Like sowing a seed, design is a hopeful act that can enrich the world around us.

A woman, Susan Olmsted, AIA, ASLA, LEED AP BD+C with long brown hair smiling, wearing earrings and a gray blazer, outdoors in front of green pine trees.

Our Story

At SOWorkshop, we believe in the power of design to enhance the human experience and nurture the planet. Through the integration of landscapes, buildings, people, and nature, we create healthy places to live, work, learn, and play.

As both an architect and a landscape architect with over 28 years of experience leading planning and design projects throughout the country, Susan Olmsted founded SOWorkshop to further serve clients, communities, and the environment through integrated design. She is keenly interested in processes of interdisciplinary collaboration and community engagement in manifesting high performance, enduring, and beloved places - inside and outside.

Susan is an experienced design leader, project manager, and facilitator whose career portfolio includes work completed during prior positions at Mithun, Perkins & Will, MSR Design, and SRG, as well as a growing list of clients and projects engaged since founding SOWorkshop. Cumulatively, she has led award-winning projects with clients such as the National Park Service, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Washington State Capitol, Central Cross Country/U.S. Ski Team, and a host of public and private schools and places throughout the country involving LEED, the Living Building Challenge, SB 2030, and SITES. Uniting her work across different scales and sectors are aspects of sustainable/regenerative design, educational design, and a passion for celebrating the genius loci of each place.

Past Projects

A multi-level Sustainability Treehouse built among tall trees, with wooden and metal staircases and walkways connecting each level, surrounded by green foliage.
A boy standing on a balcony overlooking a lush green forest.

Susan served as the Co-Designer and Project Architect for the Treehouse while at Mithun

Sustainability Treehouse
Summit Bechtel Reserve, New Hope WV

A young girl reading a book inside the Blakely Elementary School library with large windows showing green trees outside. She is sitting on a sculptural wooden surface, surrounded by books and decorations.
Interior 'gallery' at Blakely Elementary School with wooden stairs leading upward, large glass windows, wooden support beams, and contemporary hanging light fixtures. A woman is walking down the stairs.

Susan served as the Integrated Design Lead and Project Manager throughout programming, predesign, concept design, schematic design, and initial community approvals while at Mithun.

Blakely Elementary School
Bainbridge Island WA