backup. Natural light from ample skylights, glass bifold doors, and tall windows—a nod to the former stall openings—illuminates our interior during the day. A hydronic HVAC system with in-floor radiant heating and a heat recovery ventilator conditions our space efficiently without combustion.
Outside, a composter holding our food waste sits beside a 1,550-gallon cistern that captures rainwater from our roof to irrigate our modest plot. A continuous vegetated bioswale that runs under our boardwalk entryway collects and filters stormwater naturally. Our landscaping plant list includes ferns, lavender, and snowberry to ensure weather durability and support of the local ecosystem.
The exterior restoration preserves the stable’s historic character and meets the National Trust for Historic Preservation requirements. Inside, our studio design embodies “salvage modernism,” a term coined by McLennan to describe the curated mix of fresh, modern design pieces with reclaimed and rescued items.
Minimalist, modular kitchen cabinetry from a local supplier pairs with 100-year-old doors salvaged from Seattle’s Moore Theatre. Sustainably crafted bamboo luminaires by lighting designer David Trubridge, combined with LED strip lights placed atop roof truss members, provides pleasing indirect lighting. Local artwork, including a series of green-warrior portraits by one of our own designers and their artistic partner, adorns our walls; carpet tiles featuring biophilic patterns, such as lichen-covered rock and the plumage of a snowy owl, cover our polished concrete floors. Old-growth Douglas fir salvag
Our studio brings a sense of calm and joy to staff and visitors alike. It uses only building materials and products free of the International Living Future Institute’s Red List chemicals known to pose risks to human health and the environment. A dedicated outside air system keeps our interior filled with fresh air, and interior air quality is monitored.
Standing desks allow our occupants to customize their workspace, while movable dividers filled with interior plants offer privacy and a touch of green. Glass bifold doors offer a visual and physical connection to our outdoor patio, where designers enjoy meals, gathering, or a moment of respite. Firm-branded electric bikes offer a healthy commuting option to and from the office.
With features drawn from nature and amenities that encourage community and conversation, it is little wonder that our studio is consistently and highly rated as a happy and fulfilling workplace.
