Published September 2002

Dykeman projects reflect ‘passion’ for county

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

Safeway, Krispy Kreme, The Gap — if you’ve driven by one of these stores in the Puget Sound area, odds are, Dykeman Architects & Interiors had a hand in their development.

Same with the renovation of Everett High School, Cascade High School and the Everett Public Library, not to mention the development of the Frontier Bank and old SeaFirst buildings in downtown Everett, Trinity Episcopal Church and the newly constructed Peterson Building at 2500 Hewitt Ave.

And the list goes on.

“We have worked on literally hundreds of projects in Everett and Snohomish County, projects that reflect a passion for this area,” said Annette Johnson, marketing manager for the Everett-based firm, which turns 35 this year.

Started in 1967 by Dave Dykeman and Chuck Ogden as Dykeman & Ogden Architects, the architectural firm has grown to 33 employees, added interior design and workplace consulting services, and cultivated a client mix that includes shopping centers, libraries and educational facilities.

But it wasn’t always like that.

“Back in 1985, I would guess that our work was much more focused on retail/commercial — shopping centers and grocery store work — to the tune of 80, 85 percent,” said John Jones, principal and CEO. “At that time ... we had some discussions about the need to diversify.”

Nowadays, retail/commercial projects make up about 60 percent of Dykeman’s workload, Jones said, with the other 40 percent comprising a mix of banks, office buildings, the occasional custom residential project and schools.

“We’re doing quite a bit of school work,” Jones said, noting that the firm, which developed a physical education facility for Bothell High School, has been selected to work on the next phase of the school’s renovation, which likely will include a performing arts facility.

Noting the interaction with the community, educators and students, Jones said such work is extremely fulfilling.

Others at Dykeman agree.

“I spent four years on Cascade High School,” said Tim Jewett, associate principal. “I found it incredibly rewarding to see the changes in the school and the change in the way the students react to the school.”

Associate principal Tim Twietmeyer had a similar experience working on the Everett High School renovation.

“Talk to anybody on the street, and if you say you worked on Everett High, it’s ‘Oh, what a wonderful building. It’s such a jewel for this community.’ And everybody is so proud of that school,” he said. “The community involvement in that project was phenomenal: saving trees because somebody got their first kiss under that tree, things like that — it was just a very rewarding experience throughout.”

Along with schools, Dykeman has been tapped by a number of governmental bodies to bring its design and planning expertise to various projects, including the Mount Vernon and Mill Creek city halls, as well as currently assessing facility needs for the city of Marysville.

The firm also was awarded the contract to design and construct a records storage building for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office and the county’s record storage division of the Department of Information Services as part of the county’s Campus Redevelopment Initiative.

“The last few years have been good,” Jones said. “I think the growth for the firm has been fairly steady. “... If you grow too fast, it gets pretty painful.”

One area where Dykeman is looking to expand is in its interior design department.

This summer, the firm hired Kierstin Moffat Misterek as its interior design director to oversee services that range from business and space planning to interior design, project management and installation/move-in services.

“I think there’s a lot of opportunities out there,” Jones said. “With Kierstin hired (in July), we’re looking for that area to grow.”

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