Nicknamed “The Last Frontier” for its stretches of uncharted land, Anchorage provides residents and visitors with numerous ways to enjoy nature. Various spots act as a gateway to glaciers, national parks, and wildlife encounters, giving adventurous visitors and nature enthusiasts a long list of things to do. World-class museums, including the Anchorage Museum, and the Northern Lights attract culture seekers and tourists.
For those who want to move their family or expand their business to Anchorage, we have created a list of the area’s best architectural firms. These firms are led by experienced industry professionals who understand how to create location-specific designs while meeting the needs of their clients.
Nvision Architecture, Inc.
1600 A Street, Suite 300, Anchorage, AK 99501
Founded in 1982, Nvision Architecture is a full-service architectural firm focused on providing creative design solutions. Its services include building design, master planning, interior design, land development, construction administration, and construction management. The firm’s team is made up of professionals committed to using modern technology and industry trends to meet client needs with integrity, innovation, accurate documentation, and economic responsibility. Paul Baril, American Institute of Architects (AIA), US Green Building Council (USGBC), leads Nvision as the owner and principal architect. With more than two decades with the firm, Baril uses his knowledge as a designer and Alaskan architect to serve the local community. He takes a hands-on approach as a project leader, designer, and administrator to ensure project success.
Nvision completed the 5,800-square-foot myHealth Clinic in 2012; the work included 12 exam rooms, a procedure room, three provider offices, one psychologist office, a small laboratory, a waiting room, public restrooms, and an employee lounge with a private restroom and shower. As the firm worked on the structure, Nvision paid special attention to the flow. The design balanced public access, privacy, visual comfort, and fluidity. The firm also factored in budgetary restrictions and site constraints to ensure myHealth Clinic would be efficient and engaging for both patients and providers.
MCG Explore Design
421 W 1st Avenue, Suite 300, Anchorage, AK 99501
MCG Explore Design specializes in providing planning and designing services for clients in the civic, healthcare, and educational sectors. Under the guidance of president and CEO John Weir, AIA—a National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP)—MCG Explore Design creates enduring, client-centered, nurturing, and responsive architecture. The firm’s designs come from Weir’s travel experiences and are based on the way different cultures solve fundamental problems. By using people-inspired ideas, MCG Explore Design can create tailored and dynamic spaces.
Bread & Brew, a locally owned eatery, is one of MCG Explore Design’s Anchorage-based projects. The restaurant features a modern design with warm interiors that creates a laid-back and casual atmosphere. MCG Explore Design collaborated with the owners to produce a floor plan that can transition from a lunchtime setup with a standing order queue to a seated service during dinner. Each detail focuses on maximizing style, flexibility, and ease of maintenance.
Spark Design
5401 Cordova Street, Suite 301, Anchorage, AK 99518
Spark Design is a woman-owned architecture firm committed to delivering quality and responsive designs to clients in the Anchorage area. Its founding partners, Deanna Wlad, Tara Gallagher, and Deanna Nafzger use their qualifications and experiences to lead their team of dynamic, responsive, and skilled professionals. Driven by their goal to create stunning spaces, the firm takes a pragmatic approach that prioritizes finding creative solutions with multiple purposes.
Wlad, Gallagher, and Nafzger founded Spark Design based on the principles of responsibility, ownership, and accountability. Each member is encouraged to involve themselves directly with the project, from the design process through to project completion. The firm’s high engagement and oversight ensures clients receive lasting and quality service and results. As a full-service firm, Spark Design can work on things like master planning, programming, construction documentation, and administration.
ECI Architecture Design Strategy
821 N Street, Suite 201, Anchorage, AK 99501
Established in 1981, ECI Architecture Design Strategy is the oldest firm on this list. The years the firm has spent serving the Anchorage area allowed it to develop and refine a client-centric integrated design approach. ECI employs numerous services, technologies, and methods to help build client trust and maintain team commitment. Its efforts make it easier for the firm to act as a partner, advocate, and advisor to its clients.
Principals Brian Meissner, AIA, LEED AP, PMP, Justin Scanio, AIA, and Jason Swift, AIA, LEED AP, focus on leading ECI’s team by developing individual skills through collaborative intelligence, rigor, and design humility. They work to train their team with the belief that experienced professionals create stunning people-driven spaces. Framed by this collaborative culture, Meissner, Scanio, Swift, and the ECI team can transform and maximize project potential.
William Merriman Architects LLC
700 West 59th Avenue, Unit G, Anchorage, AK 99518
William O. Merriman founded William Merriman Architects in 2013 to provide architectural services for residential and commercial clients. The firm can also meet a client’s furniture, product, and graphic design needs. By leveraging its process, background, and access to skilled professionals, William Merriman Architects can create traditional and historic designs that bring functionality to projects on various scales. The firm’s work centers on respecting Alaskan traditions while producing bespoke and tailored services—the result is a collaborative client experience.
The Switchback House is one of William Merriman Architects’ Anchorage-based projects, located on a steeply sloping lot close to spruce trees. The firm used a modern take on the home that took inspiration from the rugged Alaskan landscape while ensuring comfort. The living spaces’ design centers around a traditional Finnish Masonry Heater close to an open staircase. William Merriman Architects also installed a sauna and traditional soaking tub in the master suite to support the homeowners’ skiing, trekking, and ice-climbing hobbies. On top of the recovery aspect of the bathroom, the firm provided a large storage space for all the winter and summer sports gear.
Blue Sky Studio, LLC
6771 Louden Circle, Anchorage, AK 99502
Blue Sky Studio specializes in client-driven designs for residential clients in the Anchorage area. Founders Catherine Call, AIA, and Anne Severin, AIA, created the firm to help clients create spaces that fit their style and needs and provide a wide range of services to ensure project success. Those services include custom home design, remodeling, and construction, kitchen and bathroom design, and space planning.
Call and Severin actively serve at the forefront of Blue Sky Studio, LLC’s operations. Call received her master’s in architecture from the University of Oregon, while Severin holds a master’s in architecture from the Bergische Gesamthochschule in Germany. As firm partners, they guide the firm in establishing open communication and practicing drawing and 3D modeling to achieve project success. Each design comes from the firm’s emphasis on unique ideas and creative solutions.
