Jack Chaffin joins JA Partnership

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JA PARNTERS: RAY JOHNSTON FAIA, MARY JOHNSTON FAIA, MEGAN MCKAY LEED AP, AND JACK CHAFFIN AIA, LEED AP BD+C

SEATTLE WA – Johnston Architects has expanded their ownership team as Jack Chaffin, AIA, LEED AP BD+C joins the firm’s Partnership. 

Johnston Architects was founded by Ray and Mary Johnston in 1991, and long-time team member Megan McKay joined the Partnership three years ago. Jack Chaffin joined JA in 2017 as Principal, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience in public projects. His past work includes higher education, government buildings, museums, convention centers, and historic renovations on the East Coast and throughout the Pacific Northwest. Chaffin has spent more than half of his career championing digital technology development in the built environment, specifically its implications on design and fabrication in the architecture industry.

It was this exploration of design innovation that led Chaffin to join JA nearly three years ago. After implementing technological advancements at larger firms, Chaffin was intrigued by how such technologies might impact a smaller firm. Chaffin had advised the Johnstons on the firm’s transition from AutoCAD to Revit years earlier, and his enthusiasm for investigating how BIM and other technologies could streamline JA’s projects made him a natural addition to the firm.

“The question was, how do we take decades of JA’s design history – the firm’s legacy here in the Northwest – and evolve the way we work to take advantage of new tools and ways of working?” asked Chaffin.

Less than three years later, that question is being answered. JA has implemented changes throughout the practice, from bettering existing workflows to creating more possibilities to engage with the design and construction of buildings. In other words, JA is using additional technologies to strengthen what they already do well. For instance, by applying parametric energy modeling and daylighting studies to their process they’ve bolstered designers’ abilities to site buildings, frame views and celebrate the surrounding landscape.

Some strategic hiring and significant investment in technology has propelled JA into a digital realm uncommon for firms of its size. In 2019 the 30-person firm built out a maker space complete with a 3D printer and laser cutter, and VR technology allows designers to walk their clients through a space before it is built. This is especially beneficial in the firm’s work with remote clients throughout the region.  

“Connecting with neighbors and patrons is the first step in designing a project that works for a community, like a library. Helping them discover their hopes and dreams and applying those to a project like a library is an incredible experience. With this new technology we can show these communities that we listened to them. They get to see their ideas in the space and experience it before it’s even built,” explained Founding Partner Ray Johnston, FAIA.

Integrating digital fabrication processes has allowed JA to design and create installations right in their Wallingford studio. They have presented clients with conceptual prototypes for everything from a responsive, custom lit ceiling installation for a mixed-use building lobby to a space frame of glowing LED lights designed to wrap a pump station more than 60’ in diameter and 80’ tall.

Chaffin’s promotion to Partner allows Johnston Architects to broaden their project typology, but his approach to understanding the potential of design helps shift the firm’s focus to the future.

“Bringing Jack on as a partner amplifies JA’s strengths,” explained Founding Partner Mary Johnston, FAIA. “His commitment to exploring new design processes and implementing them on projects of every type and size has brought fresh enthusiasm to our team.”

For Chaffin, enhancing designers’ abilities to communicate in the built environment and removing barriers in design are what drive him as an architect.

“Technology allows us to participate more in construction and fabrication, which helps us seamlessly integrate the elements of our designs into the final project. It allows architects to participate more holistically in the construction of buildings,” said Chaffin. 

Soon, Chaffin hopes to introduce additional new technology to the firm’s toolkit, including estimating software that integrates with Revit to illustrate real-time pricing updates, and using parametric modeling to develop new building systems that lead to better constructability. With his guidance, JA is also exploring the use of parametric design to simplify and democratize the construction of ADUs and DADUs.

Chaffin is currently leading projects for a mix of public and private clients, including Whatcom County Library District’s new Blaine Library, the Ballard Pump Station for Seattle Public Utilities, several boutique condominiums, and the conceptual design and master planning of a new residential community near Wenatchee.

JA offers comprehensive architecture, interior design and planning services. Their portfolio includes work in the public sector designing libraries, community centers, government offices, and public utility projects. JA also offers full-service design solutions to commercial, single family, multi-family, and mixed-use clients. JA’s recently completed projects include Oak Tree Pavilion in Lacey, the Bryant Heights community in Seattle and Base Camp, a 7,700 SF retreat in the North Cascades, profiled in the Wall Street Journal. Johnston Architects participates in the International Living Future Institute’s JUST program.