Ethos
We define regeneration as creating conditions for people, places, and communities to thrive—using architecture, planning, and consulting to shape healthier, more resilient built environments. From concept through delivery, we translate regenerative ideas into high-performance buildings and spaces designed to inspire and endure.
King County Central Maintenance Facility | Targeting Living Building Challenge Net Zero Energy, Hybrid Mass Timber Building, and Bioretention Park
HMTX World Headquarters
The HMTX headquarters is 70% more efficient than a typical building of comparable size, with a predicted Energy Use Intensity (EUI) score of 18 versus an EUI of 91.
Regenerative Design Approach
Architecture That Inspires, Performs, and Endures
At McLennan Design, we design architecture with intent and responsibility — buildings, landscapes, and communities that are buildable, functional, technically rigorous, and designed to last. Guided by the vision of Jason F. McLennan, creator of the Living Building Challenge, our work brings together decades of leadership, research, and international experience with a place-based, regenerative approach to architecture.
From off-grid cabins to company headquarters, adaptive reuse projects, world-class sports arenas, and campus-scale developments, we create buildings and spaces that support human health, perform at a high level, and respond thoughtfully to their context. Our projects integrate healthy, low-impact materials; daylight and biophilic design; high-quality indoor air and occupant comfort; and optimized building systems — always with people, place, and long-term value at the center. Each project enhances the place it inhabits and delivers architecture built to endure.
Our Approach
Listening & Observation
Every project begins with close attention to place. We listen to communities, study site conditions, and understand the cultural, ecological, and climatic forces at work. This allows us to identify strengths to build upon and opportunities for repair, reconnection, or improvement — grounding each design in real conditions rather than abstraction.
Collaborative Engagement
There is no greater force in design than a community aligned around what it values. We engage clients, stakeholders, and partners early and meaningfully, ensuring projects reflect shared priorities and long-term goals. This inclusive process builds clarity, trust, and collective ownership — essential ingredients for successful architecture.
“What is the maximum good that can be achieved here?”
Interdisciplinary Expertise
Our teams integrate architects, ecologists, engineers, building scientists, researchers, and cultural partners. By bringing diverse expertise to the table, we make informed decisions, reduce waste, and focus effort where it matters most. The result is architecture that is cohesive, resilient, and greater than the sum of its parts.
Interdisciplinary Expertise at ASHRAE HQ
This isn’t just a retrofit—it’s a manifesto. ASHRAE’s new HQ proves you don’t need to bulldoze the past to build the future. We took a tired 1970s structure and turned it into a Net Zero powerhouse—without disturbing a single established tree. No sprawl. No waste. Just smart, climate-specific design that works with what’s there. Working with our interdisciplinary team, we reimagined this aging, poorly daylit building through strategic skylight interventions and rigorous energy and daylight modeling—transforming it into a bright, high-performing environment that supports everyday work and collaboration. In a world chasing shiny new builds, this is a blueprint for resilience: reuse, rethink, regenerate. If more cities followed this path, we’d be a whole lot closer to a livable, sustainable future.
Regeneration and Performance
We understand regeneration as the active renewal of places — strengthening ecological health, supporting communities, and improving long-term performance through design. Every architectural decision influences outcomes over time. By prioritizing durability, efficiency, material health, indoor air quality, and system optimization, we deliver buildings that perform reliably and create lasting value for clients, occupants, and communities.
Durability is sustainability. Well-designed architecture is resilient, adaptable, and capable of serving people well for decades.
Indoor environments with clean air, non-toxic materials, and biophilic connections
Optimizing every inch with pollinator friendly green roofs, artwork, and using solar PV canopy for shade, shelter, and power at the HMTX World Headquarters
Indoor spaces with real life daylight greenwalls and planters softening spaces, cleaning air, and adding biophilic moments in everyday spaces
At ASHRAE HQ, skylights punctuate the 1970s building to provide ambient daylight to office areas
A bioretention park cleans stormwater, provides habitat, and a park-like setting at an industrial maintenance facility
Vertical Louvers help reduce glare inside the building and minimize heat gain at the HMTX HQ
Beauty Meets Pragmatism
Design excellence and performance are not opposites — they reinforce one another. Our work balances architectural expression with operational intelligence, producing spaces that inspire while meeting demanding technical standards.
From HMTX World Headquarters and ASHRAE Net Zero Headquarters to consulting on WWU Kaiser Borsari Hall and Climate Pledge Arena, our projects demonstrate that beauty, functionality, and measurable outcomes can coexist — delivering both cultural value and long-term return on investment.
Long-Term Value
We design architecture to endure — performing thoughtfully for people and place over decades. Each project is shaped to enhance human well-being, support ecological health, and strengthen the communities it serves, today and into the future.
Award-Winning Leadership
Our work is recognized for design quality, performance, and measurable impact:
- Climate Pledge Arena: Sustainability consulting for the world’s first arena to achieve ILFI Zero Carbon Certification and TRUE Platinum waste performance
- HMTX HQ & ASHRAE Net Zero HQ: AIA Design Awards for architectural excellence and environmental performance
- WWU Kaiser Borsari Hall: Holcim Awards Bronze — sustainability consulting by McLennan Design, with Perkins&Will Seattle leading design
- Lichen Collection (Mohawk Carpet): Best of NeoCon Gold for advancing healthier materials and industry innovation
Across all scales and typologies, we bring analytical depth, creative ambition, and a deep respect for great spaces — delivering architecture that is both award-winning and built to last.
“Regenerative design is not about doing less harm. It’s about doing more good.”
– Jason F. McLennan
Our Approach
Place-based,
Holistic,
Measurable,
Rooted in research,
Driven by beauty,
& Guided by purpose.
Start the Conversation
If you’re planning a project and looking for architecture that combines design excellence, performance, and long-term value, we’d welcome the opportunity to collaborate.
