ealaska Heritage Institute’s new Arts Campus in downtown Juneau resembles a giant Tlingit bentwood box. The main building for the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program on the UAA campus is shaped like a canoe. The newly renovated office building at 601 West 5th Avenue in downtown Anchorage evokes the majesty of a calving glacier.

Local culture and geography have always helped architects and designers tie buildings into the community and landscape. The more specific the inspiration, the more unique the project, distinguishing it from any other place.

The location and tradition might be as tiny as a neighborhood school and its emblems.

“The color scheme for one of the schools we recently finished was the Eagle River Elementary project,” says Jennifer Midthun, associate architect at BDS Architects. “We asked for the staff’s input, which image speaks to them, and how they envision their school. In the end, and through several collaborations, we decided to go with [the] eagle in the birch tree theme.”

Eagle River Elementary was rebuilt after extensive damage from the 2018 earthquake. Midthun explains that the school colors are blue and yellow, and using the image of eagles in birch trees and thinking about the various textures and colors was a starting point for the rest of the decision-making for the project.

“We use instruments of design and tactics to employ nature elements and the color scheme,” Midthun says. “The materials and the textures we wanted to utilize were fantastic.”

BDS Architects has provided architectural, design, project management, and planning expertise throughout Alaska for forty years. Midthun says the method is very much a collaborative process. For Eagle River Elementary, designers spoke to administrators, teachers, students, and support staff like janitors.

Those sources are all fair game for integrating a project with its surroundings. Architects draw inspiration from the area’s natural beauty, tradition, and culture, and that vision can be seen in their final designs.

When the Kenaitze Indian Tribe approached Stantec to help design the Kahtnuht’ana Duhdeldiht education campus in Kenai, the firm thought outside of the box. Instead, designers thought of a basket. The curved exterior of the building, which held a grand opening in September, is covered with rainscreen panels that give the façade a woven appearance.

The tribe had seen success a decade earlier with its Dena’ina Wellness Center. That building’s exterior features buttresses that resemble fish-drying racks, courtesy of Architects Alaska.

“We are proud to state that Architects Alaska has been on the leading edge of architectural practice in Alaska for over seventy years,” says Ally Tomi, the firm’s marketing director. “Architects Alaska designed the BIA [Bureau of Indian Affairs] Barrow Hospital in 1962. This mainly supported the Atlantic Richfield Complex, now called the Prudhoe Bay Operations Center.”

Landscape design considers not only the local flora suited to an outdoor space but also the traditional use of the space, such as quiet reflection at the Victims of Violent Crime Memorial at the corner of Third Avenue and L Street in Downtown Anchorage.

Ken Graham | Corvus Design

Architects Alaska engages the community and stakeholders to encourage collaboration on its designs, such as the recently completed Chief Andrew Isaac Health Center Expansion for Tanana Chiefs Conference in Fairbanks and the OR-17 Renewal for Providence Alaska Medical Center. Designers look for inspiration in nature, enhancing access to daylight and views, and providing warm, safe, and comforting places to live and work.

Landscape architecture is particularly sensitive to local conditions. Peter Briggs, founder and president of Corvus Design, is constantly aware of how the built environment affects people’s experience with the natural environment.

“For example, we don’t like people to park right next to the building because it doesn’t create a nice experience,” Briggs says. “But you don’t want people to park too far away from the building because on a cold day or if it’s slippery outside, you know that’s not optimal. A lot of the time, you’re trying to find a middle ground or a balance.”

Corvus was responsible for the landscape design at several of Cook Inlet Housing Authority’s four-plex buildings in Mountain View, where revitalization efforts have made a difference by adding beautiful homes and businesses.

“The services for a landscape architectural firm include everything outside the building,” Briggs says. “Our services start with helping clients choose the right site they might prefer to develop or help them develop a master plan. Often this includes where architects will put the building, parking, trails, and other design interests. Their services begin with helping clients figure out how their site and landscape will best meet their needs as an entity.”

To make visits to Dena’ina Wellness Center in Kenai less intimidating, Architects Alaska shaped the building’s buttresses like fish drying racks, an image familiar to members of the Kenaitze Indian Tribe.

