About

ZGF is an industry leader in sustainable and regenerative design. We embraced sustainable design as a core value long before “green” or “LEED” became common phrases. As stewards of the built environment, our applied research and learnings over the past 70 years allow us to invent new approaches that address urgent climate challenges in complex building types including laboratories, hospitals, learning spaces at colleges and universities, and corporate headquarters.

Urban planning has influenced our work since the firm's inception—we design buildings and cities that harness the opportunities of a carbon neutral future. Alongside this, we strengthen our clients’ ESG goals with design solutions that embody their mission, vision, and values.

We are dedicated to working with the entire industry to solve the pressing environmental and social issues of our time. As a firm, we are committed to the 2030 Challenge, the US Architects Declare, and have signed the Healthy Materials Pledge. In 2021, we signed the 1.5°C COP26 Communiqué to further call on the industry and our colleagues to join us in reducing our carbon footprint, and in 2022, we updated our JUST 2.0 label to best evaluate our social justice and equity practices. 

With our origins in Oregon, attention to craft and beauty is elemental to the ZGF culture. A deep respect for the built environment evolved from reverence for the surrounding natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest landscape and a commitment to stewardship of the natural environment. Rather than reflecting a signature style, our work is derived from the particulars of the climate, context, and the human experience. The instinct to build community, making places where people come together for a common purpose, is central to our work. 

Evolving from a single office with strong regional roots to a firm with seven offices across North America and 750+ staff, ZGF's national reputation was honored with the American Institute of Architects' Architecture Firm Award, recognizing the firm’s “high standards, humanistic concerns, and unique ability to capture the spirit of a place and the aspirations of its inhabitants.”  

Part of what draws us to design is our deep desire to effect positive change. Three core principles drive ZGF’s work: making a difference in people’s lives, fighting climate change, and advancing social justice.

Through design, we strive to create places that enable diverse and equitable communities. We support a world that is just, guided by open and intelligent discourse, mutual understanding, and respect for all people. Now more than ever, we seek not only to uphold our values, but we’re redoubling our commitment to them as we face a new generation of challenges.

We keep equity and inclusion at the forefront of our design process, engaging diverse voices and partnerships. We are as proud of our internal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives as our external outreach.