About Zone
We are a design firm that fundamentally believes that humans are not separate from nature. We bridge the divide between 'inside' and 'outside' to make contextually responsive spaces that last.
Our Process
We apply high tech and low tech solutions along with a community consensus methodology to help you achieve your project goals.
What does that mean?
It means that we will apply cutting edge technology as well as solutions that are tried and true to find a solution that best fits your needs and breaths life into your project. Our communication style is collaborative and inclusive. We make sure all the players are at the table and that the design process is understood by everyone involved. We make sure that there are rigorous feedback loops through the process of design and that we work at your pace.
What is 'Endemic Design'?
Endemic design means you are making space for not only the people inhabiting the land, but also the other living creatures that have evolved with the land. Practicing endemic design means rooting all design considerations in what makes a place unique. Our role and goal is to weave something new into the beautiful existing tapestry of a community, culture, history and habitat.
Kaeli Nolte
Founding Principal, CEO
AIA. LEED BD+C. LFA.
Kaeli is the founding Principal and CEO of Zone Design Group. From a young age she has had a deep desire and passion to reconnect built space with the habitat around it. Her vision of a better world is the driving force for Zone.
Kaeli is a licensed architect with over 7 years of experience, multiple sustainable building certifications, and is a daughter of a psychologist; giving her a great balance of design expertise and people skills.
She is a University of Oregon and Clark Honors College alumni and is based in Portland, Oregon.