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McLennan Design, Perkins&Will’s Bainbridge Island studio, is an architecture, planning, and consulting firm, founded by Jason F. McLennan, creator of the Living Building Challenge. We imagine regenerative buildings, places, and products that give back—spaces that nurture people, connect communities, and enhance life in places.

Acts of Regeneration

Rooted in regeneration—where people, place, and purpose come first. From adaptive reuse of existing buildings, residences, cultural institutions, innovative corporate headquarters, urban planning, to climate-positive campuses, and product design our work proves that beauty, performance, and ecological intelligence can coexist—and thrive.

Our People

A collaborative studio where designers, researchers, makers, and change-agents come together to shape a regenerative future.

We bring diverse backgrounds, shared purpose, and deep curiosity to every project—working side by side to create places where people, communities, and ecosystems thrive.

Meet our team

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The People and Place Behind Our Practice

Take a look inside our Bainbridge Island studio—where our team, our values, and our environment come together to shape regenerative design.

Love & Regeneration Journal

Thoughts and insights on designing places, products, and experiences that nurture people, enrich daily life, and leave the world better than we found it.

Explore current and past issues – our evolving library of regenerative thinking, reflections, and design explorations at Ideas and Insights.

Volume 7, Issue 2

From Crumbling Relics to Thriving Places

Writing from Mérida, Mexico, I’m struck by how travel always shifts my perspective on our work and the communities we serve. But for this issue, we look back to a pre-pandemic project close to home: the Maitland Chart House and Masterplan in Ontario. Once a crumbling relic, it’s now a vibrant community asset, thanks to Philip Ling’s vision. A short essay in this issue explores the transformation.

We also share highlights from our recent Bainbridge Island summit—the Death & Life of the Green Building Movement—where 60 designers and leaders from across North America came together to discuss the future of regenerative design.

—- Jason F. McLennan

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Summer '25

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Winter '25

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Fall '25

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Summer '24

V6-i2

Spring '24

News

Stories, milestones, and what we’re building, thinking, and celebrating here at McLennan Design.

A window into the progress, people, and possibilities moving our work—and the world—forward.

Catch the latest here.

Our Clients

We collaborate across sectors

From private companies to public institutions, we build trusted, lasting relationships that drive meaningful impact.

Our Regenerative Ethos

The way we see it, design is the opportunity to imagine—and build—a better tomorrow.

Every project is a chance to strengthen the places we call home. We begin by listening—to the land, the community, and the cultural and ecological stories that shape each site.

Regenerative design is our operating principle, linking performance, ecology, and human well-being. Through rigorous research, systems thinking, and collaborative engagement, we turn bold ideas into spaces that are beautiful, resilient, and measurably impactful.

Read more.

