hile Alaska creates a challenging environment in which to build, Design Alaska’s knowledgeable, experienced, and deliberate approach, especially on projects in the Interior and far north, ensures that the building envelope, foundation, and mechanical systems will function for at least forty to fifty years without major repairs or restoration.

According to Jeff Putnam, vice president of the Fairbanks-based firm, this level of expertise has enabled staff to work on a variety of unique projects. These include the new $30 million transit center for the Fairbanks North Star Borough (FNSB), which will provide storage, maintenance, and a fueling station for buses being converted from diesel to compressed natural gas, and the Qavartarvik Customer Lodge, a patient lodging facility in Bethel for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation (YKHC).“The customer lodge is such a neat and beautiful building, and it was a ton of fun for our staff to work on,” says Putnam. “Our architects and interior designers got to express their design creativity in pulling it all together.”

The 109-room facility will enable people in the region to fly into Bethel for medical treatment, giving both patients and caregivers a home away from home.

“Design Alaska answered the call to come up with a unique structural design,” says YKHC Director of Construction Kris Manke of the space that includes cultural aspects of the Yukon-Kuskokwim region. “Their design proposals were excellent—and their teams are responsive and easy to work with.”

YKHC and Design Alaska have also worked together on the Ayagnirvik Healing Center, a treatment center, and Bautista House, a residential home. Manke notes that the firm’s multidisciplinary team was especially helpful during the construction period, with in-house support allowing for strong coordination throughout the project.

“We appreciated that they provided the full range of services, from design to construction administration and closeout,” he says. “And they were quick to respond to questions and issues and worked with YKHC and the contractor to help resolve the few issues that came up during and after construction.”

Since its start in 1957, Design Alaska has gone through a number of iterations. It was originally named after founders Les Rogers and Bob Gray before being renamed as Design Alaska in 1985. Now the largest full-service architectural and engineering firm in the Interior, the company provides clients with expertise in architecture; civil, structural, mechanical, fire protection, electrical, control systems, and environmental engineering; landscape architecture; and land surveying.

“While some architectural and engineering firms specialize in specific areas or sometimes work together, there are very few that can do it all,” says Putnam, himself a professional engineer. “We’re unique because we are able to provide a complete solution for someone looking to design a new building or renovate an existing building; we have all of the services here together and can pull them together efficiently.”

According to Putnam, one of the advantages of working with the company is that its multidisciplinary approach provides a more seamless process for clients.

“We all go into the conference room together, in person, and talk through how to approach a project,” he says. “Our teams also use the latest software and technologies that allow us to build accurate 3D models of buildings and building systems that are stored on our servers, where each team member can access those models in real time. An architect can be updating a floor plan, and the mechanical and electrical engineers can access and react to those changes immediately.”

The result, he says, is an efficient, well-coordinated, high quality construction document.

Design Alaska’s fifty-five employees finish roughly 125 to 150 design projects a year. This capacity is especially important for school districts or government agencies that advertise multimillion dollar projects within a short time span to meet strict funding and construction schedules.

Because staffing is so robust, construction documents undergo peer review internally, ensuring that the company generates quality projects that can be bid and constructed cleanly with a minimum of change orders. Design Alaska also remains involved throughout construction, performing progress inspections and providing continuity that results in high-quality construction work that meets the intent of the original design.

Not only does Design Alaska work hard to serve its clients, it also believes in supporting its employees. In addition to offering very competitive benefits and high-quality workspaces, it provides little “extras” such as vegetable trays and fresh fruit bowls two times a week as part of its wellness program.

More importantly, if an employee is interested in expanding their career options, the company encourages their efforts.

“Whether a team member wants to earn a new certification in cyber security, wants to specialize in medical facility design, or is curious about becoming an energy auditor, we support them in their areas of interest,” says Putnam. “We also provide opportunities to work on a wide variety of projects in order to make this a rewarding professional experience.”

Employees enjoy the challenge of taking on and learning new things on projects that they have previously not encountered, in Putnam’s view.

Josiah Alverts has been an engineer in training in Design Alaska’s Mechanical Engineering Department for the past three years and has worked on projects ranging from light commercial facilities to military base installations and industrial developments on the North Slope.

“Because of the variety of projects Design Alaska does, I knew that it would expose me to a lot of different things as a young, developing engineer,” says Alverts, who joined the firm as his first job out of college. “I wanted to work here because I believed that Design Alaska had very high standards and a company culture that promoted designing the right project for each individual client—and three years later, I can say those impressions were right.”

Five months after joining Design Alaska, Production Assistant Brandy Kauffman is also forming a favorable impression.

