Featured Architect
An interview with Todd Smith, Founder
Syndicate Smith LLC
⌵
“Luxuriously natural” is just one of the many laudatory phrases used to describe the designs of Todd Smith and his company Syndicate Smith LLC’s homes at Ravenwing Ranch in Malaga, WA.
Todd Smith, Founder
Syndicate Smith
Just a stone’s throw from Leavenworth, Ravenwing Ranch is a rare private escape, offering unparalleled Columbia River frontage and exclusive access to 385 acres of protected open space—reserved for owners only—for the ultimate “wide open” remote live, work, play home-owning experience. Lots featuring unobstructed views of the Columbia River and stunning nearby basalt cliffs offer expansive territorial vistas and the perfect backdrop for Smith and his team to create some of their most exciting home designs yet.
After studying Architecture at the University of Washington School of Architecture undergraduate program, Smith honed his skills under Ray and Mary Johnston’s mentorship at Johnston Architects in Seattle for 8 years. There they created enduring and beloved public and private spaces in the Emerald City, the Methow Valley, and the San Juan Islands. Creating Syndicate Smith in 2010, with eyes on returning to his hometown to raise his family, he moved to Leavenworth in 2012 to craft “a version of what I think an architecture firm should be.” Ultimately, he says, “I want our team to be 100% proud of everything that comes out of our office, and to feel that we are repeatedly redefining exceptional, that every project we complete is truly an exceptional place.”
Here Smith shares his insights on the raw beauty and opportunity for exhilarating new design concepts that Ravenwing Ranch (RWR) offers:
Why do you like designing homes at RWR?
It’s rare that we as an office get to explore sites that are so vast and full of vistas and experiences, from the hills to the cliffs to the river and the beaches—it’s everything you could ever imagine as a fantasy landscape that is natural, open and untouched.
RWR affords us the ability to design with primarily the landscape in mind. Not unlike the semi-arid lands of Spain, Portugal, California or Montana, Ravenwing Ranch evokes a sense of wanderlust, a sense of wildness that is impossible to ignore. You’re not designing a home to put in a place, you’re designing around the place and what it’s like to experience it.
When someone walks into one of your RWR homes, what do you want them to feel?
I want them to feel a connectedness to the site that is immediate and breathtaking. To feel like they are getting rid of the noise, both literally and figuratively.
What are important architectural aspects to consider when designing a home at RWR?
With semi-arid landscapes, and particularly at Ravenwing Ranch, you have temperatures from around zero to 115 degrees throughout the year. It’s glorious and dynamic, so our designs embrace the elements, allowing our clients to enjoy being spectators to Mother Nature’s most dramatic and beautiful displays while in total comfort and luxury. It’s the wilderness that draws people here. We use design and materials that allow us to feel uniquely part of that wild outdoor landscape, while mitigating solar heat gain by using roof systems and passive means to shade the interior in harsh summers, and embrace the sun in the winter with informed placement of glazing. Each home is oriented to ensure outside dining is effortless regardless, throughout all four seasons.
I am a huge fan of architect Bjarke Ingels and his idea that, ‘The basic rules of the site and place are the regionality of the architecture.’ We adhere to this principle.
— Todd Smith, SynDicate Smith
What materials do you favor in your homes—both for the exterior and interior of the home?
We appreciate resilient materials: metals, stones, regional woods, concrete—things that will last forever. Our job is to make things resilient over time. The more complexity forms have, the more frequent and complex the maintenance will be. These homes are designed to be multi-generational homes.
Throughout we strive to instill a connectedness to the site. We talk about the “hard shell and the creamy center”— a hard protective outside and the more tactile, evocative textures of the interior. I love to see hearty woods, sticks and stones and more natural elements incorporated into inside finishes, etc. We guide our clients toward more energy efficient choices where possible and design each home to be fundamentally aware of solar, wind and water resources.
Our guiding principle is this: the holding longevity for someone owning this house must far surpass a home purchased elsewhere.
How would you describe the architectural style of Syndicate Smith?
The stylistic inclination is that we let the sites dictate what the home ought to be; the style is a result of this. There is a nod to northwest modernism, but for the most part the site dictates the home, and not vice versa.
What is the evolution of design style you see at RWR?
We’re really excited about the upcoming builds on Lots 22 and 23 at Ravenwing Ranch and our new concept for the kitchen/living/dining room area. More often than not the kitchen is the primary place where people occupy their time in the waking hours, whether they’re making breakfast, or entertaining guests, etc. But often the kitchen—stove, oven, cupboards—is located on an outside wall. In the homes on Lots 22 and 23 we’re pulling every component off the wall, so when you’re in the kitchen you’ll be literally surrounded by views. If you look at NOMA in Copenhagen or these other juggernauts in high cuisine, the cooking spaces aren’t on walls, they’re on islands so that people can be in the space with you.
We’re also crafting ample mud room pantry/utility spaces to accommodate the seasonal changes and the wide array of outdoor activities at Ravenwing Ranch—our clients need to be able to easily transition from a day of skiing at Mission Ridge, or snowshoeing around the Ranch, to summer biking, hiking and/or swimming, kayaking and boating on the Columbia River. And of course our clients require gallery spaces for their art with ample natural light, wine rooms, and other specialized areas, so we are incorporating these, as well.
Learn More about Syndicate Smith
Our blog is just getting off the ground—check back soon.
For more dispatches straight from the Ranch, we invite you to sign up for our newsletter.