Principal Architect
Principal, Vice President and COO
Education: 5 year Bachelor of Architecture, College of Architecture and Environmental Design, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. 1992
Registrations:
- California Architect 1995
- Nevada Architect 2005
- Idaho Architect 2019
- Washington Architect 2020
- National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) 2004.
Experience: since 1988 in the San Francisco Bay Area and since 2000 in the Truckee-Tahoe area.
Ms. Thompson's responsibilities as Vice President and COO of MWA, inc. include Principal-in-Charge of design, operations, quality control, standards, scheduling, marketing, and project management.
Ms. Thompson has been with MWA, inc. since 2000 and principal since 2008 and has served as project manager and/or chief designer for many projects including:
- Numerous custom residences in Martis Camp, Lahontan, Northstar, Old Greenwood, Tahoe Donner, and the greater Truckee area.
- The Rock commercial mixed-use project, Truckee.
- Phoenix Executive Building, LEED Silver, Soaring Way, Truckee.
- Ski Run Center commercial development in South Lake Tahoe.
Ms. Thompson's talent and diversity of style has been recognized by winning the top award in the Tahoe Quarterly's 4th Annual Mountain Home Awards in 2007 for a mountain-modern residence at Northstar-at-Tahoe. The same home also won the gold award for The Best Home of the Year in the May 2006 issue of Electronic House. The 2016 Tahoe Quarterly Mountain Home Awards recognized her Lakefront design 'Tahizzle' for its stunning and unique combination of modern and Tahoe style. A Martis Camp family home she designed won the 2013 Tahoe Quarterly Mountain Home Award for "Legacy Home". In 2011 her 'alps-style' design in Martis Camp won Merit:Unique Vision award. Her efforts associated with the redevelopment of the Ski Run Center in South Lake Tahoe were rewarded with a TRPA Best in Basin Award. The 2015 Tahoe Quarterly Mountain Home Awards awarded her "Eco Estate" design, the Eco-Friendly Award. In 2004 she won another Tahoe Quarterly Mountain Home Award for a Truckee residence, and in 2008 the CEDIA Electronic Lifestyle Awards gave her the Best Large Home Theater Overall award for a home she designed in Lahontan. The fall 2006 issue of Diablo Magazine featured Thompson's Casa-California style design of a residence in Orinda, CA for its involvement in the Artful Living Home Tour.
As a member of CATT (Contractors Association of Truckee Tahoe), Ms. Thompson serves on the Local Government Affairs Committee (LGAC) and is the Chair of the Affordable Housing Solutions Committee. In 2016, Ms. Thompson was award the CATT Professional of the Year award. For six years Ms. Thompson served on the Design Review Board for the Glenshire/Devonshire HOA. She is a founding member of the Queen of Hearts philanthropic organization and also spends time in the community advocating for open space and sensible development. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her husband, visiting her two adult children, skiing, hiking, playing the violin, reading, gardening, cooking, and traveling.
Education: 5 year Bachelor of Architecture, College of Architecture and Environmental Design, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. 1992
Registrations:
- California Architect 1995
- Nevada Architect 2005
- Idaho Architect 2019
- Washington Architect 2020
- National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) 2004.
Experience: since 1988 in the San Francisco Bay Area and since 2000 in the Truckee-Tahoe area.
Ms. Thompson's responsibilities as Vice President and COO of MWA, inc. include Principal-in-Charge of design, operations, quality control, standards, scheduling, marketing, and project management.
Ms. Thompson has been with MWA, inc. since 2000 and principal since 2008 and has served as project manager and/or chief designer for many projects including:
- Numerous custom residences in Martis Camp, Lahontan, Northstar, Old Greenwood, Tahoe Donner, and the greater Truckee area.
- The Rock commercial mixed-use project, Truckee.
- Phoenix Executive Building, LEED Silver, Soaring Way, Truckee.
- Ski Run Center commercial development in South Lake Tahoe.
Ms. Thompson's talent and diversity of style has been recognized by winning the top award in the Tahoe Quarterly's 4th Annual Mountain Home Awards in 2007 for a mountain-modern residence at Northstar-at-Tahoe. The same home also won the gold award for The Best Home of the Year in the May 2006 issue of Electronic House. The 2016 Tahoe Quarterly Mountain Home Awards recognized her Lakefront design 'Tahizzle' for its stunning and unique combination of modern and Tahoe style. A Martis Camp family home she designed won the 2013 Tahoe Quarterly Mountain Home Award for "Legacy Home". In 2011 her 'alps-style' design in Martis Camp won Merit:Unique Vision award. Her efforts associated with the redevelopment of the Ski Run Center in South Lake Tahoe were rewarded with a TRPA Best in Basin Award. The 2015 Tahoe Quarterly Mountain Home Awards awarded her "Eco Estate" design, the Eco-Friendly Award. In 2004 she won another Tahoe Quarterly Mountain Home Award for a Truckee residence, and in 2008 the CEDIA Electronic Lifestyle Awards gave her the Best Large Home Theater Overall award for a home she designed in Lahontan. The fall 2006 issue of Diablo Magazine featured Thompson's Casa-California style design of a residence in Orinda, CA for its involvement in the Artful Living Home Tour.
