Solid foundations: we take a tour of Olson Kundig Architects' latest work

For our January 2015 issue (W*190), we visited celebrated architect Jim Olson's idyllic cabin in the rich Washington woods and touched upon Seattle-based practice Olson Kundig Architects' unique relationship with nature, context and materials.

The practice is known - and often awarded - for its material-sensitive, intimate and at the same time conceptual approach.

Both Olson and his business partner Tom Kundig's house designs have warranted their own monographs. The range is broad, with Olson's recently completed Bellevue Botanical Garden Visitor Center and Kundig's restaurant-turned-exhibition-space 242 State Street in Los Altos among their recent works.

The firm has the ability to operate on multiple scales - one of Kundig's most famous projects, Chicken Point Cabin, is tiny in size but considerable in architectural richness. The cabin's massive swinging door was reiterated in the Art Stable, a condominium project for Seattle, also by Kundig.

The partners also share a deep and continuing curiosity about the very nature of architecture - particularly as it relates to nature. Here, we present a selection of the practice's most recent work - from the iconic Delta Shelter, to the very recent Bellevue centre, take a tour through some of Olson Kundig's latest offerings.