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About Us |  |
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Who We AreLiving Shelter Design is a small, woman-owned architectural firm that specializes in personal service to create delightful homes and cottage communities. We take time to listen intently, and translate your thoughts and ideas into a personal place integrated with the site and reflecting a timeless beauty. Living Shelter Design has heartily promoted sustainable building practices since 1994 - we are early adopters of what is now becoming mainstream. Sustainable building can be employed many ways, from simply increasing the passive solar capacity your current home with trellises, to creating private space for extended family in a remodel, to building something new with local materials and healthy finishes. We love to integrate appropriate old-world materials and methods into the energy efficient design concepts and traditional forms that we have been working with for over 30 years. Insulating block forms, traditional timber frames, and straw bales are all familiar and welcome to us, as are framed systems designed for superior energy efficiency.
What does EcoLogical design and building mean? It has many facets, from natural lighting and heating from the sun, to non-conventional building methods, and using only healthful adhesives and finishes. Think of Eco as ecology and economy - and Logical as what makes sense. However you decide to implement it, we have found it can make a real difference in your personal comfort on many levels. One of the most effective ways to build EcoLogically is to build smaller, smarter homes. Just as Sarah Susanka outlines in her popular Not So Big House philosophy, we feel the best way to make less of an impact on the environment is to use less material. The wise use of space can also translate into less space to heat - another EcoLogical objective. A well laid-out smaller home can feel spacious, and less to maintain means more freedom! You make so many choices when you decide to build or remodel. Spending a little extra time thinking about these choices can save you money now and in the future, and be kinder to the environment. For example, the choice to use local materials can benefit your local economy, help curb the cost of shipment, use fewer resources and create less pollution. And, you can choose to purchase your power up-front and design for “zero net energy” – supplying the grid with electricity part of the year, and being supported by it at other times.
Living Shelter Design was founded in 1992 when Terry, our owner, found herself suddenly out on her own after the architectural firm she had been working for downsized. Truly a blessing in disguise! Living Shelter began as a one-person home design firm run out of Terry's home, and from 2000 to 2007 grew to a creative and skilled team of six professionals with various backgrounds. It is currently sized so Terry may provide all our client services personally. We continue to collaborate with highly respected long-time colleagues to provide the most accessible architectural design service in the area.
Terry Phelan is our Founder and Ring Master. A self taught architect, she has been in the home design and building industry since 1976. Never being one to take the most traveled path, she apprenticed for many years with several architectural firms, rather than going the college route, before taking the Washington State exams to become a licensed architect. Terry has earned awards for Street of Dreams homes and in Green Design competitions. Her greatest passion is to incorporate earth friendly practices and sculptural elements into a dance of personal spaces our clients love to live in. She always seems to educate people about truly sustainable choices in building along the way, reflected in her activity in the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild and the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment.In reflecting on the global condition, Terry realized the need to exponentially increase the knowledge and understanding of deep green building and design was crystal clear. She developed an educational branch of Living Shelter to teach classes and speak at public events. In 2009, Terry hosted "The Living Shelter Cafe" - an online radio talk-show. Listen in to great conversations with fascinating guests by checking out show archives here. Staff
Kathy enjoys experimenting with natural building at her own house with small projects such as building a cob oven, irrigating with rain water, landscaping with native plants and permaculture guilds, and redecorating with low-VOC paints and recycled materials.
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History of the firm Terry Phelan Our staff
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About Us · Process · Portfolio · Media Center · Resources · Contact Us · Home © 2006, Living Shelter Design Architects, P.L.L.C. |
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Kathy
Zeim came to us through a mutual affiliation with the Northwest
EcoBuilding Guild. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a
Bachelor of Architecture in 1996 and worked on a variety of multi-family
residential projects for five years in Pittsburgh. She obtained her
professional license in Pennsylvania and then moved to Seattle. After
honing her project management skills on commercial projects, she was
ready to experience the more personal nature of residential design. 
Marty
Bryant keeps us running on course financially. She
has more than 30 years experience managing office accounting, technology, human
and physical resources, presentation design, space planning,
newsletters, and other
miscellaneous stuff. Her corporate and small business background
helps her keep the office organized and focused.