SSF’s leadership firmly believes in giving back and proudly supports many non-profit associations annually. In addition to groups centered squarely in the A/E/C world, we also generously donate to historic preservation associations, food and housing resources, and other community assets.
Beth Morales has participated as an ACE Mentor Program volunteer for seven years and a Team Leader for the past four. ACE honored Beth with the Outstanding Mentor Award at this year’s Industry Leaders Reception/Scholarship Night. Nicely done, Beth!
Click on ‘more photos’ to see all four SSF ACE mentors this year – Beth, Karina, Lan, and Mat – and their scholarship-winning mentees! We truly appreciate our team members’ commitment to introducing A/E/C careers to high school students in Tacoma and Seattle! Read more about why they are involved here.
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SSF hosted its first internal team-building Trivia afternoon with host Chris Stuvek from Jet City Trivia. Eight teams of four, music, snacks, beverages, and healthy competition. Congratulations to the first-place winners – Mat, Katie, Tim, and Cheska!
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SSF is excited to announce the promotion of Francesca Renouard, PE/SE, and Lori DeBoer, PE/SE, to Associate Principals and members of the SSF shareholder team. Francesca started as an intern with SSF in 2012 and has become an indispensable member of the Retrofit team. After ten years at other firms, Lori joined SSF in 2016. She leads most of our public projects and is involved with our design-build work. See the full press release for more info.
Structural Engineers Swenson Say Fagét (SSF) opened a new Central Washington office spearheaded by Principal Zane Kanyer. The new space is in the historic Clymer Building at 416 N Pearl Street in Ellensburg. SSF already has offices in Seattle and Tacoma. The Seattle office opened in 1995, followed by Tacoma in 2004. The Tacoma office opened to serve clients and business partners in the South Sound
Dan Say wins Historic Seattle’s Preservation Champion award at the 2020 Preservation Awards.
Anyone who meets Dan Say immediately sees that he is a passionate person. Dan brings passion and sensitivity to the structural design for every individual project. This means if a traditional structural approach is best for the project, great. But if an unusual, edge-of-the-box approach will better serve the design intent and maintain historic integrity, then that’s what you’ll get.
SSF is proud to partner with Outdoors for All on the Building 18 project – their new headquarters in Magnuson Park. We are honored to sponsor the 2020 Donor Reveal Events. Founded in 1979, OFA’s work to enrich the quality of life for children and adults with disabilities through outdoor recreation is trans-formative. Find out more at Outdoors for All.
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COVID-19 brought about big changes for the 2020 BLOCK Project/Facing Homelessness 3rd Annual A/E/C fundraiser. Team goals were reduced to $5,000 per team. Despite fundraising in the middle of a pandemic, the 9 teams raised over $90,000 for Facing Homelessness’ Essential Programming. What a beautiful sign of people’s humanity during a crisis!
Kudos to SHKS for such an amazing response! Thanks to all the other teams as well – Skanska, Katerra, Flad, FSi, GGLO, Miller Hull, and Roberts Group. Looking forward to next year’s renewed, in-person, A/E/C challenge!
SSF and Atelier Drome Architecture + Interior Design joined forces to raise money, purchase, and build 8 bicycles for older kids in foster care. What a fun way to spend an afternoon with great clients while supporting an amazing non-profit, Treehouse!
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SSF BLOCK Project – Year 2. SSF participated again as a Team Lead for the The BLOCK Project‘s AEC fundraiser. Team SSF raised $47,000 and the entire evening raised over $225,000! This year the money will help build a warehouse and pay the general contractors. We’re proud to continue to support this noble cause. Again, a huge Thank You to everyone that supported Team SSF both at the event and online!
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To highlight our amazing staff and drive new traffic to our website, we launched a social media campaign called The ABCs of SSF – 26 reasons why you want to work with Swenson Say Faget! Thanks to Dapper for their amazing design of this new landing page and coordinated ARCADE Magazine ad.
SSF was thrilled to team with CORE Tanzania to provide structural engineering design for compressed stabilized earth blocks (CSEBs) for this school. Thanks to Zane, Aaron and Kevin for their time toward this important mission of bringing quality educational spaces to this west African village.
Two More! SSF is pleased to announce the addition of two more Associate Principals – Evin Gibson, PE, SE, and Heidi Maki. For a full list of shareholders, go to our People page and click on Principals circle.
SSF routinely supports SMPS Seattle’s bi-annual Trivia Nights to raise money for SMPS scholarships. Congratulations to Sean, Pete, Francesca, and Evin on 2nd Place this year!
