In 1988 Grant Kirkpatrick decided to leave a solid, growing career with a well-known architectural firm. He loved his work there—he loved the substance and the challenge of design - but he also wondered if there weren’t a better way to work - one that was more fluid, more organic, more inspiring. So Grant went home on April 12, 1988 and started drawing in his dining room. It was a great time and the work came so a few months later he invited his former colleague Steve Straughan to join him.
That’s how KAA was born and over the last twenty-three years, while it has grown and evolved tremendously, it has stayed true to those original principles, remaining always open to better ways of working, always willing to innovate, using design to elevate the human spirit.
From the outset, this new firm built a reputation for meticulous craftsmanship and attention to detail. As their reputation spread, there developed around KAA a community of like-minded artisans and builders dedicated to delivering great design and superior quality.
As KAA grew in scope, it remained open to new people and ideas. In 1996, Grant's college mate Michael Eserts joined them, followed by Erik Evens two years later, bringing a new breadth of experience and vision to the firm.
By 1999, KAA had expanded its resources into a system of studios. KAA was now able to offer expertise in diverse areas of design—from graphic arts, to landscape and interior design. This push to extend a complete and holistic level of design services beyond architecture led naturally to the addition, in 2005, of the KAA Brand Experience discipline, a team of designers led by Melanie Robinson, dedicated to understanding and affecting every step of our day to day connection with the world we move through and live in.
Design is more than solving problems with style. Design should do nothing less than elevate the human spirit.
Today, KAA Design focuses on lifestyle design for residential, hospitality, mixed use, corporate and non-profit clients. The work includes one-of-a-kind custom homes and estates, boutique hotels and restaurants, mixed use buildings and revitalization projects, corporate branding and graphics, and a host of other lifestyle-oriented areas of focus. KAA's diverse design expertise also led the firm to develop its own product lines featuring eco-conscious and design-friendly, pre-fabricated dwellings, furniture, lighting and accessories. These design products further layer the KAA innovation-oriented philosophy toward a modern, sustainable mind-set.
Along the way, KAA has developed a process that is as unique as it is effective. On any given project, before any design work begins, there is a period of discovery that is almost like an archeological dig - the team spends time with the land, space or company to better understand what is already there, to mine the inherent qualities of the natural state of things, before any designing is done. This approach helps explain why KAA projects are always so distinctive - the vision comes from the context and client rather than being imposed upon it. It’s not technically a proprietary approach - anybody could work this way. But at KAA, it comes from the heart, which shouldn’t be too surprising - this history of KAA is made of innovation and passion - a powerful combination that continues to drive the firm today.