As a member of CATT (Contractors Association of Truckee Tahoe), Ms. Thompson serves on the Local Government Affairs Committee (LGAC) and is the Chair of the Affordable Housing Solutions Committee. In 2016, Ms. Thompson was award the CATT Professional of the Year award. For six years Ms. Thompson served on the Design Review Board for the Glenshire/Devonshire HOA. She is a founding member of the Queen of Hearts philanthropic organization and also spends time in the community advocating for open space and sensible development. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her husband, visiting her two adult children, skiing, hiking, playing the violin, reading, gardening, cooking, and traveling.
All Staff
It is my pleasure to commend Kurt Reinkens of MWA Associates/Architects to you. Our association with Kurt began in the spring of 2004. We had purchased a lot at Northstar in February, and soon after began the daunting task of finding both an architect and a builder. The search was especially stressful because it was time-sensitive....we were hoping to get plans drawn up and approved prior to the October 15th cutoff date for groundbreaking that year.
We interviewed a half-dozen architects and builders. Kurt was the clear choice of an architect in my mind. During our interview with hint, he asked all the “right” questions and asked them in such a way that we began to think creatively about all the possibilities for our new home. He was concise and to the point, being mindful of our time as we were of his. The decision was positively reinforced when we settled on a builder that Kurt personally recommended to us.
Since we were operating under some serious time constraints, Kurt worked with us to formulate a contract that coupled Kurt’s creativity and design ideas with the expertise of the MWA draftsmen/associates. Kurt gathered some data from us re: our “dream” house…. ideas ranging from the number of bedrooms we wanted to how we envisioned the traffic flow from room to room. Kurt visited our lot, took our “dream ideas” and quickly worked up a draft. With visuals in hand, it was relatively easy to pinpoint the aspects of the proposal that we liked and didn’t like. Kurt was open-minded and professional throughout this process....discussing different ways to accomplish some of our ideas.
We had asked Kurt to work quickly and within a budget and he was good to his word on both fronts. Once the creative pieces were in place (the quality that we most wanted to capture from Kurt), the draft was turned over to Kurt’s associates for the detail work. Plans were formulated in a timely manner and Kurt and his associates maintained ongoing communication with us as we worked through the minutia.
Since we had never designed or built a house before, it was difficult to ‘visualize’ the three- dimensional product. Kurt and his associates were responsive to our inquiries every step of the way. Kurt listened to questions or concerns, and offered an opinion – a trait we very much appreciated since he was the expert and we were first-timers. Sometimes we were swayed to Kurt’s opinion, sometimes he was swayed to ours, and sometimes - through discussion — we got to a different solution all together — a better solution because we all maintained open minds and open communication.
Throughout the 15 months of house construction, Kurt and his associates were available for consultation with the builder, as needed. Access to the right people, open communication, and mutual respect were all critical to the timely, professional construction of our home.
Kurt’s vision was translated into reality with our builder’s craftsmanship and building expertise and we are delighted with all aspects of the finished product.
We interviewed a half-dozen architects and builders. Kurt was the clear choice of an architect in my mind. During our interview with hint, he asked all the “right” questions and asked them in such a way that we began to think creatively about all the possibilities for our new home. He was concise and to the point, being mindful of our time as we were of his. The decision was positively reinforced when we settled on a builder that Kurt personally recommended to us.
Since we were operating under some serious time constraints, Kurt worked with us to formulate a contract that coupled Kurt’s creativity and design ideas with the expertise of the MWA draftsmen/associates. Kurt gathered some data from us re: our “dream” house…. ideas ranging from the number of bedrooms we wanted to how we envisioned the traffic flow from room to room. Kurt visited our lot, took our “dream ideas” and quickly worked up a draft. With visuals in hand, it was relatively easy to pinpoint the aspects of the proposal that we liked and didn’t like. Kurt was open-minded and professional throughout this process....discussing different ways to accomplish some of our ideas.
We had asked Kurt to work quickly and within a budget and he was good to his word on both fronts. Once the creative pieces were in place (the quality that we most wanted to capture from Kurt), the draft was turned over to Kurt’s associates for the detail work. Plans were formulated in a timely manner and Kurt and his associates maintained ongoing communication with us as we worked through the minutia.
Since we had never designed or built a house before, it was difficult to ‘visualize’ the three- dimensional product. Kurt and his associates were responsive to our inquiries every step of the way. Kurt listened to questions or concerns, and offered an opinion – a trait we very much appreciated since he was the expert and we were first-timers. Sometimes we were swayed to Kurt’s opinion, sometimes he was swayed to ours, and sometimes - through discussion — we got to a different solution all together — a better solution because we all maintained open minds and open communication.
Throughout the 15 months of house construction, Kurt and his associates were available for consultation with the builder, as needed. Access to the right people, open communication, and mutual respect were all critical to the timely, professional construction of our home.
Kurt’s vision was translated into reality with our builder’s craftsmanship and building expertise and we are delighted with all aspects of the finished product.
Jan Coe