About

Collaborative. Specialized. Global.

Our philosophy draws on over 100 years of dedication to the engineering discipline. Sought out by industry-leading architects, owners, developers, and contractors, we deliver reliable, highly functional, ground-breaking designs that stand the test of time.

Driven by a “better together” mindset, we prioritize collaboration as a key tool to spark innovation and cultivate creativity. We reflect this not only in our client relationships, but with a flat organizational structure—our most experienced, senior-level staff are engaged on every project and work elbow-to-elbow with technical specialists, design engineers, and modeling experts.

We operate as one team and one office. The impact on our clients? Every project benefits from our collective idea sharing, experience, and lessons learned.

MKA's staff, family and guests pictured in front of the pavilion at the Olympic Sculpture park.

Our Services

Our firm offers traditional structural and civil engineering services for buildings of all shapes, sizes, and complexities, as well as site designs for architectural and landscape projects ranging from small urban infill sites to campuses over 1,000 acres. Partnered with our engineers, MKA’s robust and skilled team of building and site modelers contribute cutting-edge, detailed models in Revit, AutoCAD, Infraworks, Civil 3D, Rhino, Navisworks, and Dynamo, among others, to support our projects.

With a portfolio reflecting every major market sector, we are ready to contribute inspired design solutions to the most unique and challenging projects worldwide.

Structural Engineering

Seismic, Wind, Vibration
Adaptive Reuse, Existing Building Renovation, and Retrofits
Performance-Based Design
Sustainable Design

Civil Engineering

Site Civil Engineering
Strategic Infrastructure Planning
Sustainable Water Management
Resilience-Based Design

The MKA Story: 100+ years of engineering vision, dedication, and creativity.

The W. H. Witt Company was founded in 1920 by William Henry Witt in Seattle, Washington, as a one-person company with dreams of making his mark on the city. From these humble beginnings, we have evolved into the global, award-winning firm we are today—growing in name and number to hundreds of employees and a portfolio of thousands of innovative, iconic, and world-class projects.

While our leadership and name have changed eight times over the last century, our commitment to delivering client satisfaction and design solutions for the best buildings and sites in the world has never wavered.

A Legacy of Enduring Design

View the MKA Timeline

We do what’s never been done before.

Inherent to our story, success, and growth is a drive to improve. This theme of innovation has resulted in a legacy of “firsts” that have not only earned MKA a reputation as leaders in the engineering field, but have propelled our industry forward. We are engineering pioneers always striving for the next frontier.

McMillin Bridge

Pierce County, WA, 1934

At 170 ft long, bridge utilized the longest beam span or concrete truss ever built in the U.S. at time of completion

Yakima Valley High School

Yakima, WA,1956

First prestressed thin-shell concrete structure in the U.S.

United Steelworkers Building

Pittsburgh, PA, 1963

First exterior space frame building and first building to use 100 ksi quenched and tempered high-strength steel, originally known as the IBM Building

International Exhibition Facility

New Orleans, LA, 1969

Largest-span cylindrical concrete shell roof in the world, with a 253-ft clear span, also known as The Rivergate

New York World Trade Center

New York, NY, 1972

First use of prefabricated multiple-column-and-spandrel steel wall panels in buildings; First buildings with mechanical damping units to reduce wind excitation; First comprehensive wind environmental study, boundary layer wind tunnel study, and human sensitivity to building motion study for a high-rise building; Tallest building in the world at time of completion

Federal Reserve Bank

Minneapolis, MN, 1973

First catenary-supported, clear-span building

“Kingdome” King County Stadium

Seattle, WA, 1976

Largest concrete dome in the world, with a 661-ft-4-in clear span

600 California

San Francisco, CA, 1990

First use of steel plate shear walls in a high-rise building

U.S. Bank Centre

Seattle, WA, 1990

World's first use of super-high-strength cast-in-place concrete

Hawaii Convention Center

Honolulu, HI, 1997

First full-building-depth “super truss” structural system

Safeco Field

Seattle, WA, 1999

First application of high-capacity viscous dampers to control lateral seismic forces in a long-span roof structure; First fully retractable stadium roof structure with linear tracking and independent roof panels

