Interview Q&A Part II: Michele Hill

Michele M. Hill, AIA, SEED AP, Assoc. DBIA is a Project Architect/Project Manager at BuildingWork and AIA Seattle 's President-Elect. In Part II of our interview with Michele, we dig into ways to make the architecture field more inclusive for everyone, including those with disabilities.?

Read the interview below:

What drew you to specialize in adaptive reuse projects?

I’ve always been fascinated by creatively reusing existing buildings, starting at an early age living through my family’s multiple remodels. At a previous position as the resident code expert, the projects that seemed impossible from a code standpoint landed on my desk, and not surprisingly, all of these “impossible” projects were adaptive reuse. Threading the needle of code requirements, client desires, and good architecture is just such a juicy problem and every single project is unique. This makes adaptive reuse both frustrating and extremely rewarding.

How does the community contribute to your projects?

The most successful and rewarding projects come about when communities have a meaningful role in the design process. This is sometimes the messiest part of a project: figuring out how to invite community collaboration without being overwhelmed by minutiae. But when done right, the project becomes a touchstone for the community—empowering them, contributing to their sense of belonging, and truly meeting their needs.

What is the most unexpected lesson you have learned while working at BuildingWork?

It is always worth it to approach the building department with questions and creative solutions when particular code requirements seem untenable or unreasonable. On a recent project, I successfully negotiated with the City of Seattle to eliminate the requirement for urinals in our single-person, all-gender restrooms. The surprise came when the City and State went even further to fully eliminate the urinal requirement in all cases, for all commercial buildings, from the state and local building codes. My question turned into a statewide change providing more design flexibility and inclusive restrooms for all.

How can we make the architecture field more inclusive for everyone?

There has been much written about this by folks smarter than me, but I will highlight the importance of including a disability lens in any discussions of equity and inclusion in the architecture field. Architects like to think we are experts on accessibility and accommodating people with disabilities because we’re responsible for physical design elements complying with ADA. But that is only one part of the story since disabilities extend beyond mobility aid users to include those with mental illness, chronic illness, invisible disabilities, dynamic disabilities, and neurodivergence. We need to do a better job of making the profession more accessible to folks with disabilities, starting with reforming the often toxic studio culture in college and providing meaningful support to empower emerging and established professionals to thrive. It’s especially difficult to attract disabled folks to our profession because we have so few examples of successful architects with disabilities. Disabled folks are some of the most creative people I know because they have to work so hard to exist in a society not designed for them. Including and amplifying their voices in our profession will make for a better-built environment for all.?

Want to explore more of? Michele’s work? Click on the link below to see some of her previous projects.?

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