Social

Stay connected with our team and latest happenings

STUDIO 101: Our First Cars The McLennan Design studio staff shares their very first cars. Read this story along with the rest of the Fall 2025 Love+Regeneration. Link in our Linktree Bio. #livingfuture, #architecture, #sustainablearchitecture, #sustainabledesign, #sustainability, #regenerativedesign, #perkinswill, #perkinsandwill, #mclennandesign, #netzero, #JasonFMcLennan, #PerkinsWill, #livingbuildingchallenge
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY Voiland College of Engineering & Architecture Landscape Architecture Program This past week we had the pleasure of hosting Washington State University’s third-year landscape architecture students as they presented their term projects to our team for review. The project, led by Prof. Dan Cronan and our own Johanna Collins, explores a landscape design for a farmer’s hub in Liberia for the client WASUDEV (Women in Architecture for Sustainable Development). The project brief included both specific program criteria and existing site constraints. For the students, it was an important challenge and an excellent opportunity to develop their skills in research, critical thinking, and concept clarity. It was great to see all the creative proposals the students brought to the project. @sdc_wsu, @wsuasla, @wsupullman, @jo_colllins #livingfuture, #architecture, #sustainablearchitecture, #sustainabledesign, #sustainability, #regenerativedesign, #perkinswill, #perkinsandwill, #mclennandesign, #netzero, #JasonFMcLennan, #PerkinsWill, #livingbuildingchallenge, #wsu, #washingtonstateuniversity, #voilandcollegeofengineeringandarchitecture
THE POWER OF IRRESISTIBLE STAIRS https://isu.pub/LFMNUb9 WE LOVE A GOOD STAIRCASE. One of the core design principles of our practice is to Elevate the In-Between Spaces. These interstitial spaces - staircases, hallways, transitions, porches, vestibules - are often overlooked, yet are in many ways the most important places in a building. Special attention given to these areas elevates the overall design and experience of moving through a building. Let’s examine a few of our favorite stairs and the myriad ways they - literally - elevate our projects. This L+R feature highlights some of our favorite staircases and highlights the fabulous work of our P+W partner studios. #livingfuture, #architecture, #sustainablearchitecture, #sustainabledesign, #sustainability, #regenerativedesign, #perkinswill, #perkinsandwill, #mclennandesign, #netzero, #JasonFMcLennan, #PerkinsWill, #livingbuildingchallenge, #stairs, #staircase
THE RENTON SHOP Functional Sustainability King Country Renton Shop, Renton, WA See more photos in our bio LinkTree The first mass timber, net-zero Living Building for King County. Client: King County Parks Ops & Maintenance Size: 50,250 sf Completion Date: June 12, 2025 Sustainability: Pursuing LBC Energy Petal Certification Completed by McLennan Design as Design Architect, and HDR Architecture as Architect of Record Photos by Dan Schwalm #livingfuture, #architecture, #sustainablearchitecture, #sustainabledesign, #sustainability, #regenerativedesign, #perkinswill, #perkinsandwill, #mclennandesign, #netzero, #JasonFMcLennan, #PerkinsWill, #livingbuildingchallenge, #rentonshop, #kingcounty
From a Past of Extraction to a Future of Regeneration Read article in our Bio LinkTree Jason F. McLennan is one of the most influential figures in sustainable architecture, the creator of the Living Building Challenge and a catalyst behind some of the greenest buildings on the planet. He lives here on Bainbridge Island, where we both call home, yet his work and impact stretch around the world. But what I wanted to understand was why. What is the deeper engine behind his lifelong environmental mission? In November 2025, I sat down with him to find out. - Steve Richards, ethos-project.org
We celebrated our 3rd annual Friendsgiving in the Bainbridge Island studio last week, featuring a resplendent potluck of dishes provided by members of our team. This has quickly become a beloved tradition in our office, allowing us all a chance to connect, sample cultural cuisines from our diverse and talented team, and reflect on our thankfulness for another year spent working on truly transformative projects. We hope you, too, have a chance to slow down and connect with good people over good food this holiday week. Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at the McLennan Design/Bainbridge Island P&W studio! #livingfuture, #architecture, #sustainablearchitecture, #sustainabledesign, #sustainability, #regenerativedesign, #perkinswill, #perkinsandwill, #mclennandesign, #netzero, #JasonFMcLennan
THE MAITLAND CHART HOUSE Maitland, Ontario Link to full issue in our Bio LinkTree Our wonderful client – Philip Ling went exploring one day along the shores of the majestic Saint Lawrence River in Ontario, Canada and ended up in the small town of Maitland – staring at an abandoned windmill structure on a beautiful stretch of riverfront. Soon it would consume him and he found himself the owner – but really the steward of this historic property – the site of amazing Canadian history – like the building of the last French ship before losing to the British and Upper Canada’s second largest flour mill. Philip had a vision to help heal this stretch of the water and restore old stone ruins to their former glory. He embraced the Living Building Challenge – and soon after – was working with our team. #livingfuture, #architecture, #sustainablearchitecture, #sustainabledesign, #sustainability, #regenerativedesign, #perkinswill, #perkinsandwill, #mclennandesign, #netzero, #JasonFMcLennan, #PerkinsWill, #livingbuildingchallenge, #maitlandcharthouse
LOVE+REGENERATION • Fall ‘25 Link in Bio LinkTree I often write these intro letters while traveling, as it seems to give me a different perspective on our work serving our clients in so many different places. This time I am writing while traveling to Merida, Mexico – where we are kicking off the design of a new campus. I’ll share more on that in a future issue! But for this issue, we turn back time a bit to a project that we worked on pre-pandemic – the wonderful little Maitland Chart House and Maitland Masterplan – a historic place in my home province of Ontario. It has been great seeing what was once a crumbling relic turn back into a community asset thanks to my friend – Philip Ling’s vision and efforts. A short essay summarizes the work. Also in this issue are several other interesting things to share with you all. We provide an update on a groundbreaking summit we recently held on Bainbridge Island that we called – the Death&Life of the Green Building Movement. We hosted around 60 people from across the Country and Canada in discussing and analyzing what went right – and wrong over the last couple decades in our efforts to make change. My friend Elena Bondereva helped me host the event and she shares a summary. There is a fun article I wrote over the summer called “My Life in Cars” where I talk about how the passage of time can often be marked by the vehicles we drove at the time – and then members of our team share their first cars – and there are some cool ones! And like always, we try to focus on people and projects we care about – and this issue is dedicated to the memory of Paula McEvoy a colleague at Perkins&Will and a long-time green warrior who passed away too soon this year. Enjoy and let us know how you like this issue! #livingfuture, #architecture, #sustainablearchitecture, #sustainabledesign, #sustainability, #regenerativedesign, #perkinswill, #perkinsandwill, #mclennandesign, #netzero, #JasonFMcLennan, #PerkinsWill, #livingbuildingchallenge, #loveandregeneration, #maitlandcharthouse, #livingfuture, #themagicofimperfection
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“To change the world, you have to first imagine the world you want to live in.”

– Jason F. McLennan

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