Undergraduate architecture students at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington
Founding partners, David Miller and Robert Hull, were heavily influenced by their experience in the Peace Corps in Brazil and Afghanistan respectively. Both were struck by the economy and raw beauty of the indigenous construction they found abroad. Representing sustainability by nature and necessity, these structures were economical, spartan, and elegant in their response to climate and cultural conditions. Bob and Dave’s early experience has had a lasting influence on Miller Hull’s distinctive style and our commitment to ecologically sensitive, low-tech sustainable solutions.
Miller Hull capitalized on the emerging technologies of passive solar, super insulation, and earth-sheltered design and construction for Seattle area homes and cabins in the San Juan Islands.
Light on the land and off the grid. Cabins like Gorton/Bounds and Novotny are living spaces where simplicity and clarity reign.
This structure situated on the banks of Seattle’s Duwamish River serves Boeing airline employees and doubles as a reception center for visiting dignitaries. Solar control of extensive glazing is achieved by shading the west elevation with roof overhangs and filtering the sun through the steel structure.
The Bureau of Environmental Sciences: Water Pollution Control Laboratory and Administration building in Portland Oregon, exemplifies how building and site can work together. The story of rainwater capture and biofiltration are told through visible roof drainage, and bioswales that capture and direct all surface flow to a central stormwater filtration and sedimentation pond.
This regional distribution center for outdoor retailer Patagonia was designed with environmental goals in mind. Strategies include site repair of the river ecosystem of an adjacent park, the use of solar tracking skylights for added daylight in warehouse spaces and selection of non-toxic and recycled content materials chosen for life cycle consideration.
The building design reflects public sentiment that it not be ostentatious, yet project a strong civic presence. Form and materials echo many of the historic buildings found throughout the island, but without losing the modern edge.
“Miller Hull’s award-winning, energy-conscious designs combine with a love of local materials and structural expressiveness to define the essence of Pacific Northwest style.” Sheri Olson, author
The firm’s first foray into urban multi-family housing contributes a new urban housing paradigm. When designed and built, Seattle’s Pike/Pine corridor was a neighborhood in transition and demanded a unique design response to reflect the edgy and evolving urban character of the surrounding community. Voted ‘favorite building’ on Capitol Hill, it has won six design awards.
Located at the heart of Seattle Center, near the iconic Space Needle, Fisher Pavilion is designed as an earth-sheltered ‘anti-building’ tucked under a public plaza to take advantage of a natural grade change and preserve views from public spaces.
At the Pierce County, WA, Environmental Services Building, the introduction of natural light, interior vegetation and views to dramatic cliff-top exterior views make for a more humane work environment. No desk is more than 30 feet to a window. AIA Earth Day COTE Top 10 Green project award winner.
“The core of sustainable design lies in responding to a ‘spirit of place.’ It is of vital importance to the discipline of architecture that we overturn the suspicion of environmental architecture…we should be looking at the pivotal relation between ecological values and the design of our physical environment.” David Miller, author
Expressed structure, metal slat screen walls, commercial storefront windows and an open plan characterize the experience of the building which exemplifies the creative possibilities of urban infill.
“As Miller Hull shifts its attention to the design of larger public buildings, the firm’s long-established skills at creating powerful and distinctive private spaces gives their public work qualities of scale and comfort so often lacking in projects of this size.” J.J. Cava, architect, from book Foreword
Sustainable features of the Bertschi School and its systems are recorded and made available to students as part of class curriculum.
Miller Hull had been working in San Diego for seven years prior to opening its first satellite studio in 2011. Projects managed from our southern outpost include numerous waterfront and higher education projects, as well as renovation of San Ysidro Land Port of Entry between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico.
Habitat for Humanity ‘House of the Immediate Future’ (HIF): HIF is a reinterpretation of the House of the Future, originally featured at the World’s Fair, that focuses on sustainability, energy efficiency, livability, durability and affordability as goals attainable within the immediate future rather than just looking futuristic. Designed in collaboration between Miller Hull and Habitat for Humanity, the house was disassembled, moved and rebuilt at its final location in Dwell Development’s Rainier Vista.
Considered the ‘greenest office building in the world’, the Bullitt Center is a prototype high-performance urban office building, conceived of as a replicable model to drive change in the marketplace faster and further by demonstrating it is possible to create a commercially-viable structure with essentially no environmental footprint.
The planned Lions Gate Secondary Wastewater Treatment Plant located in the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia, provides a needed upgrade to water treatment services, improves marine water quality and contributes to development on Vancouver’s North Shore. Miller Hull completed the Project Definition Phase.
The School for Afghan Girls, a design collaboration between Robert Hull and the University of Washington School of Architecture, opens in Afghanistan. The school is integrated into the national education system expanding Afghanistan’s push toward the development of women and girls and their contribution and inclusion within Afghan society. The School for Afghan Girls supports this process by promoting stability, comfort, and community engagement and has become a model for other girls’ schools in the country.
The first new building to be added to iconic Pike Place Market Historical District in over 40 years, MarketFront expands the public realm while providing new market stall space, commercial/retail, office space and low-income residential units. It also serves as an important pedestrian connection to Seattle’s revitalized Central Waterfront via the Overlook Walk pathway, a project which Miller Hull also contributed to.
The San Ysidro Land Port of Entry regarded as the busiest border crossing in the world, is Miller Hull’s second border crossing project. It sets a standard as a ‘port of the future’—not only operationally, but also in terms of high-performance and safety. The Port processes an average of 50,000 northbound vehicles and 25,000 northbound pedestrians per day. The full build-out spread over three phases—constructed while maintaining 24/7/365 operations and fully completed in 2019.
We were awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Overseas Building Operations to design several U.S. embassies around the world, beginning with a new Embassy in Niamey, Niger. Other projects include Guatemala City, Guatemala and Merida, Mexico.
As the first project to embrace University of Washington’s Integrated (Progressive) Design-Build delivery model and Miller Hull’s first ever PDB project, the Lewis+Miller Hull team were trailblazers in this highly collaborative process guiding stakeholders and trade partners to deliver this 300,000 SF interdisciplinary building on a constrained site.
Located on a beautifully landscaped bluff overlooking Puget Sound, the Loom House is an extensive renovation of a classic 1960s northwest-style home on Bainbridge Island. Achieving Living Building Challenge certification through net positive energy and water, food production and a strict materials Red List, this home is considered one of the most sustainable residences in the world.
Teamed with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and Clark Construction Group, the renovation adds a new U.S. Customs and Border Protection passenger processing area adjacent to existing concourse A.
The start of Miller Hull’s work in Student Success for higher ed, the Student Success District transforms a cluster of disconnected buildings into a unified district. This complex project includes a new center for Academic success and renovations of three existing buildings to create a physically, temporally, and socially interconnected network of people and programs.
The C Concourse needed to not only be expanded, but redesigned with the passenger experience front of mind. Miller Hull and design partner Woods Bagot saw potential beyond the mere addition of airport dining and retail locations, and proposed a revised Concourse circulation path amidst a marketplace concept rooted in place-based elements from Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. The new C Concourse expansion will welcome passengers to an active, daylight-filled, two-story market that will become a destination for the frequent local travelers and a quintessential Northwest experience for all visitors. This project will also employ a number of emissions and energy reduction strategies including a photovoltaic canopy array atop the building roof that will powerup to 15% of the building’s energy needs.