Pique: Three architects, one vision

By Ingrid Spencer

When architect Peter Jahnke says that he has to stare at Eric Meglasson, his partner and coprincipal of architecture firm Pique, all day, he means it, but not in the way you might think. Peter, Eric, and the firm’s third coprincipal, Keith Ballantyne , live and work in different parts of the world, but together share one practice. “I boot Eric up first thing in the morning and we’re together all day,” says Jahnke of his Webcam connection with Meglasson, “and I see Keith almost every day, as well.” Physically, the three aren’t actually within spitting distance very much—Jahnke’s home studio is in Seattle; Meglasson’s in Bend, Oregon; and Ballantyne lives and works just outside of Edinburgh, Scotland. Still, the three have had an active architectural partnership since 2005.

Photo courtesy Pique

| www.piquearchitecture.com

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According to Jahnke, while each partner is a skillful designer, they also bring their own special talents to the mix—Jahnke is the instigator, marketer, and pursuer of competitions; Meglasson, the practical doer who loves to be out in the field managing projects and getting things built; and Ballantyne is commentator, critic, and self-admitted minority shareholder in the group. “I’d like to change that balance one day,” says Ballantyne, who also teaches at the University of Edinburgh, “but for now I’m the one they turn to to push them and to be critical about the work.”

All three hold architecture degrees from Montana State University, but while the university may be the thread that links them together, it is their distance from one another that they believe has strengthened their link and given their practice an edge. The partners’ physical distance gives them an objective platform from which to consider each project from all angles—client, location, materials, budget, and program. There’s also a global perspective that comes with the geographical freedom. “We all travel extensively, and I have land in Belgium, where I hope eventually to end up,” says Jahnke, whose wife is Belgian. “Creating a business like ours means I could easily do that.”

The partners currently have several residences under construction in Bend, and they are looking at commercial interiors projects, as well. They constantly submit designs to competitions worldwide, an exercise they say keeps them exploring and experimenting. According to Jahnke, the potential is limitless. “There is an enormous amount of development out there, and much of it bad,” he says. “We know there are people who are looking for something better.” Dividing up to find those special clients is working for Pique.

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