Pretty isn’t good enough. Good design is a deeper response that addresses building performance, the possibilities of technology and craft. It’s born of context, and it weathers time and change. It endures.

Steven Rainville

Principal / Owner | AIA, LEED AP

Steven Rainville brings the heart of a craftsman, the hands of a builder and the mind of an artist to his practice of architecture, which spans nearly 30 years at Olson Kundig. From an early age, Steven has been designing and building with anything he could get his hands on, beginning with small single-room structures in the rural California of his youth to the residential, commercial, cultural and institutional projects that he designs today.

Influenced by the legacy of his grandfathers and father, both craftsmen and builders, Steven is drawn to the expression of craft and tectonics in architecture, particularly the ways in which buildings come together and in the details and materials from which they’re made. Equal parts beauty and performance, his design approach is characterized by its rationality as much as its quiet balance. Steven balances future-looking innovation with time-tested methods, honoring established practices while striving to rethink commodities and explore emerging tools and technologies. As leader of Olson Kundig’s research and innovation initiatives, he pushes the firm to deeply engage with over-arching considerations like energy performance and community accessibility that ultimately create a foundation for progress.

Steven leads many of the firm’s most complex projects, guiding teams through design and delivery. His notable projects include the Wagner Education Center at the Center for Wooden Boats; innovative spaces for athletic brands and sports functions, including The Lebron James Innovation Center at Nike World Headquarters, an indoor sports facility, and the Seattle Sounders Football Club; cutting-edge office towers in the Fourth Ward district along Atlanta’s BeltLine; dynamic multi-family buildings that include the new 16th & Cambie in Vancouver and the 6th Street Development in DC; and several projects on the Washington State University campus, such as a visitor center and art museum. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Washington State University and has taught at and continues to be involved at Washington State University and the University of Idaho. He is working with his father and family to design and build a retreat in Eastern Washington for generations of their family to enjoy.

Projects

Center for Wooden Boats
Rainfly

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