Who we are...
Our office of twelve professional staff are registered architects and architecture graduates from a variety of education and experience backgrounds, prior professional experiences, and project and client involvement. Along with various interns and our administrative support staff, we provide personal and engaged involvement with design teams regularly throughout the project development, while mentoring the next generation of architects and specifiers.
|
Michael Thrailkill AIA NCARB CDT LEED AP
Founding Principal |
Pronouns: he, him
(founded the firm November 2014) |
|
|
Michael is a licensed architect in Oregon and Florida, with 31 years of professional experience working in architecture practices on both the east and west coasts. He has managed the design and specification of buildings in most states and many countries, across various project types and as many systems of construction.
Michael is a member of the American Institute of Architects, a Certified Documents Technologist with the Construction Specifications Institute, and a LEED Accredited Professional with the U.S. Green Building Council. He has been an invited participant at the AIA Young Architects Forum's Practice Innovation Lab, working with emerging professionals, architecture leaders, and entrepreneurs to envision the design practice of tomorrow, and regularly attends architecture and art conferences and events that challenge common assumptions and standards. Michael believes strongly in mentoring the next generation of architectural specifiers, and has created a firm that provides young architects and recent architecture graduates the tools and leadership needed along that path, with opportunities to work with an unequaled collection of clients and projects. | ||||
|
David "Skip" Brown AIA CCS
Specifications Leader |
Pronouns: he, him
(from April 2020) |
|
|
David uses his career-long experience with project management and specification writing to incorporate our past project information, products and systems into our baseline specifications database. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, a licensed Architect in Oregon and Arizona, and a Certified Construction Specifier with the Construction Specifications Institute. David has practiced architecture at many Portland-area architecture, engineering and property management firms. He enjoys gardening and reading in his pastime.
|
|
Yanet Orozco Gomez NCARB CSI NOMA
Specifications Manager, Diversity and Equity Leader |
Pronouns: she, her
(from February 2020) |
|
|
Yanet is a Bachelor of Science graduate of Portland State University's School of Architecture. She's a co-founder and board member of NOMA PDX. As an immigrant and first-generation college student, Yanet is passionate about architecture that supports the well-being of immigrants, first-generation youth, and BIPOC communities. She provides specifications editing, Project Manual production and product and material research, as well as managing projects.
| ||||
|
Tony Pham Assoc. AIA NCARB CSI
Specifications Manager, Baseline Specifications Leader |
Pronouns: he, him
(from August 2021) |
|
|
Tony is a Bachelor of Science graduate of Portland State University's School of Architecture. He provides specifications editing, Project Manual production, and recently began coordinating our baseline specifications, incorporating consistent language and improving our coordination meeting process.
| ||||
|
Ben Stickney NCARB CSI LFA
Specifications Manager, Sustainability and Resilience Leader |
Pronouns: he, him
(from February 2022) |
|
|
Ben is a Bachelor of Science graduate of Portland State University's School of Architecture. He provides project management, specifications editing, Project Manual production, and product and material research. Holding a Living Future Accreditation, Ben leads the in-office sustainability workgroup and is involved in incorporating appropriate and ever-changing sustainability standards into office baseline and project specifications.
| ||||
|
Levi Eads
Specifications Coordinator |
Pronouns: he, him
(from October 2023) |
|
|
Levi Eads holds a Master’s of Architecture degree from Portland State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Purdue University. Before working in the field of specifications, Levi built a diverse career spanning multiple sectors. He provides specifications editing and Project Manual production, and is involved in incorporating appropriate and ever-changing clients' design requirements into project specifications
|
|
Walker Hill Assoc. AIA NCARB CSI GBCI
Specifications Coordinator |
Pronouns: he, him
(from May 2025) |
|
|
Walker, a Bachelor of Architecture graduate of the University of Oregon, brings prior design experience to the team and holds a LEED Green Associate certification. His interest in sustainability along with his hands-on construction experience lends to a quickly deepening role in the specification editing and Project Manual production processes.
|
|
Grace Loeliger
Specifications Coordinator |
Pronouns: she, her
(from October 2025) |
|
|
Grace holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Oregon School of Architecture & Environment. With prior experience in commercial interior design, experiential graphic design, and residential construction, Grace brings a keen interest in building assemblies to her work editing specifications and supporting Project Manual production.
|
|
Hengzhi "David" Hu
Specifications Coordinator |
Pronouns: he, him
(from October 2025) |
|
|
David holds a Bachelor’s degree in Interior Design from Bellevue College and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from JiMei University. With a background in architectural drafting and interior design, he brings experience in residential and commercial projects, combining technical accuracy with a thoughtful, people-centered design perspective.
|
|
Nancy Barakat
Specifications Coordinator |
Pronouns: she, her
(from October 2025) |
|
|
Nancy holds a Master’s degree in Architecture from Portland State University. She provides specifications editing and supports project manual production. She brings to the team experience in commercial and industrial design, interior design, managing and optimizing permitting process, and code research.
