As 2026 gets rolling, the slate of architecture and engineering projects in the pipeline for the Tri-Cities region shows an economy that is continuing to stay steady, though its landscape may look slightly different than in previous years. 

Overall, the outlook is a positive one, with a relatively steady flow of work going into 2026, according to local design firms who are frequently working on projects months before any dirt is moved on the ground.

School construction slowdown

Across the board, there’s been a slowdown in public school construction as regional districts struggle to pass bonds. 

In 2025, Pasco completed work on two new high schools.

The Richland School District failed to pass a 2024 bond that would have put forward a new high school in West Richland.

The slowdown in school-related work has caused Design West Architects in Kennewick to shift its focus to smaller commercial work such as medical offices and retail shells, said Matt Whitish, principal architect. The majority of the firm’s work typically comes from school projects. 

Regionally, Ephrata School District and West Valley School District in Yakima will consider bonds in February of this year, so the outlook could pick up if voters support the measures. 

School work isn’t all on hold, though. Knutzen Engineering of Kennewick is planning work to modernize Pasco High School’s A Wing Building, and the firm is working on several Columbia Basin College projects. 

“Where all the local schools have kind of tapered down, CBC is picking up,” said Paul Knuzten, president of Knutzen Engineering. 

Hanford work

Since the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant came online in October 2025, Meier Architecture and Engineering in Kennewick has had plenty of work to do for the federal government and its contractors.

Plenty of infrastructure upgrades are ongoing, especially since many structures are old, and with the plant now operational, work has to be done to move the waste across the site, said Benton Harp, federal group manager and quality assurance manager with Meier. The firm is currently working on a cross-site transfer line to move waste from the area where it’s retrieved to where it needs to be processed.

The firm also does independent qualified registered professional engineer reviews on existing and new equipment installed at the plant, which a third party is required to do. 

“We’re really busy right now, and we see in the future that they’re doing these upgrade projects that we’re going to support,” Harp said. 

That consistent flow of work has led to the firm’s optimism for 2026.

Residential projects

Plans and design work for residential projects also remain strong. Knutzen said that single-family home subdivisions and other housing have been doing well. 

Especially since the middle housing bill passed in 2023, allowing duplexes on single-family residential zoned property, Knutzen has seen lots of duplexes and triplexes popping up. Middle housing refers to a range of residential building types that fall between single-family homes and large apartment complexes, both in size and density, and is sometimes referred to as “infill housing.”

“Everyone’s trying to maximize to get more dwelling units on a piece of property,” he said. “So where before, you could only put a single-family residence, now they’re putting single-family with a separate dwelling ADU (accessory dwelling unit) or duplexes or triplexes if there’s enough square footage to allow for the density that you can achieve.”

Justin Julian, senior architect with Pleasanton, California-based Dahlin Architecture’s Bellevue office, noted that middle housing continues to be a trend across the state, and affordable housing has seen an uptick as well. 

“It’s all about flexibility,” he said. “I think everybody’s jumping on the opportunity to increase the value of their home and lot that they currently have.” ADUs, or mother-in-law suites, can be used for a family member or rented out for extra income. 

Julian has seen uneasiness in the multifamily market. While there have been lots of feasibility studies showing developers are excited, “we haven’t seen, for the higher density multifamily market rate, clients really jumping into it,” Julian said. 

Knutzen said that locally lots of apartment projects that have been planned are now starting to go through the permitting phase and begin construction. 

Steady commercial work

In the commercial arena, there is steady enough work to keep the architecture and engineering firms busy. 

Bobbi Keen, Meier’s president, said that the work they’re doing commercially has shifted from new buildings to more remodels of existing buildings. 

She said that municipal and state-funded projects are seeing a bit of a slowdown as they wait to see what happens with the federal budget. 

Work on warehouses and industrial buildings has remained steady, she said, and overall Meier ended 2025 with a decent backlog of projects. 

Several major remodels are ongoing, from small malls to clinics, and one of the biggest projects the firm is working on is the upgrade of the Benton County Fairgrounds.

Knutzen has a wide variety of commercial projects in the works as well, from gas stations to mixed-use developments to restaurant spaces. His firm is also involved in the ongoing work at Kennewick’s Three Rivers Convention Center, a project valued at over $75 million.

Design West’s work has been lighter with the slowdown of school projects, but there’s still a steady stream of small commercial projects. The firm has worked on the new $7.6 million HAPO headquarters under construction on Clearwater Avenue in Kennewick. 

Whitish said that he’s seen a lot of contractors bidding on projects, “which tells us the contractors are hungry for work.” That’s beneficial to owners who might get lower bids than they expected due to the competition, he said. 

Overall, the firms are optimistic for what’s ahead in 2026.

“People still have money. They’re spending it and they’re doing things,” Knutzen said.