Kurt Haapala AIA, LEEP AP, has been named principal at Mahlum. With nearly 18 years of experience in architecture, Haapala has co-authored white papers promoting the 2030 Challenge within higher education, and he is a frequent speaker and panel participant on environmental responsibility in the design of higher-education and student-housing projects. He has appeared before conferences and meetings sponsored by the Northwest Association of College and University Housing Officers (NWACUHO), the Association of College and University Housing Officers International (ACUHO-I), the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools (PNAIS), and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
Haapala has worked on projects for such post-secondary educational clients as Western Oregon University, Oregon State University, Washington State University, University of Oregon, University of Washington, California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, University of California at Davis, Pacific University, Lewis & Clark College, Central Oregon Community College, Mt. Hood Community College, and Linfield College.
He was the project lead for Ackerman Hall at Western Oregon University, which was the first LEED Platinum certified residence hall in the nation. He also led the Mahlum team for Pacific University’s Gilbert Hall and Burlingham Hall, the first LEED gold-certified student-housing project on the West Coast.
An employee of Mahlum for nearly 14 years, Haapala received a bachelor of science in architecture and a master’s degree of architecture from the University of Michigan, as well as accreditation from the Royal Danish Academy of Arts School of Architecture. He is a licensed architect in Oregon, Washington and Michigan.
The new associates in the firm are Brian Jonas AIA, LEED BD+C, of the firm’s Higher Education Studio; Rene Berndt, AIA, LEED AP, of the firm’s pre-K to 12 Education Studio; David Perzik, AIA, of the firm’s Healthcare Studio; and Nancy Harmon, the firm’s controller.
