Constructing Sound Designs

Martin Kaplan, owner MHK Architects

Accomplishment: In 19 years, Martin Kaplan has built up his business from a one-man operation to an architectural firm that now employs six people and will complete about 15 projects this year. The work ranges from a 1,500-square-foot summer cabin to multimillion dollar houses to commercial and industrial projects. His firm, MHK Architects, also develops its own residential projects.

Interested in architecture since he was 6 years old, Kaplan, who grew up in Bellevue, honed his skills building tree forts and even a house in the family barn. Those experiences made him more comfortable around building things than the average architect, he says.

After graduating from the University of Washington College of Architecture and Urban Planning in 1972, Kaplan traded his mortarboard for a hard hat and spent a year working construction in the field. He says that experience helped him better understand the construction side of the business, which has been the cornerstone to his architectural career.

His firm has designed many buildings on the Eastside, including the recently completed Westwind 11-unit condominium project in Kirkland.

Kaplan's year in construction led to his founding MHK Architects. While working with a construction company, Kaplan was given the opportunity to design his first home, and MHK Architects evolved from that effort. "It was a stroke of luck," he says.

Photos of the house, which Kaplan says cost $100,000 then and would be worth over $1 million today, were eventually published in a variety of professional and general-interest magazines.

That exposure led to other commissions. "I worked 12 hours a day in construction and eight hours at night doing design work," he says.

Besides giving him an important break, that first design taught Kaplan a variety of lessons about the practical side of architecture. Mildly amused by Kaplan's lack of practical experience, the construction crew decided to let the young architect figure out how to turn parts of his design work into reality. Kaplan walked over to study the problem and realized how important understanding construction was to good design. After realizing part of his design would not work, Kaplan turned around to face members of the construction crew, who were leaning against walls asking, "Do you need some help there?"

"Those moments taught me the relationship between sound design, reality, and education, and the importance of budgets. It was a wonderful experience," Kaplan says. "People hire an architect, because they need some type of artistic advice. But in reality, when they hire my firm, they hire an artist and a business manager."

Kaplan often becomes attached to his work. When Kaplan revisited an his first project a few years back, he became emotional. The house had been destroyed by fire and he was asked to redesign it. "It brought tears to my eyes," he says.

Kaplan doesn't formally market his business. He lets his work generate future customers. He won a contract to design estates in Southern California based on recommendations from other clients. An Alaskan client, who had Kaplan design a house on a mountaintop where winds reach 100 miles per hour, contacted Kaplan after seeing his work in a magazine. MKH also does condominium projects and commercial buildings, such as the Ivey- Seright Photographic Laboratory indowntown Seattle.

The firm's work is about 50 percent residential and 50 percent commercial, a mix Kaplan hopes to maintain.

Quote: "Architecture is a challenge . . . Each project is, hopefully, a positive experience . . . When one is finished, there's a real sense of accomplishment and a little sadness, because we don't get to live inside of it any more."

Secret: Listening to both clients and colleagues. An architect must be born with a creative bent and talent, but the professional also needs to listen to the needs of the client and to the marketplace, Kaplan says. "I think that I will always see myself as a student."

Setback: In 1977, based on his reputation as a designer, Kaplan was asked by the developer to build a $500,000 home - on speculation - on the Pine Lake Plateau near Issaquah. During construction, four potential buyers offered to purchase the home. Kaplan, however, turned down all offers, because he didn't want to compromise his design plans.

"We completed the (still unsold) house just the way I wanted it," he says.

Unfortunately about a month before completion, interest rates headed toward 20 percent, and gas prices went crazy because of the oil embargo. Buyers disappeared; the house sat on the market for a full year; and the developers lost money.

Kaplan learned a lot from that project, but the lesson was not when to sell out, as some would think, he says. "I learned to listen better to what the market wants and what clients are saying."

Advice: Take the opportunity to go out in the field. "That's where I gained a big part of my education." Every architect should take the time to learn the construction side of the business, he says. In fact, it should be a requirement for licensing.

Reported by Times business reporter Karen Milburn.