Small staff—colossal creative

Our staff is intentionally small enough to keep us intimately involved in your project start to finish, yet large enough to generate creative collaboration for imaginative architecture. Although we limit the number of projects we take on, we have clients along the west coast because one of our strengths is the ability to manage remotely and be on site when necessary. Another is our knack for finding quality local contractors and working with them to oversee construction of your home. Each member of the Balance Associates staff makes this quality control possible:

Left to right: Margo Peterson-Aspholm, AIA; Tom Lenchek, AIA; Lauren Tindall Crocco, LEED AP; Kyle Zerbey, AIA

Tom Lenchek, AIA  
Tom has been with Balance Associates since the beginning. He likes the challenge of coming up with creative solutions to design problems, and claims "projects are like kids: I really don't have a favorite. They are each different, and it's fun to watch them develop over time. Handing over a completed house to the owners is like high-school graduation. Hearing how much a client likes their house, winning an award, or seeing a house I've designed in a book makes me feel like a proud parent." Tom grew up building things. In fact, Tom's first "toy" was a bunch of scrap 2x4s that his father brought home. Tom used the scraps as building blocks, and played with the lumber more than any other toy. When not designing for his clients, Tom skis, bikes, hikes, travels and enjoys dinner with friends. Tom's real claim to fame, however, is that he skied from Russia to Sweden across Finland in a week.

Kyle Zerbey, AIA  
Kyle joined Balance Associates in 2005 and became an Associate with the firm in 2009. He graduated architecture school Cum Laude in 2004 at Oklahoma State University where he also received a travelling fellowship for study abroad in Europe and the AIA Henry Adams certificate of merit as the second ranking graduating student in his class. Kyle's interests in architecture include environmentally sensitive residential, multi-family, and community-oriented design. While not practicing architecture, he spends a good portion of his time remodeling their house in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. He also enjoys reading, certain Italian motorcycles, soccer, piano, and spending time with his wife and their golden retriever Bailey.

Margo Peterson-Aspholm, AIA  
Margo joined Balance Associates in October 2007. She is an architect who lives in Winthrop, Washington with her husband and two children. Margo has an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and a Masters degree in Architecture from the University of Washington. In 1993 she received a fellowship to study architecture in Norway, where she cultivated an abiding interest in Scandinavian design. She also loves the work of Roland Terry and a number of other mid-century Pacific Northwest architects. Over the past fourteen years, Margo has worked at several firms on a range of projects, from institutional to residential. She hikes, bikes and skis with her family and plays the violin.

Lauren Tindall Crocco, LEED® AP  
Lauren joined Balance Associates in October of 2006. She received her Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2001, and graduated from the Master of Architecture program at the University of Washington in June of 2006. After working for a large firm in Seattle doing commercial work, she was looking for a change of scale in both project and office size. A Seattle native, Lauren enjoys working on projects that are derived from site influences such as view, climate, and vegetation. She believes the dramatic and varied landscape of the Northwest has been instrumental in her desire to become an architect. In her free time, she enjoys travel, cooking, mountain biking, skiing and snowshoeing.

Kelby Riegsecker, Architect  
Kelby joined Balance Associates in February 2010. He graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from Kent State University, and spent a semester studying in Florence, Italy. He attained his architectural license in 2007 while working at several Seattle firms with projects ranging from high-rise mixed use to small scale residential. Kelby likes soccer and has season tickets to the Seattle Sounders. During the off-season, he enjoys spending time with his wife Kelly and daughter Audrey who are very understanding of his obsession.

Anna Fiedler, Office Manager  
Anna is the most recent addition to Balance Associates, joining the team in June 2010. She graduated from Seattle Pacific University with a Bachelor of Business Administration and is currently pursuing an MBA with an emphasis in finance. Architecture and design are passions for Anna that blend seamlessly with her enjoyment of business and management. Previously, Anna worked as the Office Manager at two other firms in Seattle. When she's not studying, Anna enjoys biking, skiing, cooking and spending time with her family - both in Seattle and in Washington's wine country: the Yakima Valley, where she grew up.