Rumi Takahashi NCARB, LEED® AP BD+C, Principal
Rumi’s passion is to provide high quality architectural design and services to organizations that serve our community’s most vulnerable, most under-represented members. Her practice focuses on design for affordable housing, childcare, and social services. Rumi joined SMR Architects in 2014 and was promoted to Principal in 2019. Additionally, she also oversees SMR’s mentorship program focusing on exposure to the profession for women of color.
Rumi inherited her drive for social justice from her educator/civil rights activist mother and her immigrant father. Through architecture, she found a way to apply her creativity and problem-solving gifts in service of equity and humanity. Rumi has led design efforts for diverse clientele, incorporating their unique cultural perspectives and priorities into building design.
Rumi has worked on two design-build project teams. Tacoma Housing Authority’s Housing Hilltop is a 231-unit, two-building affordable housing development in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood. The first building opened in May 2024, and the second building is scheduled to open in October 2024. 35th & Pacific Family Housing is an 80-unit affordable housing development that recently broke ground and is expected to be completed in 2027. The success of these two projects can be attributed to the team’s commitment to the projects and the belief that the best solutions are born out of collaboration, mutual respect, and receptiveness. Rumi brings creative problem-solving and a team-oriented approach to her work.
Relevant Projects
- Juniper, Seattle
- Mercy Pacific Avenue, Tacoma
- Housing Hilltop, Tacoma
- Dorothy Height Apartments, Tacoma
- Flourish on Rainier, Seattle
- Salish Landing, Seattle
- Thea Bowman Apartments, Kent
- Hoa Mai Gardens, Seattle
- Ronald Commons, Shoreline
Registration
- Architect, Washington, 2003
- LEED AP®, BD+C, 2013
Education
- B.A., Architecture, University of California, Berkeley, Minor
- Urban Planning Master of Architecture, University of Washington
- Master of Urban Planning, University of Washington
Activities and Memberships
- American Institute of Architects
- US Green Building Council
- Housing Development Consortium of Seattle/King County
- South King Housing and Homelessness Partners Advisory Board, 2024 – present
- University of Washington Architecture Department Lecturer 2024 – present
Honors and Awards
- AIA WA Civic Design Awards, Honorable Mention, Dorothy Height Apartments, 2021
- Gold Nugget Grand Award; Hoa Mai Gardens, 2018
- Gold Nugget Award of Merit; Ronald Commons, 2017