SSF BLOCK Home Fundraiser. SSF’s original involvement with the BLOCK Project included structural engineering design and hands-on construction of the first BLOCK Home – built in October 2017. We were so moved by Facing Homelessness’ mission that we volunteered to raise $35,000 to build a BLOCK home. We raised $46,000! A huge Thank You to Karl for getting us involved, and to everyone that supported this effort. Click on the arrow below to see all our awesome contributors and event photos!
P.S. Thank you to Chris Eden Photography for the party pictures!
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Beth, Mat, and Sarah represented SSF at the YWCA of Pierce County’s benefit dinner to support eliminating racism and empowering women!
5th Anniversary of Paintball! Some of the team headed out to Paintball Station in Mount Vernon to blow off some steam. L to R Top: Robert, Mat, Emily, Brett, Ryan, and Vicente. Bottom: Dani, Bianca, Kevin and Scott!
Fun was had by all that attended the 1st SSF Curling Night at the Granite Curling Club in north Seattle. Staff, family and friends learned how challenging it is to stay upright on the ice! Click the arrow below for a slideshow. Thanks Mat for the photos!
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New Associate Principals. SSF is proud to announce the addition of 4 new Associate Principals. Brian Rittereiser, Ryan Anderson, Chris Potter and Pete Krebs!
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Historic Preservation Support. SSF again participated in the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation’s Revitalize Washington in Ellensburg. This is an annual statewide conference focused on historic preservation and economic revitalization.
More silly staff images – proof that we’re not your standard pocket protector engineers! Arcade Ad 2017.
MBA. SSF is proud to be a new member of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBA). The MBA represents 2800+ firms that are involved with the design and construction of single and multi-family residential buildings in King and Snohomish Counties. Approximately 60% of SSF’s projects are residential. We are excited to get involved with this association to connect with existing clients and build new relationships.
SSF Gives Back. SSF adopted two YWCA Families for the holidays. Thanks to the team’s generosity, we were able to adopt a third!
A4LE. As part of our initiative to secure more public K-12 work, SSF joined the Seattle Chapter of the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE), a national organization centered around public school facilities directors and owners!
Outstanding Website. Following our new branding initiative in 2015, SMPS Seattle’s 2016 Best Website Reign Award went to…SSF!
Preservation. SSF Continues to support the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation through participation in the Revitalize Washington Conference at Lake Chelan. Not surprisingly, Dan was the highest bidder for “da bear” at the evening auction!
Arcade 2016 Ad. Whether summoned by you or Commissioner Gordon, we come to the rescue!
SSF Olympics. In solidarity with the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympics, the team kicked off a 9 month-long SSF Olympics. Groups of 4 or 5 were formed and monthly competitions commenced through August 2016. Beer tasting, gingerbread houses, paper airplanes, Jenga, cornhole, quizbowl, shuffleboard, tricycle time, rubberband archery and a final relay. The winning team was Blaze, Derek, Dan M, and Olivia!
New Ads. A new ad series was introduced for Arcade Magazine!
SSF New Brand! It seemed fitting to revisit SSF’s brand during our 20th Anniversary year. The new look is bold and intentionally atypical – reflecting how we see ourselves.
20th Anniversary Staff Celebration. On May 14, 2015, the entire SSF staff took the afternoon off for a cook-off at Tom Douglas’ Hot Stove Society. With some guidance from the Hot Stove staff, 6 teams carefully prepared and presented a salmon and a starch dish that were judged by the Hot Stove chefs. Then the team challenge turned into a dinner for 40!
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March Madness. An annual tradition, the SSF conference room is reserved for 2 days of basketball-mania. Come and go as you wish, but if Ryan A and Zane are around, you better root for the Zags!
New Shuffleboard Table. In December, a new shuffleboard table joined the foosball table in the employee lounge.
Little Free Library Project with Hilliard’s. SSF Project Manager, Ryan Anderson, spearheaded the design and construction of a Little Free Library in conjunction with Hilliard’s Brewery in Ballard. More information.
Washington Trust for Historic Preservation – Preservation News Article by Greg Coons. Principal Greg Coons, authored an article explaining the current state-of-affairs regarding the City of Seattle’s pending URM (unreinforced masonry) Building requirements. See page 10.
Revitalize Washington. Dan Say teamed with Nicholas Vann, Historical Architect at Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, for a presentation at the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation Annual Meeting in Wenatchee.
SSF Paintball. It’s very possible this may become an annual tradition.
