Scott Allen’s strong and elemental work explores the relationships between craft, texture and materiality.
Allen creates architecture that responds naturally to each client’s unique program and site. His exacting approach to design carefully balances rigorous process with strong design intuition. Allen starts with considerations of the client’s ideas, specific needs and the particularities of the site to establish a strong conceptual framework. The strength of these ‘bones’ allows the design to build naturally upon itself, as the more detailed aspects of the project are developed. Throughout this process, the give-and-take of ideas between everyone involved is welcomed and encouraged, through a series of focused design meetings. By working closely with his clients, their programs, and the potential of each site, Allen is able to make architecture that truly responds to the factors that shape each situation, from the big idea to the smallest detail.
Allen brings over twenty years of experience on a broad range of projects, specializing in buildings for institutional clients. Allen is a graduate of the University of Washington, where he received a BA in Environmental Design, and the Graduate School of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a Master of Architecture degree. In the early 1980s, Scott worked on the restoration of a historic townhouse in New York City. Returning to Seattle, Scott joined the office of Ibsen Nelsen Architects in Seattle, and joined Olson Sundberg Architects in1985. He became a Principal at Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen in 1994.