dan
Owner, Principal
Born and raised in the Northwest, Dan has been designing buildings for the past twenty years; with Geoff for the past thirteen. In 2016, Dan joined with Geoff and Tom to form Prentiss + Balance + Wickline Architects. He studied architecture at the University of Washington and then earned his Masters of Architecture degree from the University of California Los Angeles. Dan loves the challenges of architecture, using the constraints and opportunities each project provides to develop uncommon solutions and well-designed spaces. When spare time can be found, Dan enjoys working in his shop, waterskiing, and meeting friends for coffee and he still hasn’t given up the ghost on basketball. Dan is married and together with his wife, enjoys discovering the world again with his three small children, especially when this involves hiking, traveling and exploring urban spaces (particularly bakeries).
Margo joined the team in October 2007. She is an architect who lives in Winthrop, Washington with her husband and two children. Margo has an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and a Masters degree in Architecture from the University of Washington. In 1993 she received a fellowship to study architecture in Norway, where she cultivated an abiding interest in Scandinavian design. She also loves the work of Roland Terry and a number of other mid-century Pacific Northwest architects. Over the years, Margo has worked at several firms on a range of projects, from institutional to residential. She hikes, bikes and skis with her family and plays the violin.
Kelby joined the team in February 2010. He graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from Kent State University, and spent a semester studying in Florence, Italy. He attained his architectural license in 2007 while working at several Seattle firms with projects ranging from high-rise mixed use to small scale residential. Kelby likes soccer and has season tickets to the Seattle Sounders. During the off-season, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two children who are very understanding of his obsession.
Brian is a licensed architect, competitive rower, amateur woodworker, struggling gardener, and fugitive from the East Coast. Before settling in Seattle, Brian collected degrees from the University of Maryland and Washington University in St Louis, periodically skipping town to study at the American University in Rome and the Helsinki Institute of Technology. He joined our team in 2010, but can most often be found rowing backwards around Lake Union or hiking forwards in the Cascades.
Shawn joined us in March 2013. He graduated with a Masters of Architecture from University of Washington, and studied abroad in the UW Rome Program. He has worked at several Seattle firms on projects both public and private, large and small. He’s found residential work the most gratifying for its intimacy with the architectural process. He believes great architecture is shaped by its environment and its users, which at its best, creates spaces that delight and inspire. When not writing his bio, he is creating mixed media art, working on graphic design projects and performing in his improv comedy group, Quiet Monkey Fight.
Genevieve (who once upon a time called herself “kitty”) is a fiber artist by trade and preference, and an office manager by inclination. She keeps the office organized in an intricate web – not unlike the spools of yarn she dyes for her business, “Kitty’s Curiosity”. Having studied architecture for its precision/science and feeling/art she has worked hard to craft her ideal life, and landed at Prentiss + Balance + Wickline Architects because it combines her love of architecture and design-type people with her itch for organization and management.
The process of remodeling a Ballard cottage prompted Philip to trade a career in genomics for one in architecture. After earning Masters degrees in architecture and urban design in St. Louis, followed by several years in Austin, Philip returned home to Seattle and settled into his desk at PBW Architects. A believer in the power of good design and the importance of craftsmanship across scales and disciplines, Philip has spent time apprenticed to a bamboo fly rod maker in rural France, as a steel fabricator in Austin, and as a researcher with the Arid Lands Institute. Philip likes to fly fish when it is sunny, ski when it snows, and poke around tide pools with his daughters in any weather.
James earned his Masters of Architecture degree from Roger Williams University in 2013. He spent his first years working at firms in Rhode Island and Massachusetts where he learned to appreciate the intimacy of a small architectural practice. His interests in modern residential architecture and indie rock music brought him to Seattle in 2017. When out of the office James enjoys golf, snowboarding, attending concerts, and perusing record stores.
Kristin comes to us from Buffalo, NY via Knoxville, TN, where she earned her Master of Architecture degree in 2011. Having worked in Seattle’s design-build community for the last six years, Kristin is fascinated by how buildings come together and the interaction of materials. She is excited to continue that granular, intimate aspect of design at Prentiss + Balance + Wickline Architects. Kristin is an avid home cook and a collector of cookbooks and kitchenware. When not in the kitchen (or the grocery store), you can find her at happy hour, reading the news, singing karaoke with friends, or playing ping pong—in that order.
David is a recent graduate of UT Austin, where he nurtured a passion for materiality and the intimate human scale. He has been fortunate to work on various projects that have developed his sense of design through the act of making, including work on an outdoor classroom and neighborhood center and the fabrication of a sculpture cover at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater. Seattle’s physical and cultural proximity to the natural world drew him to the city and to PBW Architects specifically. He has since discovered the secret world of coffee beans and enjoys exploring the area, both in the city and on hiking trails. A man of many talents, he was at one time a wedding photographer, and plays guitar, paints, and sketches in the minutes of spare time he has while hanging out with his wife and cat.
