Matt Wittman (left) and Jody Estes (right). Founders of Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape

When Matt Wittman and Jody Estes founded their Seattle-based practice, Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape in 2012, they saw a space in the market for an integrated practice that brought indoor and outdoor space together as one whole. For this Monday's Small Studio Snapshot, we talk with the duo about their love of nature, getting clients to allocate funds for landscape, and their goals for the future.

How many people are in your practice?

We are an integrated studio of architects and landscape designers with 5 people in Seattle and 1 in Los Angeles, working on a range of scales including a boutique hotel, apartment buildings, and bespoke residences and landscapes.

Why were you originally motivated to start your own practice?

Jody and I both lived our early lives in the outdoors, Jody near a beach on a small island in Puget Sound, and myself on a cattle ranch in Idaho. We began our careers working on a flower farm and in landscape design before moving into architecture. We saw a need for an integrated practice that brought indoor and outdoor space together as one whole. In conventional architecture we often saw an indifference towards the site and natural environment and we wanted to make a kind of architecture that is in harmony with the natural world. We see an ecological imperative to be more aware and responsible to the health of our planet through the built environment.

Where do you see your practice fitting into the larger landscape of contemporary architecture in Seattle right now?

We are part of a new movement of young Seattle practices who reject architecture as object and shape driven form-making in favor of an architecture of experience and site connection. We collaborate on landscape projects with other Seattle offices like mw|works, goCstudio, and Okano Picard studio. These newer contemporary practices share our vision of buildings and landscapes being connected and architecture being more responsive to nature. Right now we see a shift happening in Seattle architecture that is changing our future city into a more ecologically and experientially-rich built environment.

What hurdles have you come across?

We imagine all projects from the land up—we design the landscape first and then the architecture as an extension of that. Buildings can be expensive to construct and there is a constant push and pull with the project about where to allocate the construction budget. It can be challenging to reserve funds for the landscape, which is built after the architecture. In our multi-family housing work, we structure the buildings around the open spaces and courtyards, and then need to inspire the developers to fund a more generous landscape than what the marketplace normally offers. 

Is scaling up a goal or would you like to maintain the size of your practice?

We can imagine becoming 10-15 people eventually and will continue to take on larger buildings and landscapes. We plan to work on larger projects such as resorts, hotels, and public buildings where the landscape and outdoor spaces are accessible to a broader public.

What are the benefits of having your own practice? and staying small?

In our own practice we have more creative freedom to take on project types and work with clients that specifically want a more landscape-based architecture. Our clients love nature and being outdoors, and we have more ability to shape the buildings to be a more seamless indoor-outdoor experience for them. We can also curate an office culture of like-minded designers who share our values about nature and the environment. At our current size we can collaborate together with everyone in our office and have a hand in the resolution of specific design issues. We are very hands-on and love being on site during construction and working through the details with our teams of builders.