Emily Dawson

Founder
Single Widget

Emily is a licensed architect and implementer of bio-based structural solutions with over 20 years of experience in the construction industry. She founded Single Widget in 2022 to focus on making buildings behave more like plants, and industries more like forests. She has been researching, lecturing and writing on mass timber topics nationally and internationally since 2013, after designing the first cross-laminated timber structure built in Oregon.

Inspired by her fellowship work on European mass timber, Emily increasingly applies off-site fabrication approaches in her work. Her portfolio of sustainably-focused building and infrastructure projects includes institutional, civic & cultural projects, housing, and campus master plans. Successfully leading design teams to innovate in multiple sectors has given her a broad view of the industry, as well as a passion for breaking boundaries in the profession.