Bringing home within reach.
Everyone deserves an equity stake in their community. That’s why at Inversion Design Build we create homes that you can afford right now and will be around for many generations to come.
Inversion is an architect-led design/build firm based in Yakima, Washington. We specialize in sustainable, resilient and affordable homes. We work with homeowners and local organizations to build “missing middle” houses that weave themselves into their natural surroundings and historic context.
Financial equity,
Social equity,
Environmental equity, Neighborhood equity.
When residents of a neighborhood own their homes, they have a financial stake in the well-being of their community and see real dividends when it prospers. We believe neighborhoods work best when the people who live there benefit financially as well as socially when the community develops. However, beyond this commonly understood financial equity, housing has the potential to create other forms of equity as well. The thoughtful design of housing and its relationship to its context has the potential to create a sense of ownership over projects from homeowners, tenants, and neighbors alike. Ultimately, it's a question of whom our projects are for—the communities they serve. It's incumbent on designers to ensure that their projects clearly communicate that value.
A home is a layer cake
of equity.
We read before we write.
We listen before we build.
We don't start the design process assuming we know all the answers. There is too much at stake in housing and community development to rely on the same handful of off-the-shelf solutions time after time without understanding the impact a design will have. By conducting research, asking questions, and perhaps most importantly, listening to the people who will be using these spaces day in and day out, we gain invaluable insights. For this reason, we're committed to using the principles of community co-design wherever we can, bringing as many voices into the design process as possible.
Greg Rapp, Yakima Habitat for Humanity
“Nathan came up with a great plan to fit our needs and ease our minds for the build. His communication is outstanding and we are very pleased with the end result!”
What We Do
Design
Everyone deserves a home that fits their needs and provides a beautiful setting for their daily lives. We also know that needs change: families grow, children leave, grandparents move in, relatives visit, friends become family, and grandkids want sleepovers. We design our homes to grow and adapt with these changes, rooted in communities that offer families what they need to thrive. We specify materials and surfaces that are easily cleanable and free of harmful chemicals and VOCs. We design our homes above energy code standards to ensure our homeowners can spend money where they want to and not on heating bills.
Advocate
As design professionals we believe it is our duty to make great places and to encourage others to do so as well. We work hard to amplify the voices of all stakeholders in the design process, especially those who are often silenced, dismissed, or overlooked. In February 2022, we volunteered to facilitate a design charette with Justice Housing Yakima, to bring in the voices of those experiencing homelessness and make sure their needs were heard early on as JHY plans their new permanent supportive housing facility.
Build
As a bonded, licensed contractor in the state of Washington, we frequently self-perform construction on our projects, providing efficient communication between the people designing the buildings and those swinging hammers on the site (who are sometimes the same people). Even on larger projects that use conventional contractors, our depth of knowledge of the building trades and healthy respect for the work that contractors do is returned in kind by the crews working on those sites, creating a collaborative, productive working relationship.
Develop
With a decade of affordable housing development experience under our belts, we see the need for more housing options in Yakima and Kittitas Counties. We develop homes that are affordable now, and will be around for many years to come. We also build in ways to encourage low income households to step up into homeownership with programs like our Design Equity Partnership and right-sized (less expensive) homes that have room to grow and expand later.