February 2009
The architects at Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen sometimes call their work "deferential" in its respect for site, neighborhood and history.
It's hard to imagine how a 14,000-square-foot mansion on a Seattle-area lakeshore might qualify, but in at least one remarkable way, it does.
"We did all kinds of gymnastics to weave the house through the woods," said Jim Olson, one of the principals.
"We only had to cut down two trees."
"Deferential" architects, creators of forms that don't burst out of their sites and bellow for attention, also aren't usually showered with awards, but this 41-year-old Seattle firm is the exception.
Earlier this month the American Institute of Architects gave OSKA its national Firm of the Year award.
Last year another principal, Tom Kundig, won the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for architecture.
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