Thoughtful, enduring, and planned with intention
Seattle-based Seahaus creates architecture shaped by the places we live and the ways we live within them.
Architecture for every day
Each Seahaus project reflects the people it serves. We listen carefully and bring expertise, adaptability, and creativity to each design, shaping spaces that are beautiful, useful, and built to support daily life over time.
Our Focus
Seahaus is a Seattle-based studio focused on residential and small-scale architecture, including renovations, additions, custom homes, backyard cottages, accessory structures, and compact housing.
We work with clients in Seattle and beyond, taking on select projects throughout Washington where careful planning, material clarity, and close collaboration are a good fit. Across scales, our work is shaped by daily use, climate, site, and the way materials age over time.
Our Process
We listen first — learning what matters most, what the project needs to accomplish, and what it could become. Through conversation, clear guidance, and ongoing communication, we help clients move from early ideas toward defined priorities around layout, light, materials, budget, and long-term use.
From there, we explore options and test ideas against zoning, constructability, and cost. We use drawings, models, renderings, and material studies to help clients evaluate decisions as the design develops.
A well-coordinated project depends on clear communication between client, architect, consultants, and construction partners. We explain what to expect at each stage and translate decisions into coordinated drawings and specifications for permitting, pricing, and construction.
Recently Completed
Backyard Office, Seattle
Designed for focused work close to home, this small freestanding office includes two built-in desks and a sliding partition. The space can function as a shared studio or divide into two quieter work zones.
Current Work
WA Starter Home Plan Townhouse Design Competition
Seahaus was recently selected as one of seven winners in the WA Starter Home Plan’s Townhouse Design Competition, an initiative facilitated by Civic Commons to support compact, attainable starter-home options across Washington.
Our selected proposal, TBS-222, is a 948 sf two-bedroom townhouse with zero-step entry, a visitable ground floor, stacked services, and a repeatable two-story module adaptable to multiple site configurations. The next phase will focus on refining the design for manufacturability and permit-ready use across the state.
Alongside this work, Seahaus is designing residential and small-scale architecture projects in the greater Seattle area while continuing to explore townhouses, starter homes, and prefabrication.
Our People
Seahaus is led by Emily and Chad Robertson, partners in life and design. Their work brings together residential architecture, furniture design, fabrication knowledge, and a shared understanding of how drawings, materials, and decisions become built work.
Emily Robertson
Emily Robertson is a licensed architect and co-founder of Seahaus. Her residential design experience includes renovations, additions, accessory structures, small homes, and carefully detailed interiors, with prior work at Seattle architecture firms including Heliotrope and Olson Kundig.
Emily also co-founded Chadhaus with Chad, where her ongoing work in custom furniture and client-centered design continues to shape the way Seahaus approaches architecture: with careful attention to proportion, materials, detailing, clear drawings, and communication throughout the process.
Chad Robertson
Chad Robertson is a designer, educator, fabricator, and co-founder of Seahaus and Chadhaus. With a background in architecture, fine art, carpentry, and furniture fabrication, his work brings together design, craft, technical knowledge, and a close understanding of how things are made.
His work at Seahaus focuses on design direction, material and detail development, technical review, and the practical questions that shape how a project is built, used, and lived with over time.
Chad currently teaches the Furniture Studio and digital fabrication courses at the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments, where he earned his Master of Architecture.