About
Coates Design Architects is a 11-person architectural firm located on Bainbridge Island near Seattle, Washington. The firm provides professional design services for commercial, civic, residential and healthcare projects throughout the United States. Services include architecture, programming and planning, interior design, feasibility studies and sustainable design.
The firm’s managing partner, Matthew Coates, achieved international acclaim by winning the “Cradle to Cradle (C2C)” Home Design Competition in 2005. He captured the momentum from this accomplishment to create a firm dedicated to “Responsible Architecture.” The core values of the firm are based on simple principles and strategies: do the right thing, take the long-term view and create designs that benefit the environment, the economy and the community.
Team members with backgrounds in design, construction and the fine arts work together to transform complex design challenges into elegant solutions. The firm works hand-in-hand with our clients to ensure their goals, desires and specifications are met. Our clients have extremely high design standards, and we’re constantly evolving, refining and improving our work process to meet and exceed those expectations.
Coates Design Architects strives to address the reality that people spend 80% of their lives indoors by contributing buildings and spaces to our communities that are provocative, healthful and inspiring. We approach every project as an opportunity to design something unique that reflects the needs and goals of the individual client and creates a meaningful sense of place.
Our team seeks to reveal creative design strategies and technical innovation inspired by our clients, the site and the ecological context. We are collaborative by nature and we involve our customers early and often in the creative process. Our work reflects clean and elegant forms, well-proportioned spaces and natural daylighting combined with a “livable” touch which many designers overlook. We tailor innovative and livable design solutions through a customized approach for each and every client.
We believe that better design leads to better living. We seek to create buildings that not only do no harm– but also have a positive impact on the environment and the people who use them.
Environmental mission and strategy (ESG)
Coates Design was built from the ground up as a sustainable design firm—as such, we incorporate sustainable concepts into everything we do. A thought leader among sustainable architecture companies, we believe that sustainability and great design are synergistic forces, with one informing the other, working in tandem to make the sum greater than each part. Our commitment to sustainability in architecture fuels our imagination and drives innovation, and our green principles, design strategies and technical advances are not just how we approach the work, but they’re also embedded into our company culture.
With our sustainable architecture company located in the Seattle community, we take our inspiration from both people and place. Our sustainable principles are echoed and supported by forward-thinking clients who are deeply invested in the stewardship of the land, air and water that comprise our stunning surroundings. By acting on our deeply held philosophy that sustainability must balance all components of building design, including architecture, interiors, landscape design, structural and mechanical engineering, and low-impact site development, we have become leaders among sustainable architecture firms. We have shown through our projects and our practice that incorporating sustainability in architecture will reduce building and maintenance costs and leave a lighter footprint on our planet—all without ever having to sacrifice great design. Indeed, by operating in harmony with our surroundings, we craft commercial buildings and private residences alike that will stand the test of time beautifully and sustainably.
While every project our sustainable architecture firm takes on is unique to the place, purpose and people it is designed for, they all enjoy one thing in common: the belief that sustainability in architecture and design should enrich the lives of building occupants each and every day while also contributing to the local community and ecosystem.