|
|
Robert "Bob" Tolman
Specifications Researcher |
Pronouns: he, him
(from July 2023) |
|
|
Bob is a U.S. Navy veteran and former chef looking to change his professional career. He is working remotely in Portland, providing product and materials research and valuable project support aligned with our west coast clients.
|
|
Bertha Madrigal
Financial Controller and Human Resources |
Pronouns: she, her
(from April 2022) |
|
|
Bertha's extensive experience as accounts manager within local, non-profit organizations allows her to bring a high level of understanding, empathy and compassion to her tasks. Meanwhile, her life-long passion for balancing accounts and budgets serves us well as we continue to expand our client base and explore new regions for growth.
|
|
Laura Berrutti
Office Manager and Marketing Administrator |
Pronouns: she, her
(from June 2024) |
|
|
Laura brings a unique international client and account management profile from advertising, marketing, athletic apparel and software industries, as well as various roles in non-profit agencies. Her role includes aligning our team members with the wide variety of clients we work for and the projects they bring us, guiding our proposal response process, and arranging professional development, conference and education opportunities for our staff.
|
|
Barbara Alexander
Enthusiastic Supporter (on-going) |
Pronouns: she, her
(March 2022 to February 2025) |
|
|
After many years supporting one of our longest-term clients, Barbara came out of retirement to join our team. Following three years of administrative assistance and warm receptions for our office guests, she has stepped away from her role, though she remains a faithful supporter and occasional guest herself.
We miss how Barbara brought her charm and generous spirit to the office, lightening staffs' morale and brightening our moods when skies were in gray Portland. |
|
Roger Thrailkill
In memoriam, 1977-2025 |
(from January 2019 to September 2025)
|
Roger supported our office and work through various odd jobs he helped with for over six years, most importantly renovations to our office in June to August 2021 to prepare for our return to work following Covid. As Michael's brother, Roger was known to our staff for stopping in to say hello or to go to lunch with Michael when he was working downtown as an apprentice roofer on projects for Sterling Pacific. In 2022, Roger started working for our client, Timberlab.
As well as his work finishing wood members destined for the ceiling of the new Portland airport main terminal, he was often involved in final detailing and finishing, connector attachment and wrapping for shipment the very same mass timber elements fabricated for our clients' projects! Roger was interested and excited to part of this new way of constructing buildings. He is remembered for his enthusiasm, strong work ethic and quick wit.
Here's a link to a memorial to Roger and his life and connections in our lives.
As well as his work finishing wood members destined for the ceiling of the new Portland airport main terminal, he was often involved in final detailing and finishing, connector attachment and wrapping for shipment the very same mass timber elements fabricated for our clients' projects! Roger was interested and excited to part of this new way of constructing buildings. He is remembered for his enthusiasm, strong work ethic and quick wit.
Here's a link to a memorial to Roger and his life and connections in our lives.
|
Roger admiring his work at the airport and at Timberlab's Portland fabrication shop, both 2024
|
|
Dennet Latham AIA CDT
In memoriam, 1950-2022 |
(from September 2016 to June 2022)
|
Dennet joined our staff soon after his 'retirement' from a long career at CH2M/IDC (previously CH2M Hill, and later Jacobs), SRG Partnership, other firms here in Portland, and places further afield.
Dennet's knowledge, caring guidance, wit and wisdom were shared broadly. This was especially meaningful among our younger staff, for whom he proved patient, caring and mentoring. Dennet developed the specifications for our first constructed mass timber building, which held a record as the largest in the U.S. for a couple years, and he continued to oversee the development of our own baseline specifications, as well as mass timber-specific specifications for Timberlab and the Wood Products Council.
Here's a link to a memorial to Dennet and his achievements and connections in our community.
Dennet's knowledge, caring guidance, wit and wisdom were shared broadly. This was especially meaningful among our younger staff, for whom he proved patient, caring and mentoring. Dennet developed the specifications for our first constructed mass timber building, which held a record as the largest in the U.S. for a couple years, and he continued to oversee the development of our own baseline specifications, as well as mass timber-specific specifications for Timberlab and the Wood Products Council.
Here's a link to a memorial to Dennet and his achievements and connections in our community.
|
Dennet's retirement lunch, June 2022
|
|
Professional involvement resources:
|
|
|
|
|
Employment Opportunities:
Please refer to our Career page.
|
The company is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to equal treatment of all employees and applicants. We recruit, hire, promote, and transfer qualified persons into all job classifications without regard to race, color, national origin or citizenship status, religion, age, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marital status, parental status, veteran status, physical or mental disability, genetic information, or other basis protected by law and guided by equitable practices. Our wages and salaries are transparent and updated annually based on the latest AIA Small Firm Compensation Report.
|