Ken Graham | Architects Alaska

Design is so connected to the local climate, nature, and culture that it is a big part of the conversations with clients and stakeholders. What’s important to Briggs, he says, is helping others tell their own stories. Thus, when Corvus Design works with any client, he asks how landscaping can help them tell their stories.

“Related to working with different indigenous populations,” Briggs says, “I think we take it for granted that there’s so much influence from our land and indigenous peoples and traditions. Several of our clients are indigenous entities. We are lucky (or spoiled) because we get a certain richness that architects and designers don’t get in the Lower 48.”

Briggs’ conversations with stakeholders include the person writing the check, the maintenance team, the students, and the faculty. The only way to get a successful design, he says, is to get a feeling for what everybody needs. The final design is a negotiation where the end product meets people’s needs and, hopefully, their wants.

Engaging with those involved is among the most meaningful aspects of Briggs’ work.

“We’ll talk to the project managers [and] the principal, but then we’ll hopefully be able to engage with the students, teachers, and maintenance people,” Briggs says. “Everybody has their expertise for that site, and you’ll often hear things that may conflict with each other. Our job is to work through it and find solutions for everyone.”

In Alaska, Briggs mentions, there is a deep connection to the land. When Corvus Design goes to someone else’s land, success comes from listening to and understanding the clients.

“It’s not necessarily our story to share,” Briggs says, “but we can help others tell their story in a meaningful way. When we are finished, and it all makes sense, looks nice, and works, that is a good outcome. Once you get a client who makes known they understand where we’re going or expands on, here’s something else we can do, that is a great outcome.”

The same approach works for Architects Alaska. “We also have a long history of working with tribal communities and corporations,” Tomi says. “We pride ourselves on understanding and embracing the nuances and identity of culture for each group we work with. We integrate local tribal culture into the facilities we design and build for a community. From medical centers, wellness buildings, eldercare facilities, and recreational buildings, we always strive to design for the tribe’s comfort and cultural appropriateness. We always listen to the community’s needs, vision, and aspirations for each project.”

When Eagle River Elementary was rebuilt after the 2018 earthquake, BDS Architects told the building’s story through the use of the school’s traditional colors, blue and yellow, and symbols of eagles and birch trees.

BDS Architects

Alaska’s architectural designs are distinctive, with challenges from extreme weather and multiple environmental regions. As a result, construction plans require appropriate architectural and technological responses that can meet client requirements and interests.

“Our experience in Alaska is unique compared to projects in the Lower 48,” Tomi says. The firm, founded in 1950 by Ed Crittenden “literally wrote the book on cold climate design and construction,” she adds.

BDS Architects also takes guidance from Alaska’s climate and latitude, which set the state apart. “Number one, we have significant weather differences to consider when designing,” Midthun says. Another top consideration is seismic stability. “The earthquake mitigating technology within our structures ensures that our building designs address the next earthquake as best as possible,” she adds. Midthun notes that BDS Architects is still repairing buildings from the magnitude 7.1 quake in 2018.

Local conditions likewise affect what Corvus Design can accomplish. “We don’t have the same access to materials in the Lower 48,” Briggs says. “This is one way design is different in Alaska. We don’t have the same access to materials such as granite. We try to focus as much as we can on local materials and use them in a way that will last a long time. By using these materials, we avoid weathering damage. It’s a challenge to make sure the design makes the most of the materials we have access to.”

In-state logistics also shape design decisions. For some communities in Alaska, materials can ship by barge. Other communities are more limited to what can be delivered by plane.

“To reiterate, our architecture designs as a service industry are really about all our customers,” Midthun says. “Our job is to design a building that makes them happy and calm, and we intend to meet all their needs for functionality.”

Deep levels of detail are involved in the design and building of structures and landscaping in Alaska, including engineering, technical considerations, material use, and individual and community input that goes into a well-functioning building.

It may be surprising to learn that such a technically skilled-driven service as architecture is rooted in connecting with individuals and communities. Alaska is fortunate to have a canvas of natural beauty to find influences. From the trees, landscape, and diverse wild animals, few places have the scope, diversity, and rich cultures to draw from.