[Photo by Ben Benschneider]

There’s been a good buzz around the BUILD World Headquarters lately and a lot of it has to do with some excellent exposure we’ve been getting. We’re big fans of having an extroverted side to the practice –it keeps us in touch with the rest of the world, it allows us to better share ideas, it provides us with opportunities to learn from others, and it’s also a ton of fun to be social. We’re incredibly honored to be included in exhibits, magazines, lectures and even an upcoming documentary film –humbled really. And along with any good media blitz, there are exceptional people to thank –professionals whose talent and hard work we’re fortunate enough to benefit from. So while this post covers what we’ve been up to lately out there in the world, it’s really a thank you to some amazing people in our community.

Quick-witted word-smith Becky Teagarden, of the Seattle Times, wrote a sharp piece on the recently completed Davidson Residence in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood. She also keeps a design blog full of insight and good humor over at House and Home. The residence was featured in the Seattle Times Pacific Northwest Magazine on Sunday April 10th and was complimented with stellar photos from master photographer Benjamin Benschneider. The house was commissioned by Mike Davidson, keeper of what may very well be the most thorough residential design and construction blog in the world (and as bloggers we don’t throw that out lightly), check out A House by the Park.

We just returned from beautiful San Luis Obispo in southern California where we lectured to Cal Poly’s Architecture Department as part of the Hearst lecture series. A huge thanks to Professor Mark Cabrinha who invited us down and to the students who attended – great questions from all of you. We also sat in on a few design juries which were a great way to get a feel for the work being done at Cal Poly. We were very impressed with the amount of hands-on work being done in the wood shops, steel shops, and fabrication labs –nice work Cal Poly.

The sharp-shooters at Brandon O’Larey Cinematography are putting together a documentary film on BUILD LLC. We tried to tell them that us architects are really quite dull but they seem talented enough to make us look interesting. Stay tuned for more data on this front. Big thanks to Brandon, Melissa and Kevin.

Brandon O’Larey from Daniel Genser on Vimeo.

We’re part of the University of Washington’s annual Headlines Exhibit which highlights emerging architectural projects designed by Washington Architects. The opening reception will be held on Friday, April 15th from 5-8pm at UW’s Gould Hall. It’s a great excuse to see what’s getting built in Seattle’s near future and not a bad way to celebrate getting those taxes done either. The show runs through April 31st and then heads to The Institute of British Columbia, Washington State University in Pullman and Spokane, Montana State University, Portland State University and the University of Oregon. Hats off to Dave Miller, chair of the architecture department, for reinforcing the cross-pollination between academics and the profession, and huge props to Susan Busch for leading the charge on Headlines.

Cheers from team BUILD