Design Build — Mercer Island, WA
Building on
Mercer Island's building environment is unlike anywhere else in the region. The Island's combination of shoreline regulations, critical areas, mature tree canopy protections, and the community's genuine investment in maintaining its architectural character means that doing good work here requires more than technical competence — it requires a builder who understands what the Island values and designs accordingly.
The regulatory landscape on Mercer Island starts with the shoreline. Properties within 200 feet of the Lake Washington shoreline are subject to Mercer Island's Shoreline Master Program, which governs impervious surface ratios, vegetation buffers, and structure setbacks. Designing around these requirements isn't optional — getting it wrong at the design stage means expensive redesigns or worse, permit denials after months of work. We bring these constraints into the first design conversation rather than discovering them late.
The Island's tree ordinance is among the most protective in King County. Significant trees — defined at a fairly low diameter threshold — require a tree protection plan as part of the permit application, and removal is restricted except in specific circumstances. On most Mercer Island lots, this means the site plan has to be designed around the trees that have to stay, not just the ones you'd prefer to keep. Our design team works with certified arborists to develop plans that preserve the canopy while accommodating the building program.
Beyond the regulatory complexity, Mercer Island clients tend to have a clear sense of what quality looks like. The Island's community has seen enough good and bad construction over the years to have strong opinions about which builders deliver real value and which ones just charge more. Our track record speaks for itself — we don't need to oversell what we do.
The Mercer Island City Council has been active on design standards for new construction and significant additions visible from the public right-of-way. The design review process here can add time to a permit application that isn't always anticipated in the initial project schedule. We factor this into our timeline commitments from the beginning.
"Talented, professional and most importantly — just really great people to work with."