Though Simon has worked on several public and cultural projects across Seattle and beyond, his passion and focus has been single-family residential design, spanning a wide range of diverse locations and scales. Since joining Olson Kundig, he has helped expand the firm’s residential portfolio into Australia and New Zealand, beginning with Bilgola Beach House, Olson Kundig’s first built project in Australasia; and with several under construction in New Zealand.

Simon enjoys working closely with clients and their families to create spaces that foster opportunities to engage with one another and the surrounding landscape. He approaches design as a shared journey between architect and client, from the initial spark of inspiration to the final built product. Having grown up on a building site, Simon continues to appreciate chances to work through on-site challenges with construction and consultant teams. A natural collaborator and hands-on project manager, he credits both his design approach and working style to his upbringing in New Zealand where there is a strong culture of family connectivity, engagement with the natural world, and design informed by simple, practicality.

“As kiwis, we have the historic built tradition of the ‘bach’ (holiday home)”, Simon shares. “This is traditionally a structure of function, made of simple materials. A place primarily for shelter and warmth, whether in the mountains or by the beach, it is also a function of family and blurring those boundaries between built form and nature, inside and outside. It sparks memories of sand, sun, adventuring outdoors. A humble architecture, but intentional, special—those are the moments we seek to create as architects.”