Master Plan Architect

Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) is a professional corporation committed to providing the highest quality architecture, which responds to its environment in terms of context and sustainability. KPF’s design philosophy is firmly rooted in the belief that success is the result of collaboration and dialogue, and that it is our responsibility to make informed contributions to the built environment.

KPF has, from its inception, been committed to the creation of outstanding design for its clients. Over the last 29 years, KPF has grown from 3 to over 300 people, with offices in New York, London (1989), and Tokyo (1995). Completed buildings and projects in-progress can now be found in over 30 countries and in more than 30 states.

Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates offers full architectural, master planning, space planning, programming and building analysis services for clients in both the public and private sectors. KPF’s portfolio includes: mixed-use buildings, corporate and institutional master plans, investment office buildings, retail developments, entertainment complexes, corporate headquarters, educational and institutional facilities, health care facilities, hotels, resorts, conference centers, residences, transportation facilities, and museums.

KPF’s commitment to teamwork and quality, coupled with strict attention to detail and design, has earned the firm respect and an outstanding reputation with clients and colleagues. In 2005, KPF earned the AIA Honor Award, bestowed by the National Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, for the design of the Gannett/USA Today Corporate Headquarters in McLean, Virginia.

This is the sixth time KPF has received the AIA’s highest project design award since the firm’s inception. In 1990, KPF became the youngest firm ever to be presented the AIA Architectural Firm Award, the most prestigious honor granted by the American Institute of Architects, in recognition of years of achievement and contribution to the built environment.Firm

Philosophy & Design Approach

For the past 29 years, Kohn Pedersen Fox has contributed to the built environment with a design philosophy firmly rooted in the belief that success is the result of collaboration and dialogue. The KPF creative process stresses an open exchange of ideas both within the firm and more importantly, between the client and the firm, throughout the development of a project.

Through our unique approach, “the comparative process”, we are able to ensure that the client’s needs and desires are addressed at each turning point in the life of a project. Ideas are not submitted solely for approval or rejection, but rather for discussion with the hopes of spurring additional questions and solutions that will each help craft a more complete structure.

“The comparative process” is not restricted to our interaction with a client, however, a similar sentiment is central to the manner in which we weave our buildings into the environmental fabric.

Each KPF building has its own personality yet all KPF buildings share a never ending dedication toward creating a dialogue with their surroundings. Our buildings aim to make an important contribution to the environment in which they are situated, but not to the point where they disturb the delicate equilibrium that exists in modern cities. Our buildings project a singular image but not at the expense of those structures that surround them.

Today’s business climate makes it necessary for buildings to adapt to different roles and meet various internal needs, and often this cannot be accomplished through the traditional edifice. KPF’s buildings stand apart from most commercial structures because of a unique evolving style that we developed almost 30 years ago which remains fresh today. Buildings such as 333 Wacker Drive

(Chicago), World Bank Headquarters (Washington, D.C.), Baruch College (New York), and DG Bank Headquarters (Frankfurt) exemplify our belief that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The buildings are comprised of unique, easily discernable parts that are smoothly integrated into one cohesive structure. By creating a building comprised of individual parts that each addresses individual needs, KPF maximizes the given space and creates equilibrium between internal needs and external capabilities. Each empirical part of the structure contributes to the whole, just as the complete building augments the environment into which it is placed.

Creating buildings that meet the changing needs of our clients is paramount to everything we do yet we achieve this goal amidst an ongoing search for greater technical capacity and artistic enrichment. Our buildings exemplify our belief that the art of architecture and art of urbanism are inseparable, and that when a KPF structure is completed, the client has not only made a contribution to their future, but the future of a city as well.