Life

A New Address for Kelley Howell

After 30 years in the profession, including nearly 20 at PIVOT, Principal Kelley Howell, AIA, is retiring this September. But this isn’t a sudden leap: it’s a plan that’s been simmering since she was 10 years old.

That’s when she and her sister were sent to spend two weeks with a family they’d never met near Marseille, France. After spending time at markets, playing pétanque, and eating dinners that ran late into the night, she came home asking why they couldn’t just stay. That question quietly took root and never let go. Kelley is finally answering it. She is moving to France to settle in Angers in the Loire Valley.

“We’re thankful to have had the chance to work, laugh, and learn alongside Kelley for so long,” said Principal Toby Barwood. “She is a remarkable architect, mentor, and friend, and her influence will continue to be seen in our people, culture, and work for years to come.”

“We remain fully committed to the long-term partnerships we’ve built with our clients,” Principal John Stapleton said. “We’ll continue with the high level of quality design and commitment to project success that PIVOT has built over our 70-year history. We’ve taken steps to ensure the projects Kelley has been leading transition smoothly to other principals, with project teams staying intact to ensure continuity.”

If you ask Kelley what she’s proudest of, she won’t point to a single project or to a ribbon cutting. Rather, she’ll point to a process. For most of her career, she has focused on public planning and sustainable architecture: schools, affordable housing, transit, civic facilities — the buildings that quietly hold communities together.

She has a gift for connecting the dots between complex programs, competing priorities, and desired outcomes, working through the hardest problems until solutions emerge that everyone can stand behind.

Her portfolio reads like a map of the region she helped shape:

Education — The Center Building at LCC, a 120,000-SF reinvention of a 1960s concrete structure into an award-winning, LEED Silver learning commons complete with library, cafe, and convenience store. Corvallis School District’s 247,100 SF of renovations, spanning a middle school library and CTE maker space to high school science classrooms and athletic facilities. Knappa School District’s successful bond campaign and new gym and middle school wing.

Public Infrastructure — Lane Transit’s Operations Command Center, a 15,700-SF hub for systemwide dispatch, security, and staff wellness. Expansion of the TriMet Merlo Bus Base in Beaverton.

Housing — Willakenzie Crossing, a 56-unit LEED Silver affordable housing community. Ollie Court, an 81-unit complex with an early learning center. ReOregon, rebuilding 70+ homes lost to wildfire.

Kelley joined PIVOT in 2007 after ten years practicing in Florida, was named an associate in 2010, and became a principal in 2014.

Kelley’s belief in learning beyond our walls and seeing the world through different perspectives shaped more than her own career; it shaped PIVOT’s culture. That belief drove her to launch the PIVOT Fellowship, now entering its ninth year, which invites University of Oregon students to propose a summer research project and work alongside PIVOT teams on projects — a chance to connect a student’s passion for emerging ideas with the day-to-day work of the firm.

She also created the Design Discovery Travel Award, which sends a PIVOT staff member on a journey each year to broaden perspectives and grow both personally and professionally. The experience is meant to ripple beyond the traveler by bringing new ways of thinking back to the whole firm.

“Travel changes how people see the world and each other,” Kelley said. “It stretches you to discover new ways of thinking, working, and living.” This is exactly the kind of perspective Kelley has spent her career trying to bring to her work at PIVOT. It seems fitting, in hindsight, that she’s now taking her own advice — permanently.

Merci, Oregon

Kelley leaves PIVOT with deep gratitude — for the clients who trusted her with their communities, the colleagues who became friends, and the people of Oregon who shaped an incredible chapter of her life and career. As she trades that chapter for a new one in the Loire Valley — a slower pace, a new language, and centuries of history and wine to explore — PIVOT raises a glass to everything she built here, and everything she taught us along the way.

Santé! Vive Kelley!

Careers

PIVOT is Hiring! Two Open Positions

PIVOT has openings for two positions with career growth in mind. We are seeking an architect with 5-12 years of experience and a design professional with 2-4 years of experience.

At PIVOT we emphasize meaningful, sustainable design and seek professionals who view architecture as more than technical problem-solving. Successful  candidates can contribute to projects that serve clients, enrich lives, and create lasting value through thoughtful design. PIVOT’s culture centers on the idea that great architecture emerges from listening, collaboration, and a genuine desire to make places better for the people who use them

PIVOT Architecture is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We value diversity and welcome all perspectives and experiences to enrich ourselves, our workplace, and our projects.

