This spring, Board & Vellum is moving to Seattle’s iconic Smith Tower in Pioneer Square. Learn more.
Questions to ask an architect at an interview. – Board & Vellum
Architecture, Ask a Designer

Questions to Ask an Architect in an Interview: Advice for Clients

When you are interviewing architects, interior designers, or landscape architects for your project, how do you know what to ask? A good personality fit makes any project better, but don‘t leave it with that – come to the table prepared with these important questions to help you ensure you find the architect you're searching for!

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Future of Architecture – Looking at architecture in a crystal ball.
Arts & Culture

Imagining the Future of Architecture

What does the future of architecture look like? Will we toss out everything and be living and working in an entirely different system? Or, will the field evolve more gradually? Board & Vellum principal, Jeff Pelletier, looks 20 years ahead to explore how – and where – the profession may evolve in the years to come.

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Integrated Design at Board & Vellum
Architecture, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, News

All Together Now: Integrated Design at Board & Vellum

The benefit of an integrated practice like Board & Vellum, which offers architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture, is that all the projects we work on get better – even if they don’t involve all the disciplines. Here, B&V principal Jeff Pelletier explains why.

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Designing a House Into a Home – Sketching over schematic floor plans at Board & Vellum.
Other Tangents

Designing a House into a Home

Emotion and personalization turn a house into a home, and when you're talking about designing your living space, this is incredibly important. Read about how our design process at Board & Vellum helps us make the leap from a great design (that is still just a house) to a home that our clients will love.

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Advice to Young Architects – Recap from the Young Architects Forum at Board & Vellum
The Business of Design

Advice for Young Architects: A Recap from the AIA Seattle Young Architects/Women in Design Happy Hour

Fresh from hosting a successful and lively Young Architects Forum Happy Hour at Board & Vellum, Jeff Pelletier recaps his speech on the theme of "Chance," offering advice to young architects who dream of what to do and where to go next in their career.

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Should You Pick Your Architect Based on Style or Service? – Board & Vellum Designs in Many Styles to Suit the Context and Client
should_you_pick_your_architect_based_on_style_or_service-featured_image

As a service firm, we design projects of varying styles because we feel the site and context are unique enough to call for distinct solutions like these.

Other Tangents

Should You Pick Your Architect Based on Style or Service?

When searching for an architect, should you pick one based on the architect's style or base on the type of service they provide? As it so often happens: it depends! But, not to worry, Jeff Pelletier breaks it down into pros and cons for each scenario so you can start off your search well-informed.

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Would you like to read more from the team?

If you enjoy reading our blog as much as we enjoy writing it, that simply makes our day. You may also enjoy a few of the related posts below.

Footprint Wine Tap – Wine Bar Capitol Hill – Board & Vellum

Pre-Leasing Considerations for Your Commercial Space

Finding the right commercial space for your business can feel overwhelming. Board & Vellum’s pre-leasing consulting helps businesses uncover hidden risks, evaluate tenant improvement budgets, and explore design opportunities before signing a lease — turning uncertainty into clarity and setting the stage for long-term success.

Landscaped retail streetscape at Club Monaco – Board & Vellum

Building Walkable Neighborhoods

The walkability of neighborhoods is an important factor in community health and livability. While we see around the globe the benefits of neighborhoods that are easily traversed on foot or bike, in the U.S., many of our cities are oriented toward vehicular traffic, rather than pedestrians. So what could make our communities more walkable?

Tanager Apartments – Board & Vellum
16x9-euclid_union-rendering-view_6-night

Tanager Apartments | Rendering by Board & Vellum.

What to Expect in Your Multifamily Feasibility Study

If knowledge is power, a feasibility study is an invaluable investment in your potential multifamily project. A comprehensive feasibility study should give you the important, foundational information you need to make informed decisions about your project early. Thorough and efficient, so you can move forward with confidence and clarity.

Office-to-Residential Conversion, Commercial Conversion, Office to Housing Conversion, Office Space to Multifamily Apartments Conversion: Architecture, Interior Design, and Landscape Architecture by Board & Vellum (Rendering of Stream Queen Anne, the first office-to-residential project permitted in Seattle after the pandemic.)
Exterior Updates

Strategic updates to the building’s exterior — like a high-contrast paint upgrade — celebrate its commercial origin while bringing it into the 21st century with a new use. Queen Anne Commercial Conversion | Project Rendering by Board & Vellum

Your Guide to Multifamily Feasibility Studies

If you’ve been thinking about developing a multifamily project, whether it’s new construction or a conversion, apartments or townhomes, you’ve probably heard someone mention the need for something called a “feasibility study.” But what exactly is a feasibility study, and why is it such a crucial first step?

Designing for the Senses

Designing a hospitality space is about more than what’s behind the front door. The scents, sights, and sounds that radiate onto the street prime your guests and passers-by for what they’ll experience inside. Your menu is important, of course, so how can you feed your guests’ senses from the start? Let’s visualize it.

Navigating the Challenges of Middle Housing

Washington State’s Middle Housing Bill creates a lot of opportunity, but it also presents some challenges for self-developers. Here, we explore the expanded choices HB1110 offers, and how having a multidisciplinary design team can help navigate the real-life outcomes of this new legislation.

Considering a project, or curious about something?

Say hello, and send us your questions via the form below. We’re always pleased to make new connections, and eager to get to know you, your project, and your goals.

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Board & Vellum receives Just label from the International Living Future Institute, a voluntary reporting tool for social justice and equity indicators in the workplace.

Achieved a Just label from the International Living Future Institute in 2023.

Board & Vellum is honored to be a Gray Awards Finalist for landscape design, earning the recognition for the rooftop garden at the Lucille on Roosevelt.

Honored as a finalist for residential landscape design.

LEED Certified in White

Our team includes LEED-accredited professionals.

Certified Passive House Consultant in White

Our team includes certified Passive House consultants.

NGLCC Certified as LGBT Business Enterprise – Board & Vellum Recognition

A Certified LGBT Business Enterprise Since 2016.

PSBJ’s Top 25 LGBTQ-Owned Businesses 2016 in White

Honoring companies that lead in promoting equality.