Kim Wilson & Renée Strand Receive DJC Oregon Icons Awards
Holst is thrilled to announce that owners Kim Wilson and Renée Strand have been honored as Icons at the 2025 DJC Oregon Phenoms & Icons Awards. These awards recognize phenoms, rising young professionals, and icons, longtime leaders in the AEC industry.
Kim Wilson | Principal, Owner, & Quality Director
Kim has spent nearly three decades shaping the built environment, with a strong commitment to design excellence and technical precision. Since joining Holst in 1999, Kim has been instrumental in the firm’s growth and in establishing its reputation for high-quality design and execution. As Holst’s Quality Director, Kim is a key resource for the entire office, supporting project teams to help realize the design vision in built form. Through detailing, building structure, coordination throughout construction, Kim ensures that the quality of technical execution aligns with our quality standards.
Kim's Project Leadership
Kim has been instrumental to the success of many Holst projects, including Oregon State University’s Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx), which opened in spring 2024, and Multnomah County Library’s East County Library, which will open in spring 2026.
PRAx is a new campus centerpiece for Oregon State University’s Corvallis Campus. The building brings together art, performance, and support spaces to create a comprehensive educational facility. PRAx features a 500-seat recital hall, a black-box theater, a flexible art gallery, and customized support spaces. The project also included the renovation of a historic structure, which is now the Rehearsal Classroom Building. The renovation won a 2025 DeMuro Award, which spotlights and celebrates outstanding rehabilitation projects across Oregon. East County Library will have a significant presence in its East Portland neighborhood. The 95,000-square-foot mass timber building will provide access to exciting new programming and resources for the community, with a 230-seat auditorium, indoor and outdoor children’s areas, a makerspace, a teen room, a roof deck, and more, including over 100,000 books. As Principal in Charge on both projects, Kim has deftly navigated complex design challenges to ensure these important civic projects support their communities.
Renée Strand | Principal, Owner, & Managing Director
Renée has spent 25 years advancing architectural practice while championing equity and transparency in the profession. In her 14 years at Holst, Renée has provided invaluable leadership, transforming Holst’s operations while also leading some of our largest projects. She has guided us through the process to become B Corp and Just certified, and led our commitment to the National Organization of Minority Architects Call to Action Pledge, which establishes guidelines for supporting, recruiting, retaining, and promoting BIPOC individuals in the AEC industry. Renée has also implemented comprehensive changes that have improved our design processes, employee benefits, pay equity, and office culture.
Renée's Project Leadership
Renée recently celebrated the completion of Community Development Partners’ Julia West House. Located in Portland’s West End, the Permanent Supportive Housing project stands as Oregon’s tallest mass timber structure. The 12-story, 90-unit community features furnished apartments and on-site support services, serving houseless BIPOC elders and individuals earning 30% or less of the Area Median Income (AMI). This first-of-its-kind building incorporates trauma-informed design principles, biophilia, and mass timber innovations to bring stable housing to Portland’s most vulnerable residents.
Renée has also led Holst’s Idaho projects, which have expanded our presence in the region. From modern multi-family housing in downtown Boise at Hearth and The Fowler, to lakeside living at The Clara in Eagle, and affordable housing studies in Ketchum, Renée has been instrumental to the success of our Idaho projects.
Congrats Kim & Renée!