“I had a pretty picky checklist for myself when choosing where I was going to work, and I knew very shortly into my interview with Design Alaska that my search was over,” she says. “I knew right away that Design Alaska was (and still is) a company run with old-fashioned morals and employee support, and one that had successfully evolved with modern ideals without losing core values in the process.”

Kauffman describes the environment as a cohesive blend of fun and professional. She says, “That aligned with my personality and personal values, so as soon as I got the offer, I accepted!”

Kauffman notes that Design Alaska has “practically unlimited” potential for career advancement and hires and promotes internally as much as possible.

“As an admin employee, I can choose to cross-train, working toward being able to go out with the survey crew to do hands-on site visits, or learning how to design projects—whatever I want to try,” she says. “I could also go back to school, and Design Alaska will help me pay for credits.”

She adds that the company’s efforts to stay involved in the community also swayed her decision. She appreciates that the company integrates community involvement opportunities into day-to-day work while ensuring that employees are aware of additional opportunities as they arise.

“One of the things that Design Alaska has been doing for many years is making a concerted, deliberate effort to support arts in the community,” says Putnam. “One of the surprising benefits of this is that, when interviewing new employees, they often talk about how they are impressed by Design Alaska’s commitment to the community and that it’s one of the things that attracted them to our company.”

For decades, Design Alaska has supported both nonprofit groups and events, including the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra and its holiday concert, the University of Alaska Foundation, the Fairbanks Concert Association, the Fairbanks Drama Association, KUAC TV 9/FM 89.9, the United Way of the Tanana Valley, Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, Green Star, and the Fairbanks Economic Development Corporation. The firm is also the title sponsor of the Design Alaska Wild Arts Walk, a midsummer artists’ market at, and for the benefit of, Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge.

According to KUAC General Manager Gretchen Gordon, Design Alaska has provided support in several ways. Underwriting public broadcasting via music programming sponsorships showcases a love of the community.

“These sponsorships made it possible to create a live music showcase of Alaskan and visiting musical artists and to create a curated New Year’s Eve request program during the [COVID-19] pandemic when people were isolated at home and unable to ring in the new year with friends and family,” she explains. “Design Alaska’s staff has served as both leadership and talent volunteers for KUAC and has even partnered with other businesses to challenge the community to give generously during our on-air fundraisers. Design Alaska has been an integral part of KUAC’s success.”

As a result of its nearly two decades of support of KUAC’s Alaska Live series, which brings Alaskan and visiting musical artists into KUAC studios for live music and conversation, the radio program developed into a hit television show.

“Design Alaska leaders have served on our leadership council, as volunteers on air during our on-air fundraisers, and have been champions of the public broadcasting mission furthering our reach in the communities we serve,” adds Gordon. “They jump in eagerly to assist when they see a need in the community that needs to be met. Their leadership leads by example and encourages employees to get involved in community activities and nonprofit organizations that have a locally focused mission. The love, compassion, and dedication to our community that Design Alaska possesses is quite apparent.”

Beyond high-profile efforts, Design Alaska spreads its community support further with smaller, staff-guided contributions.

“Provided we are in the right financial position at the end of the year, one of neat things we’ve done in the past three or four years is to let each employee pick a nonprofit in the community in which they live, and we give $500 on that employee’s behalf to that group,” says Putnam. “This is in addition to all of the other programs we’re supporting throughout the year.”

In recognition of its efforts, Design Alaska has received numerous community awards including the Small Business of the Year and Outstanding Business in Arts from the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, the Green Star Award for Environmental Consciousness, Youth Friendly Business from Spirit of Youth, Family Friendly Business (twice) from FNSB Early Childhood Education Commission, and the Outstanding Small Business in Philanthropy from the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

More important to Design Alaska than the awards, as Putnam sees it, is the trust and respect that it has earned from its clients and the community. “While we do appreciate the awards, that’s not a priority for us,” says Putnam. “We just do our business and go on to the next project.”

As the saying goes, doing good work is its own reward. “We’re proud to have a lot of repeat customers and to have established good relationships over the years,” Putnam adds. Those repeat customers include the US Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the US Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District, UAF, and the FNSB. Their continued confidence speaks for itself. Putnam says, “This is what’s important to us.”

New projects that Design Alaska currently has in the works include an Avis car rental facility carwash, a community center in Solomon, an accessible playground in Pioneer Park in Fairbanks, and the design of new Fairbanks subdivisions. It is also working on numerous code upgrades for fire suppression systems, housing improvements in Minto, modernizing the Fairbanks Youth Facility, renovating dorms and hangars on local military installations, and a drift boat retrieval system for Kenai, among others.

“Every one of these projects is unique and fun and challenging in its own way,” says Putnam.