Small staff—colossal creative

Our staff is intentionally small enough to keep us intimately involved in your project start to finish, yet large enough to generate creative collaboration for imaginative architecture. Although we limit the number of projects we take on, we have clients along the west coast because one of our strengths is the ability to manage remotely and be on site when necessary. Another is our knack for finding quality local contractors and working with them to oversee construction of your home. Each member of the Balance Associates staff makes this quality control possible:

Back row: Margo Peterson-Aspholm, AIA; Tom Lenchek, AIA.
Front Row: Lauren Tindall, LEED® AP; Jennie Robison; Kyle Zerbey; Scott LaBenz, AIA.

Tom Lenchek, AIA  
Tom has been with Balance Associates since the beginning. 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.

Scott LaBenz, AIA  
Scott has been with Balance Associates since 1998. Interested in both historic renovation and contemporary modernism, Scott enjoys his work as an architect because every project offers a new experience and challenge. His favorite project so far was a remote vacation home in the San Juan Islands in part because he got to do site visits via seaplane. Scott's background in the fine arts and architecture is balanced with his practical construction experience, and he enjoys the opportunity to work with clients who allow him great creative freedom on their projects. Scott also likes spending time with his wife and Bernese Mountain Dog, backcountry snowboarding, hiking, and tinkering on a never-ending remodel his vintage Seattle craftsman home.

Jennie Robison  
Jennie joined Balance Associates in May 2007. Her background consists largely of administrative support for design firms since moving to Seattle in 2004. She enjoys working with a small staff of architects because it allows her the flexibility to customize the office to individual needs in order to provide better service for each client. With the motto: "We are all part of a team heading toward the same goal. With the right support we can all arrive there at the same time." When she is not working with Balance Associates she is attending Seattle Central as a full time student and working with various companies on graphic design projects. In her "free time" she enjoys cooking with new ingredients, traveling, creating art, bicycling, and playing soccer.

Margo Peterson-Aspholm, AIA  
Margo is the most recent addition to Balance Associates, joining 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 past fourteen 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.

Lauren Tindall, LEED® AP  
Lauren joined Balance Associates in October of 2006. She received her Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2001, and recently graduated from the Master of Architecture program at the University of Washington in June of 2006. After working for a large firm in Seattle doing commercial work, she was looking for a change of scale in both project and office size. A Seattle native, Lauren enjoys working on projects that are derived from site influences such as view, climate, and vegetation. She believes the dramatic and varied landscape of the Northwest has been instrumental in her desire to become an architect. In her free time, she enjoys travel, cooking, mountain biking, skiing and snowshoeing.

Kyle Zerbey  
Kyle joined Balance in May of 2005 after working with other residential architecture firms in Seattle and Oklahoma. After graduating architecture school Cum Laude at Oklahoma State University, he moved to Seattle with his wife, Lauren, to begin their lives together and practice architecture. Growing up on 8 acres of wooded land with a meadow, creek, and hillside, Kyle began to develop a deep appreciation for the natural environment at a young age. Kyle's interests in architecture include environmentally sensitive residential, multi-family, and community-oriented design. While not practicing architecture, Kyle enjoys reading, soccer, playing the piano, and spending time with Lauren and their golden retriever pup Bailey.