Olson Kundig is a collaborative design practice whose work expands the context of built and natural landscapes. Founded on the edge of the Pacific Rim, we embrace an outsider’s perspective. We design for people, place, and experience, balancing rational and intuitive thinking.

Our Team

We embrace the tension between collaboration and autonomy, balancing shared adventures and independent exploration. Evolving from Jim Olson’s individual studio, Olson Kundig is now led by 13 principals/owners who are supported by over 350 team members. With offices in Seattle, New York City, and Chicago, we provide integrated architecture, interior design, exhibit design, urban design, planning, and landscape design services, supported by building performance, visualization, and design technology teams, as well as a robust business office.

Meet the Team

Our History

Founder Jim Olson designed and built his first project—a bunk house on his family’s property in Longbranch, Washington—in 1959, before formally creating an architectural practice in 1966. This solo studio continued his interest in residential design that explored the relationship between the Pacific Northwest’s built and natural landscapes. More than five decades later, our work continues to be informed by this origin in residential design and a deep consideration of the human experience. Our portfolio has now expanded to include residences, commercial and mixed‑use buildings, wineries, sports facilities, museums, cultural and civic centers, and hospitality projects around the world.

View Timeline

Seattle Studio

We have maintained an office in downtown Seattle since the 1970s, inhabiting our current office in the Washington Shoe Building since 2003. For over 20 years, we have morphed and redefined this 19th century brick manufacturing building in the historic Pioneer Square neighborhood, using our office as a laboratory that reflects our key values of experimentation, collaboration, and connection.

View Project

New York Studio

In 2022, we opened a New York studio in Manhattan to reaffirm our commitment to cities at a time when urban life was challenged. This office allows us to nimbly support clients and projects along the East Coast with streamlined connections to Europe and beyond, fostering cultural exchange and design dialogue between offices and projects.

View Project

Chicago Studio

In 2024, we opened a Chicago studio in the Fulton Market neighborhood, drawn by the city’s trailblazing culture and prominence within American architecture history. This location supports our positioning in every major region of the USA, allowing us to deliver exceptionally detailed projects and localized service to clients across the Midwest.

Range of Experience

Our ongoing residential design work continues to provide a venue for experimentation and evolution that informs commercial and institutional designs. This “huts to high rises” portfolio of completed or active projects spans six continents, in locations ranging from the wide-open landscapes of Montana and British Columbia to dense urban districts in London and Seoul.

We continually seek to evolve, embracing unexpected design challenges. We believe practicality and function—informed by the unique needs and vision of users—create poetry and beauty in design. This deep understanding of the human scale further results in a “macro to micro” approach that carries big ideas down to the smallest details. This work is enhanced by widespread collaboration with builders, craftspeople, artists, fabricators, and outside experts, whose experience and contributions allow us to explore new techniques and constantly innovate on behalf of our clients.

View All Projects
Rolling Huts
Tofino Beach House
ANOHA
Seattle Unity

Industry Recognition

Our firm, people, and projects have been widely published and recognized with some of the industry’s highest honors, including the 2009 AIA National Architecture Firm Award (as Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects), a National Design Award in Architecture Design from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, an Academy Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and induction into Interior Design Magazine’s Hall of Fame. Olson Kundig has been included on Architectural Digest’s AD100 list 16 times and has been named one of the Top Ten Most Innovative Companies in Architecture by Fast Company four times. We have received more than 130 national, regional, and local design honors from the American Institute of Architects programs, as well as awards from the International Interior Design Association, the Chicago Athenaeum, and others.

Collections & Monographs

Olson Kundig’s work has been widely published, including several books and monographs from leading publishers that highlight our projects, cultural initiatives, and design philosophy.

New Heights: Transforming Seattle’s Iconic Space Needle

The Images Publishing Group

Tom Kundig: Working Title

Princeton Architectural Press

Jim Olson: Building • Nature • Art

Thames & Hudson

Tom Kundig: Works

Princeton Architectural Press

Kirsten Ring Murray: Every day

Jim Olson: Art in Architecture

Whatcom Museum

Tom Kundig: Houses 2

Princeton Architectural Press

[storefront] documenta

CreateSpace

Jim Olson: Houses

The Monacelli Press

Tom Kundig: Houses

Princeton Architectural Press

Art + Architecture: The Ebsworth Collection + Residence

William K. Stout

Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects: Architecture, Art, and Craft

The Monacelli Press

Join Us

We are always looking for creative, talented individuals to join our team.

 View Career Opportunities

Something isn't loading properly.

Please and try again, or use the main menu above.