Christian has enjoyed drawing, building things, and rearranging his room since he was a small child, which naturally led him to pursue architecture. He received his M. Arch from Columbia University in New York, and has experience in a wide range of architectural work. From the East Coast to the Pacific Northwest, Christian has done it all: commercial, art installation, master-planning, single- and multi-family residential. After living and working in Vancouver, he and his wife moved to Seattle, where he joined PBW in 2020. A true Minnesotan, he is at home on the ice and plays beer league hockey every week. He also occasionally enjoys golfing and fishing, though not always on ice.
Doug grew up in Maryland and studied at Carnegie Mellon. He started his career on the East Coast, but came to the Pacific Northwest for a change of pace and the natural beauty. He loves architecture because of its permanence in the landscape and hopes to create structures that will outlive him. He’s drawn to residential architecture because it’s intimate and personal. Doug joined our Winthrop office in 2020 and is currently renovating a home in the Methow Valley for his wife and son. Outside the office, Doug is an avid runner often searching for a new race or an escapade into the mountains.
Kelsey joins the team recently licensed and equipped with a Masters degree from Kansas State University. Hailing originally from rural, mountainous Colorado, she is inspired by how architecture is contextualized by both vast landscapes and dense cities. Prior to PBW, she has worked on a variety of project types and scales across the Pacific Northwest, ultimately resonating with the intimate nature of residential design. Her sense of detail, organization and spatial awareness draws from traditional studies and regional understanding as well as a lifelong exploration of art, culture, and theory. Kelsey enjoys connecting the dots between abstract art and formal design, most recently by way of digital music production. When not at the drawing board or keyboard, she can usually be found at the roller rink spinning on 8 wheels or spinning tunes. Sometimes simultaneously.
Olga was born in Moscow, then Soviet Union, where she studied traditional Lacquer Miniature, and attended three years of college in the medical field. After immigrating to the United States, she chose to pursue a discipline closer to her heart, completing her Bachelor and Master of Architecture degrees at the University of Washington. She has since worked on a variety of types of architecture, but has special expertise in the application of Cross Laminated Timber (CLT). Olga joined PBW in 2021, drawn in by the careful, detailed approach to design. Outside of work, she enjoys riding horses, playing the piano, sewing, and spending time with her family.
Allie grew up in Illinois and spent most of her childhood painting or drawing. She received a Bachelor of Architecture from Miami University in Ohio, where she held an on-campus job in marketing and cultivated a love of graphic design. She eventually came to Seattle with her husband and cat to fulfill her dream of living in the Pacific Northwest. Her background in marketing, education in architecture, as well as her love of the occasional organizational task brought her to PBW in 2021. Allie is an avid list keeper, and particularly enjoys adding to her movie and book lists, which are perpetually growing at an impossible-to-complete pace.
Julia grew up steeped in conceptual art, architecture, and design. This early exposure, combined with her innate love of plants and being outdoors led her to the landscape architecture department at UT Austin, where she custom-tailored a MS in Sustainable Design focused on landscape. Now, after nearly ten years of experience in landscape design and planning, she aims to create spaces that marry the best of the built environment and the wild, that are both beautiful and enduring, and that inspire engagement and joy. She lives on a farm in the San Juan Islands with her family, over a hundred fruit trees, and a large vegetable and cutting garden.
Devon received an M. Arch at University of Illinois at Chicago, where he was previously living the past 10 years. There he worked with residential architecture, historic preservation, and with the Chicago Architecture Biennial. Having grown up in Singapore, he carries a passions for international structures – working on projects in Yangon, Florence, and Istanbul. What was originally intended to be a momentary reprieve on San Juan Island has now turned to fulltime living – fulfilling his cottage-core fantasy of pottery, painting, hiking, and small town living.
Geoff Prentiss is a native of San Juan Island, Washington State and has had his own practice in Seattle since 1989. In 2016 Geoff joined with Tom and Dan to form Prentiss + Balance + Wickline Architects. Geoff studied undergraduate architecture at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and was awarded a Masters in Architecture from the University of Washington in 1985. Between undergraduate and graduate studies Geoff developed a successful landscape design and contracting company in the San Juan Islands. While doing his thesis for his Masters, Geoff was awarded a Monbusho Fellowship, studying in Kobe, Japan from 1984 through 1986. His study during this period married his interests in architecture and landscapes, focusing on the heightened experience of transitional spaces and elements between interior and exterior in architecture. Traveling, kayaking, reading, gardening, consuming delicious food and wine and just generally loving life take up the rest of Geoff’s waking hours.
Tom has been with Balance Associates since the beginning, and is thrilled to have joined Geoff and Dan to form Prentiss + Balance + Wickline Architects. He likes the challenge of coming up with creative solutions to design problems, and claims “projects are like kids: I really don’t have a favorite. They are each different, and it’s fun to watch them develop over time. Handing over a completed house to the owners is like high-school graduation. Hearing how much a client likes their house, winning an award, or seeing a house I’ve designed in a book makes me feel like a proud parent.” Tom grew up building things. In fact, Tom’s first “toy” was a bunch of scrap 2x4s that his father brought home. Tom used the scraps as building blocks, and played with the lumber more than any other toy. When not designing for his clients, Tom skis, bikes, hikes, travels and enjoys dinner with friends. Tom’s real claim to fame, however, is that he skied from Russia to Sweden across Finland in a week.
