About & Team

MRV Architects began in 1952 as the offices of Linn A. Forrest, FAIA. Through the years, new partners have brought their unique talents (and initials) to the firm. Major corporate revisions include Minch Ritter Forrest in 1983, Minch Ritter Voelckers in 1989, and MRV Architects in 2005. Currently, Zane Jones is the President of MRV Architects.

MRV Architects is one of the oldest and most respected architecture firms in Alaska. Though our design expertise is centered around schools, libraries, museums and commercial buildings, our experience is diverse. Our award-winning project portfolio attests to the firm’s successes in a wide array of project types.

Our staff, is strongly committed to sustainable design principles. Our firm has signed the AIA 2030 Commitment. Our staff includes three LEED AP trained professionals, and we strongly encourage all new staff to gain certifications whether it be LEED or Living Future Accredidation. In every structure we design, we strive to make it ideal in scale and character for its environment and occupants, pleasing in form, carefully detailed for the Alaskan climate, and sensitive to issues of light, view, and sustainability.

MRV is a mid-sized firm with a consistent average of 8-10 employees. We find this to be an optimum size to best perform professional design services. It affords owners the benefit of a Principal’s full involvement and continuity, but means we also have the capacity to successfully produce Southeast Alaska’s largest projects.

Principals Paul Voelckers and Zane Jones bring decades of combined experience to the firm and have extensive knowledge of arctic and sub-arctic climate concerns, required material specifications, and energy and environmentally-conscious design. We’ve lived and built here for decades, and it shows.

We have been continuously operating on the homelands of the Áak’w Kwáan and T’aaḵu Kwáan since 1952, and began as the offices of Linn A. Forrest, FAIA. Through the years, new partners have brought their unique talents (and initials) to the firm. Major corporate revisions include Minch Ritter Forrest in 1983, Minch Ritter Voelckers in 1989, and MRV Architects in 2005.

MRV’s connections to Alaska and cultural design and restoration began back in the 1930s when firm founder Linn Forrest first came to Alaska. He was instrumental in the reconstruction of many of Southeast’s Tlingit and Haida architectural treasures, which were generally in need of restoration by the mid 20th century. During his efforts, Linn sought to preserve the cultural history of these places –documenting, photographing, and ultimately writing a book about his findings- while never losing sight of the people for whom this architectural heritage belonged. MRV has continued these working relationships over the decades which has deeply influenced our design philosophy and connection to place.

At its inception sixty years ago, the firm began producing some of the largest projects in the Territory of Alaska, spanning from Ketchikan to Nome (the first consolidated Juneau-Douglas High School in 1954, for example). In the decades since, the firm has maintained roughly the same size and project focus, designing a mixture of schools, housing, libraries, museums, commercial buildings, and private residences.

In 2007, MRV designed and built a new office, The Evergreen Building. We renovated and expanded the old Akiyama Clinic, and added a new second story with apartments. One year later, our new home was honored as the first private building in Alaska to be LEED certified, achieving a LEED Silver rating. The building is a testament to the strength and longevity of the firm, as well as our commitment to environmentally responsible building practices.