Terry Phelan is Director of Sustainable Practice at Board & Vellum, an architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture firm in Seattle, Washington.

Terry Phelan, AIA

Director, Sustainable Practice

Terry is an insightful and intuitive architect dedicated to expanding green building practices through awareness, education, and action. Throughout her 30+ year career, Terry’s passion and reverence for nature and the environment have inspired her to effect real change in the A&D industry through cost-effective, restorative, and high-performance design.

Terry takes an education-first approach, focusing on outreach and mentoring to accelerate growth in the deep green space. A thought leader in sustainable design, Terry is a sought-after contributor to and creator of conferences, workshops, podcasts, and more. She has been recognized for her dedication to ecological design and business practices.

Always taking the road less traveled, Terry apprenticed for many years before taking exams to become a licensed architect. She has worked on a variety of projects at many scopes and scales, including, single-family residential, small commercial, adaptive reuse, cohousing, and more.

In her life outside the office, Terry embraces joy and health, growing food and cooking for others in the small cohousing community she calls home. She enjoys running errands by bicycle in Old Town Issaquah and exploring the tranquility of the deep woods of the Olympic and Cascade Mountains.

Terry Phelan is a member of the Board & Vellum ownership group.

[email protected]
+1 425 651 8083

A sample collection of Terry’s project contributions.

As a long-standing advocate for sustainable practices, Terry has over 30 years of experience designing and managing deep green projects across varying typologies and sectors.

A Sustainability-Minded DADU with a View

Net Carbon DADU

Guided by sustainable principles and environmentally-conscious practices from the foundation to the finishes, this DADU is estimated to be carbon negative.

Net Positive Custom Home – Board & Vellum
A Brand New Home Designed to Give Back

Net Positive Custom Home

Built to last, this custom home looks to the future with passive and mechanical sustainable measures, minimal environmental impact, and aging-in-place strategies.

Crescent Creek House – Board & Vellum
Building Green to Age in Place

Crescent Creek House

An architect’s own remodel sets an example for energy and food resilience, as well as co-housing and aging-in-place.

Rainier View Homes – Board & Vellum
King County’s First Cottage Development

Rainier View Homes

A community of 4-Star Built Green cottage homes designed with the county’s Cottage Code, enabling double residential density around a village green.

Selah Vista Homes – Board & Vellum
A Sustainable Community in Eastern Washington

Selah Vista Homes

This new residential development on a 16.7-acre site outside of Yakima, Washington, is over composed of 60 net zero energy homes and shared community spaces.

Antique Dealer’s Dream – Board & Vellum
Capturing an Old Home’s Original Charm

Antique Dealer’s Dream

The vision of an antique dealer helped turn this rough vintage home into a cozy home with period details.

Bainbridge Straw Bale – Board & Vellum
A Net Zero Water Home Built on a Budget

Bainbridge Straw Bale

Built with locally-sourced materials and straw bale construction, this cabin is one of Washington’s first legally-permitted Net Zero Water homes.

Roy Farms Field Office – Board & Vellum
Adaptive Reuse for a Sustainably-Focused Farm

Roy Farms Field Office

The sustainable, adaptive reuse of an existing farm building to convert it into a field office for a century-old Washington farm.

Trout Lake Residence – Board & Vellum
New Construction to Age in Place

Trout Lake Residence

This new construction home places all key spaces on the main floor, designed for ease of access, aging in place, and close integration with the rugged outdoors.

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Who are we, anyway? For starters, we are a close-knit team of creative professionals, collaborating on architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture. We love what we do, and we have fun doing it. As your advocates, our goal is to help you realize a project that you love.

Our Team

Over the years, we’ve built a team of passionate architects and designers who not only love the work we do, but love working together. Our enthusiasm translates directly to our projects, and we pair team members with clients and projects we think will be a great fit.

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