Menlo Park, Calif.-based development, design, and construction company Katerra Inc. has acquired Spokane design firm Nystrom+Olson Architecture and plans to grow a permanent presence here, the company announced recently.

Now renamed Katerra Spokane, Nystrom+Olson was founded here in 2005. The architectural studio specializes in designing housing, commercial buildings, and government structures, with emphasis on sustainable, modernist architecture.

Katerra described the acquisition in a press release as part of a Pacific Northwest expansion “with a particular emphasis on Spokane.”

The Journal reported in its July 6 issue that Katerra plans to construct a factory in Spokane Valley in which it will design and prefabricate multifamily and commercial structures using panels made of ecofriendly cross-laminated timber, although Katerra has declined to confirm that part of its strategic expansion plan.

Katerra Spokane has five licensed architects and a support staff of seven employees based at the studio on the second floor of the Numerica Building, at 502 W. Riverside, downtown.

The company says it has plans to expand the Spokane staff.

Nystrom Olson founders Sam Nystrom and Chris Olson couldn’t be reached immediately for comment.

The two companies have worked on projects together during the last several months.

Nystrom said in the press release, “We realized early in our relationship with Katerra that their singular vision was revolutionary and something we needed to be a part of.”

Craig Curtis, Katerra’s head of architecture, said in the release that the Nystrom+Olson team is a “perfect fit” for the company.

“Their track record of bringing innovative design solutions to a broad spectrum of building types will be a huge asset,” Curtis said.

Prior to the acquisition, Nystrom+Olson designed the $29 million, 384-unit Glacier Run Apartments complex that Katerra is constructing about seven miles south of Puyallup, online building permit records there show.

Nystrom+Olson also recently had begun the design phase for the 360-unit Paradise Lake workforce housing project planned about 20 miles northeast of Seattle, Katerra’s website says.

Recent Nystrom+Olson projects here include Catholic Charities’ Father Bach Haven series of four ultra-low-income multifamily housing projects valued at more than $35 million combined and providing a total of 205 living units.