Communities

Our Culture

KPF architects share knowledge and support each other through various
community groups and professional development, finding opportunities
for innovation and empowering employees of all levels to do their best work.

Town Halls

The firm gathers each week to share work, ideas and inspiration,
and take a deeper look at subjects core to KPF’s philosophy.

The weekly format varies, with some meetings featuring “A Walk Through the Studio” with team members sharing aspects of ongoing projects. Other sessions take a less formal approach, such as a video compilation by staff showcasing home workspaces and personal projects during the COVID-19 quarantine. Each meeting offers a chance to voice observations, share suggestions, and create connections among employees at all levels, in all global offices.

GRoW

The Green Design, Resilience, and Wellness group integrates
its mission into the workflow and ethos of the global practice.

The group’s activities include maintaining the firm’s database of sustainable and resilience strategies, bringing guest lecturers and experts in the field to the office, conducting studies to inform future work, and providing ideas and technical support to the design teams. The group meets on a monthly basis to discuss action items and advance its agenda, continually seeking opportunities to push the boundaries of creative, responsible thinking.

GRoW members monitor air quality sensors in the New York and London offices to assist with the firm’s goal of achieving operational carbon neutrality by minimizing its energy, water, and waste impact. Read more about the firm’s sustainability commitment here.

KPF Lab

The KPF Lab is a forum for highlighting innovative tools and
workflows with a focus on inspiring attendees to work
more smartly and creatively.

As a firm, KPF takes on some of the most complex design challenges in the world. These projects require efficiency, precision, flexibility, and design excellence. Emerging technologies for simulation and fabrication, to advanced modelling and visualization, to coordination and documentation, offer new ways for architects to create and execute more effectively. KPF Lab hosts frequent events to foster the sharing and discussion of innovative technologies and exploratory methods in architecture.

Young Designers' Forum

The Young Designers Forum (YDF) serves as a platform
for open discussion of design amongst the junior staff
and interns.

With monthly themed meetings, YDF promotes exploratory discourse and offers an outlet for young designers to connect with peers. Led by a steering committee, each event presents a different discursive format—sometimes with presenters or a set agenda—but always with the intention of creating an open forum for all to participate. Occasionally, the group hosts office-wide competitions or mixers for gathering ideas and topics.

Show & Tell

Show & Tell celebrates the broad spectrum of current
KPF projects through the lens of common topics in
architectural thought.

The committee organizes a series of events, each with its own theme that investigates an issue of architectural design. The exhibition format offers a venue to reflect critically on how our various projects relate to one another and how our work fits into broader questions of the practice.

Events are scheduled throughout the year with project teams encouraged to create posters of current work in response to the event theme. Posters are printed, hung, and introduced during a happy hour gathering. Each show leads to lively discussions about the work, which enriches the office’s educational and social atmosphere. Previous topics include Competitions, Grace & Gravity, Clarity & Complexity, and other dichotomies that present themselves in the architectural process.

KPF Public

KPF Public is a platform for all within the firm to address
issues of racial and social inequality and combat the inequities
that exist within the profession and the built environment.

The group’s mission comprises three areas of focus: education, outreach, and design. The first integrates topics of injustice into the firm’s education program to broaden the purpose and perspective underlying its design and culture. The second is both to increase racial diversity within the firm through hiring and development and to leverage KPF’s position within the industry to create academic and employment opportunities for BIPOC professionals. The third is to pursue collaborations and commissions in both the public and private sectors that enable design to create more equitable cities.

KPF+

KPF+ is dedicated to enabling women to achieve
their full potential at work and to advancing
gender equity in leadership.

The group invites guest lecturers to speak about innovation, leadership, and women’s issues, hosting follow-up discussions to create a critical dialogue within the office.

By organizing and curating installations within the firm’s offices, KPF+ also brings attention to leading women in the field, celebrates their successes, and fosters dialogue about a more equitable future.

KPF Pride

Comprised of a cross section of the KPF community,
KPF Pride works together to raise awareness of LGBTQIA+ issues
within the firm in ways that inform design thinking.

The group meets regularly to discuss topics related to inclusivity in design and organizes educational tours and outings, schedules guest speakers and panel discussions, and hosts charitable social events within the office. The group’s “Inclu-city” Evening Session series focuses on issues of inclusivity, accessibility, and community engagement in the design of cities, and has featured speakers such as Matthias Hollwich, Principal and Co-Founder of HWKN, and Joel Sanders, Principal at JSA and Professor of Architecture at Yale University.

A design competition among the firm’s global offices produces a new KPF Pride logo each year, which is transformed into items that are sold to raise money for various LGBTQ+ charities and to support the firm’s aspirations toward a more responsive practice.

KPF Pride also supports LGBTQ+ members of the architectural, engineering, and construction community through a partnership with Build Out Alliance.

KPF LATAM

KPF LATAM brings the firm together in an inclusive environment to
celebrate the unique perspectives and expertise offered by our
colleagues of Latin American heritage.

The group’s mission is to strengthen the bonds that tie the community together, creating a sense of unity that goes beyond individual backgrounds and experiences. By organizing internal town halls and inviting leaders to speak in evening sessions, the group has cultivated a robust network, bolstering the firm’s work in the region and connecting professionals from various offices with a shared passion for trending topics surrounding Latin American industry.