Learn more about the positions: pivotarchitecture.com/careers

News

The 2026 PIVOT Fellow

Over the last decade, significant attention has been focused on housing across the nation, however accommodations for agricultural workers are often overlooked. Through her project, PIVOT’s 2026 Fellow will explore how architecture can support, preserve, and celebrate the vibrancy of the communities of agricultural workers.

Aileen Carrillo, a fourth-year Interior Architecture student at the University of Oregon, will investigate models of agricultural worker housing through her project, Transborder Homes: Rethinking Agricultural Worker Housing.

In many of the Northwest’s agricultural regions, workers are provided with housing which acts as a temporary home during seasonal work. Current agricultural housing models are often lacking the basic resources needed to support daily life, such as fully-equipped kitchens or areas for gathering, cooking, and maintaining cultural routines.

Aileen seeks to explore new models of flexible, community‑centered agricultural housing with spaces that are shaped by the people who inhabit them as well as connected to the land they work and the cultural networks that support them. By reimagining what migrant worker housing could be, this project aims to move beyond notions of adequacy and toward environments that foster dignity, comfort, functionality, and beauty.

Drawing from firsthand observations of migrant worker conditions while growing up in cherry orchard communities in The Dalles, Oregon, Aileen seeks to challenge long-standing assumptions about temporary labor housing and propose alternatives that better support the people who inhabit them.

She will examine how these environments can be reimagined to support a diverse range of residents—from single workers to multi-generational families from disparate countries—while fostering a sense of belonging and cultural continuity.

Through the lens of transborder communities—social and cultural networks that extend beyond geographic boundaries—Aileen aims to design housing that reflects and celebrates the identities of migrant workers. Her research will include case studies of agricultural housing in the Pacific Northwest, analysis of Oregon’s regulatory framework for labor housing, and interviews with workers to better understand the social and cultural dynamics that shape the daily lives of agricultural workers.

By integrating these insights, Aileen will explore flexible, community-centered housing models that move beyond minimum standards toward spaces that prioritize comfort, connection, and resilience. Her work seeks to demonstrate how architecture can support not just shelter, but the well-being and cultural expression of communities whose labor is essential to the region.

About the PIVOT Fellowship

The PIVOT Fellowship is a means of fostering original thought about issues outside the daily routine or obvious future trajectory of the firm’s thought process. PIVOT selects fellows based on the nature of their project proposal and other factors. It is a paid position and the term runs from June until September. The fellowship is open to students for the summer preceding their final year of study at the University of Oregon. The fellows’ projects constitute half of the candidates’ responsibilities. Fellows are also incorporated into PIVOT project teams for the duration of their term, gaining real-world experience working side-by-side with design teams.

Wow

PIVOT’s Newest Associate, Burke Wardle!

PIVOT Architecture is thrilled to announce that Burke Wardle, AIA, has been promoted to Associate! Eight years ago, he started at PIVOT as a designer, and now, Burke will help lead PIVOT’s transit sector, advancing public transportation in communities across Oregon, Washington, Utah, and beyond.

Burke is fueled by building better communities, whether he’s shaping the future of transit architecture, designing inspiring schools, or tackling projects’ unexpected twists and turns.

“In his eight years at PIVOT, Burke has really come into his own,” Principal John Stapleton said. “He takes everything we’ve thrown at him in stride. He’s got a rock-solid grasp of the nuances on transit design and we’re excited as he emerges in a leadership role for this important sector.”

Burke earned his Bachelor of Architecture from Woodbury University and has 15 years of experience. He became a licensed architect in 2019.

Thoughtful design thinking allows him to balance creativity with pragmatism, delivering solutions that are responsive to budget and schedule. Whether addressing straightforward building details or managing the layered demands of complex transit stations, Burke’s approach reflects a deep technical understanding paired with sound judgment.

“If I want a broad-minded, well-reasoned, and informed take on a design challenge I think of Burke,” Principal Toby Barwood said. “His high-altitude thinking is refreshing, but he can also flip his lens and get hyper-focused when detail wrangling is in order. He leads by example with the temperament and aptitude of seasoned professional.”

We’re excited to see where this next stretch of the road takes him as he helps steer PIVOT forward.

“I’m honored and humbled to step into this role as an associate,” Burke said. “The legacy that PIVOT has established through its 70 years is something I’m proud to help carry forward.”

Reach Burke at bwardle@pivotarchitecture.com.

Some of Burke’s key projects: