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 a small, focused architecture firm rooted in Coastal Alaska. For over seven decades, we have built our practice around the places and communities that define this region — its waterfronts, its cultures, its climate, and its future.

Our work concentrates where design matters most: cultural and Alaska Native community facilities, waterfront infrastructure, master planning, historic preservation, community institutions, and the civic spaces that give Alaskan communities their identity. We bring deep knowledge of Southeast Alaska’s coastal environment — its climate realities, its material conditions, and the cultural landscapes our clients inhabit — and a genuine commitment to designs that belong where they are built, detailed for this place, and reflective of the people they serve.

We are a small to mid-sized firm, and that is by design. Principal architects are involved in every project from first conversation to final completion. Our team is built for curiosity, craft, and values — and the professional depth that approach creates shows in the work.

We work alongside municipalities, tribal organizations, state and federal agencies, and private clients who care about getting it right. If your project calls for a firm that knows this coast, understands its communities, and brings genuine design conviction to the work — we’d like to hear from you.

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.