About

With the physical and built environment as our studio and trade, we’re in the business of nurturing and celebrating life, both for humanity and nature, and fostering the sustainable co-existence of the two.

With that aim, Life Architecture + Planning was born, along with our sister residential focused business, Life Design Build, and the digital media platform we launched to help humans better connect with nature, Outdoor Project.

Based out of Bend, Oregon, as a full service design, architecture and planning firm our mission is to A) create exceptional, one-of-a-kind projects for our clients; B) create solutions for humans to more intelligently inhabit this planet; and C) provide phenomenal jobs for our team and partners.

Our interest in the technically demanding and desire for pushing sustainability boundaries has led to the development of a portfolio and business experience ranging from site/concept planning, transportation infrastructure and grandiose mission-critical industrial facilities design, to product development, strategic energy use consulting and custom homes. Working extensively with multi-disciplinary professionals, stakeholders, and users, Life Architecture + Planning is based in Bend, Oregon serving clients throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Design Philosophy

1. You

Our aim is to help you turn your vision into a reality, create solutions that solve your problems, and have outcomes and deliverables that are fully in sync with you and your stakeholder’s values and KPIs (key performance indicators).

2. Biomimicry + Sustainability

For 3.7 billion years life has been evolving on Earth - perfecting itself. We believe their is no better source for inspiration than the ecosystems, habitats and species that have perfected themselves over that course of time. They are perfectly in harmony with their place, surroundings and cohabitants. They efficiently utilize the sun’s energy (and their own), the ground’s/water’s nutrients, and protect themselves from winds, freezing, and all of the harsh elements of our planet. Their form is function and they are absolutely beautiful.

Simply, we believe in protecting our planet and ecosystems, and drawing inspiration from nature and our surroundings. This is biomimicry.

/ˌbīōˈmiməkrē/ noun

the design and production of materials, structures, and systems that are modeled on biological entities and processes.

3. Innovation

We believe that humanity is better off when we learn from our past and pursue improvements and smarter ways of doing things. We believe there’s immense value in constantly questioning why things are the way they are, and if perhaps there’s a better way of doing things.

4. Authenticity

We believe structures, materials and systems (and people for that matter) should be true to themselves, and express their inherently unique and dynamic qualities, and not pretend to be something they’re not.

6. Process + Communication

We strongly believe good design process and communication produces exceptional results, and poor or broken processes and lack of communication result in extremely unfavorable outcomes. There’s no taking shortcuts, and communication with all the right stakeholders should be upfront, candid, transparent and consistent.

6. Quality, Cost + Schedule

Every project has to find the right balance between quality, cost, schedule, and safety, particularly during construction. That said, we believe every project should be one-of-a-kind and well crafted, be on budget, delivered on-time, be safe for those who build and occupy it.

7. Safety + Wellbeing

We make no compromises when it comes to the safety and wellbeing of our team members and those we work with.