Experience Music Project

Seattle, WA, 2000

Most advanced application ever of computer technology to building design and construction; First building with no axes of symmetry; First use of steel-stiffened concrete shell, combining steel ribs, composite concrete shell, and pedestal support system

Highcliff & Hang Lung Towers

Hong Kong, 2002

First use of rooftop “tuned” liquid sloshing dampers to control wind acceleration

111 South Wacker

Chicago, IL, 2005

First elliptical-shaped cable net wall ever constructed

Seattle Green Roof Evaluation Project

Seattle, WA, 2007

Unprecedented three-year research collaboration with private-sector developers proving stormwater benefits of green roofs (e.g., 92% mitigation of cumulative rainfall and 79% reduction in runoff intensity) to promote industry-wide adoption of green roofs

Olympic Sculpture Park

Seattle, WA, 2007

First engineered beach on a major U.S. metropolitan waterfront; The first-ever decoupled retaining wall design allowing for complete flexibility on wall angles and heights and minimized disturbance of contaminated soils; First-ever private sector storm drainage separation project where Seattle Art Museum voluntarily built a public-works-style rainwater-only pipeline

One Rincon Hill

San Francisco, CA, 2008

First-ever use in the U.S. of tuned liquid “sloshing“ dampers to minimize building wind accelerations and increase occupant comfort

Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre

Dallas, TX, 2009

First-ever retractable balconies for theater design with seating towers that can move up, down, in, and out to create an array of performance configurations

San Ysidro U.S. Land Port of Entry

San Ysidro, CA, 2014

First Net Zero Water system for a round-the-clock General Services Administration facility and the largest scale U.S. application of its type, resulting in 93% reduction in municipal water use and eliminating the need to purchase potable water for non-potable needs

Elliott Bay Central Seawall

Seattle, WA, 2016

First-of-its-kind, custom-designed Light-Penetrating Surface sidewalk promenade comprised of precast concrete and specifically shaped/oriented/positioned glass pavers providing optimal natural light into a waterfront salmon corridor

150 North Riverside

Chicago, IL, 2017

Largest rolled steel section in the world (W36x925); First use of 70-ksi steel in the U.S.

Rainier Square

Seattle, WA, 2020

First application of SpeedCore in a high-rise structure

ATX Tower

Austin, TX, 2024

ATX Tower tops out in Austin, Texas; the world's first to utilize Performance-Based Wind Design (PBWD), a design approach pioneered by MKA over the past decade through funded research at universities nationwide, leading professional committees, and testing of designs via numerous case studies

“I walked through the doors and met a group of incredibly bright, experienced people who thrived on doing new things, working hard, and getting the job done right … As a young engineer, I realized that I was watching history being made.” — Jon Magnusson, on joining the firm in 1975

“We had to be dreamers. There was no one to tell us what to do, so we had to work out answers for ourselves...” — John Skilling, Engineering News-Record Interview, 1964

“Innovative engineering is the underpinning of Seattle’s safe, creative, cutting-edge designs and allows us to build great public buildings, civic gathering places and engaging landscapes...” — Proclamation by the Mayor of Seattle, naming April 29, 2008, Magnusson Klemencic and Olympic Sculpture Park Day

Committed to Community

We aspire to impact not just the built environment, but the people and communities who live, work, learn, and play in the spaces we bring to life. From senior leadership and department heads, to new hires and interns, our whole team gets involved and works to make a difference with real boots-on-the-ground effort. Examples of our community service include:

Founding and participating in the Washington chapter of the ACE (Architecture/Construction/ Engineering) student mentoring program
Volunteer lecturing for University of Washington graduate-level structural engineering classes
Donations and employee involvement in community events such as Food Lifeline’s “Food Frenzy”
Participating in local science fairs
Supporting national and regional United Way chapters
Sponsoring an annual MKA Community Service Project