Portrait of Devin Kleiner

Devin Kleiner

AIA, LEED AP BD+C
Associate Principal, Seattle

Devin’s career can be defined by his three passions: design, teaching and the natural environment. Prior to architecture, Devin taught art and special education at the same elementary school he attended in Santa Fe, New Mexico. With a desire to expand his teaching lessons and a genuine curiosity about the built environment, he returned to school to study architecture. It was during an apprenticeship for a sustainable design-builder that he discovered his love for the creative design process and the positive impact it can have on the world we live in.

He has since dedicated his career to designing healthy places for all living beings. As a Senior Project Architect and Living Design Leader for the Seattle Studio, he is a sustainability resource for all projects in the office, connecting teams to the firmwide research labs and helping apply this expertise to advance their projects. Devin combines his ability to teach with his passion for protecting the environment in order to help clients reach their aspirational goals. His sustainable design efforts have been recognized by AIA Seattle Energy in Design, the Society for College and University Planning, and the Living Building Challenge—to name a few.

Say hello to Devin
“I love sketching through an idea to allow it to develop. Most start out half or even quarter baked, but it’s through that sketching process that I figure out what the design wants to be.”
Water color sketch of solar fins on the life sciences building
Watercolor sketch of the curtain wall detail for the solar fins on the UW Life Sciences Building
Sustainable Intuition

Devin has always had an intuitive sense to protect the environment. When he was a kid his mom discovered a pile of empty plastic shampoo bottles under the bathroom sink. This was before the time of recycling, yet somehow Devin felt he shouldn’t just throw these bottles away. This sustainable intuition has followed him throughout his life and into his career. As an architect, he continuously questions the broader impact of every design decision—how every material and process will affect the client, users, and environment.

Devin collaborating with two other architects on a white board
"Design is about exploring an idea and trying something new. This is what excites me the most about being an architect."
Devin standing on stairs inside the glass box atrium in the life sciences building
Standing on the stairs inside the glass-box atrium of the UW Life Sciences Building shortly after the building completed construction.

Devin's Featured Work

University of Washington Life Sciences Building
Work
University of Washington Life Sciences Building
Seattle, Washington
Large stairs with bright colored shadows casting across the floor
Work
University of Alaska Fairbanks Wood Center Expansion and Renovation
Fairbanks, Alaska
Exterior rendering of 800 Western
Work
800 Alaskan
Seattle, Washington
Work
Kaiser Borsari Hall, Western Washington University
Bellingham, Washington
Back to top