SSF Names 5 New Associate Principals. The up-and-comers of SSF have been named! Brett Mozden, Greg Juttner, Karl Rosman, Sean King, and Zane Kanyer all now have ownership in SSF! OK. OK. This occurred during Movember – thus the crazy “staches” on some of our new leaders. Don’t let that scare you.
Dan Say – AIA Seattle Honorary Membership Award Recipient. AIA Seattle annually recognizes individuals who are not otherwise eligible for AIA membership (aka not an architect) yet have contributed notably to AIA Seattle’s mission and goals. Dan sat on the Board of Directors from 2008 to 2012. He also served on the Board of Directors for Design In Public from 2013 to 2015.
SSF Paintball. Good to let off a little steam every now and then.
AIA Board Gift. After serving for 4 years on the AIA Seattle Board of Directors, SSF created a commemorative deck of trading cards featuring the Board Members and AIA staff.
I-Fly Staff Party. Upon completion of the new I-Fly facility in Tukwila, we were compelled to take a company-wide field trip!
Gary Swenson Retires. 50 years after graduating from the UW, Gary Swenson retired in December, 2011. Gary was a leader in historic renovation, serving multiple years on the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board, the Seattle Design Commission, and on the Pioneer Square Preservation Board. We truly appreciate his leadership of SSF for the past 16 years.
New SSF Mugs. These may well have been the most popular A/E/C coffee mug in the Northwest!
Washington Trust for Historic Preservation. After 3 years of donating to the Washington Trust, Dan Say stepped up to serve on the Board of Directors. He was primarily responsible for recruiting other A/E/C firm sponsors. He continuously served on the board from 2010 through 2015. SSF continues to be an active supporter for all Trust activities.
Food Frenzy Support. In 2010, SSF began annually participating in Food Lifeline’s Food Frenzy event – a fundraiser that feed kids during the summer that depend on the free lunch programs during the school year. Food Lifeline’s Food Frenzy Event; Food Frenzy Blog Post
PNA Home Design and Remodel Show. Since 2010, SSF participated in the Phinney Neighborhood Associations Home Design & Remodel Fair – a great way to directly connect with our residential clients and architects. UPDATE: SSF was a vendor at the PNA Home show every year from 2010 to 2017!
AIA Board of Directors. Dan Say served a 4 year term on the AIA Seattle Board of Directors.
A perfectly Engineered Curve Ball (Baseball Game Invite with SSF). Who but SSF would explain the engineering behind a curve ball? This was the formal invitation for a client to attend an M’s game with a SSF staff member.
SSF Softball. SSF fielded a smokin’ hot softball team, the Belltown Bombers, this summer!
Arcade Ad. Corporate sponsorship and advertising for Arcade began in 2005 and continues today.
AIA Ad. Support of Seattle AIA has been consistent from the inception of the firm.
4 New Principals. During the 12th year of operation, Chardie Byrne, Dan Morrow, Greg Coons, and Rob Galus joined the existing 6 Principals in the ownership of Swenson Say Faget.
KEXP Radio Sponsorship. We had such great feedback from our KUOW sponsorship in 2004, we started annually donating to KEXP Public Radio in 2007.
Gary Swenson – AIA Seattle Honorary Membership Award Recipient. AIA Seattle annually recognizes individuals who are not otherwise eligible for AIA membership who have contributed notably to AIA Seattle’s mission and goals.
Ryan Reichman / Principal. SSF adds another new Principal / Owner, Ryan Reichman. Ryan is the managing principal of our Tacoma office.
AIA and Arcade Ads. SSF supports AIA Seattle and Arcade Magazine annually.
SSF Opens Tacoma Office. SSF opened an office in downtown Tacoma to better serve our South Sound clients and provide an alternative work space for our South Sound team.
KUOW Radio Sponsorship. As part of our community support, SSF has been sponsoring KUOW Public Radio annually since 2004.
NEW SSF LOGO. After 7 years in business, we embraced a new brand.
Nisqually Earthquake. 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit 11 miles northeast of Olympia. Extensive seismic evaluation and renovation work followed.
Blaze Bresko / Principal. SSF adds the first additional Principal / Owner since inception, Blaze Bresko. Blaze worked with the other owners at Ratti Swenson Perbix / EQE prior to joining the SSF team.
SSF Moves to 1925 Post Alley Office. We’re the SAME PEOPLE you’ve come to know … doing the same same GREAT WORK you’ve come to expect…and we’re having FUN doing it.
Inception of Swenson Say Faget. Founding Principals Gary Swenson, Dan Say, Paul Faget and Gary Mackenzie start their own firm: Swenson Say Faget – a structural engineering corporation.
