Profile

Inhabit Design is a full service firm based in Seattle, Washington, immersed in architecture, planning, interiors, high-performance design, and research.  Our history and work around the world has focused on education projects and design with a social and civic impact, layered with an ideology driven by sustainability, elegant craft, and inspiration.

Philosophy

Community

Community

We represent your people and culture. Our process is to engage each diverse stakeholder of your campus, community, or client group – from students, teachers, and administrators to maintenance staff and associated businesses and organizations. We offer a deep respect for the varied interests of all parties in order to synthesize a successful result for everyone, serving the broad audience that our built environment touches. Listening intently is the cornerstone of our success, supporting an unrelenting passion to provide design that feels natural, represents your spirit, and generates pride for years to come.

Pedagogy

Pedagogy

We design for the user. Our work responds to the unique characteristics found in every function and individual rather than relying on traditional design, as every person best performs and learns in their own natural way. We design flexible, adaptable spaces with varied, engaging spatial and sensory experiences, allowing every individual to think, discover, create, receive, and exchange information at different times and in different fashions. Whether supporting educational pedagogy or facility management, you will not find a signature style nor dominant pattern in our work, but you will find countless references who tell you their buildings enhance their purpose.

Sustainability

Sustainability

We are committed to sustainability with real results. High-performance buildings protect the environment, conserve natural and financial resources, and optimize the health and happiness of those who inhabit them. True green design further engages users in learning and interaction opportunities for long term stewardship, while reducing facility maintenance needs. Our approach goes well beyond typical methods, applying rigorous building science analysis vetted against our performance database.  We model everything from daylight and energy to carbon footprint “early and often”, providing verifiable outcomes rather than just a good story to tell.

Craft

Craft

We merge the art and science of design with elegance. In every project, our aim is to understand the essence of the client, program, and context well enough to serve them with building forms, integrated systems, and materials that are natural in their purpose and gracefully made. Our process is holistic, applying decades of expertise in planning, architecture, and engineering disciplines to seamless solutions that present finely calibrated performance and meaningful, artful expression. As a result, we further promote the simple over the complex, limiting maintenance and expense in the pursuit of inherent beauty.

Inspiration

Inspiration

We make places people thrive. Modern buildings are expensive, resource intensive endeavors that impact their inhabitants and our world for a very long time, and they should be worth it. Function, quality, budget, and schedule are of course imperatives, but every project must go beyond. We seek meaning in the culture of the users, uses, and environments our buildings support, offering design which is relevant and enduring to the people and place, with a further drive to create comfort, enjoyment, and inspiration. We make places of discovery – those you feel, engage, and deeply inhabit.

Services

Research
Education
Sustainability & Building Science
Construction Technology

Planning
Strategic & Pre-Bond Planning
Long Range Planning
Site & Facility Assessment
Site & Facility Analysis

Pre-Design
Outreach & Public Relations
Visioning
Programming
Education Specifications
Concept Design
Feasibility Studies

Design
Architecture
Interiors
Master Planning

Construction Administration

Post-Occupancy Analysis
User Health, Performance, & Satisfaction
Energy & Water Use
Maintenance & Life-Cycle Analysis
Cost Analysis

Role
Design Architect
Architect of Record
Executive Architect
3rd Party Consultant

Visualization
Virtual Reality
3D Rendering
Environmental Graphics

High Performance Consulting
Light Modelling
Hygrothermal Modelling (Heat & Moisture Transfer)
Energy Modelling
Water Modelling
Air Modelling
Structural Modelling
Carbon Footprint & Emissions Modelling

Sustainability Consulting
LEED
Living Building Challenge
Net Zero

Testimonials
Talent

Jeremy, congratulations on the new endeavor. I enjoyed working with you. I wish all of the architects I work with were as talented as you.

Jon Lebo
Director of Major Projects
Capital Projects Office, University of Washington
Service

Jeremy, you and your team are really fabulous. I think we can just start to understand how much you are patiently babysitting us through this process and finding ways to help us meet our timeline and financial goals. Next time, we will know how this goes and know to just put it your hands top to bottom.

Kelly Milbrant-Wiggins
Owner
Engage Early Learning Centers
Inspiration

Jeremy Theodore, Mary Lyon’s lead designer and Architect of Record, is consistently upbeat. He is an intelligent, resourceful, sophisticated designer and a well-organized and collaborative leader. He also worked relentlessly to keep our project in budget.

His process is to hold conversations with stakeholders – listening carefully to everyone from kindergarteners to district leaders and community partners. He dove deep to uncover our hopes and dreams, to understand our wants and needs and interpret the significance of our customs and relationships. Jeremy gained our trust and focused on our expectations to develop an inspired learning environment designed to fit a bright future at Mary Lyon Elementary School.

Kristine Anderson
Capital Projects Supervisor
Tacoma Public Schools
Empathy

As the planning principal for a new building I had a once in a career opportunity to collaborate on the design for our school. Getting to work with Jeremy Theodore on the project was the icing on the cake. Jeremy was very focused on understanding who we are as a Lyon community. Jeremy made several specific visits during the school day and sat in on classes to see the flow of learning. His attention to our special education classes, observing for any considerations or accommodations that would be beneficial in the design was impressive. He also met with students, parents, community, and staff to gather ideas. This alignment of function, needs and dreams helped us to create an amazing learning space for the new Mary Lyon Elementary. Responsiveness to our needs, from traffic flow, to office design, to specialty rooms was incredible. I feel that the he was committed to creating safe, flexible, and engaging learning spaces for children. In my experience, Jeremy Theodore went above and beyond in the mission to create exceptional learning spaces for our children.

Anita Roth
Principal
Mary Lyon Elementary School
Impact

By the way, I have been meaning to contact you to say this – I am somewhat of a Spartan fellow, did not particularly look forward to coming to the new building – did not have an aversion either, I’m just one of those people who believe that a good program is a good program, never mind the space. Well, you, Jeremy, have proved me way off base. I am so impressed by what this space has done for my students, staff, and program. Students are more cohesive and experience a stronger sense of belonging and ownership than ever before. Staff have increased their sense of professionalism (including me, I dare say). I commend and salute you, Jeremy.

Andrew Mason
Executive Director
Open Schools