Firm Overview

Established in San Francisco in 1963, KMD has combined research, innovative design, and creative vision to stake its place as one of the largest architecture firms in the world (Ranked #13 Largest Design firm in the World in the 2010 Building Design + Construction Top 300 Design Giants). KMD is an employee owned Private Corporation and has employed an average of 200 staff for the past 10 years. Our work is as diverse as the locations in which it can be found. KMD designs have been built in over 30 states and 20 countries around the world, such as France, Japan, China, Malaysia, Korea, England, and Mexico among many others. In the past two decades alone KMD has won over 200 design awards and international design competition, including over 40 awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

KMD’s designs serve clients in the worlds of, commercial, retail, healthcare, government/civic, corrections, academia, corporate offices, residential and hospitality.

KMD Celebrates El Paso Hospital Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

The El Paso Children's Hospital combines services for women and children into one, 11-story building with two distinct entrances and circulation systems

On Saturday, February 11, KMD Architects celebrated the official ribbon cutting ceremony for $120 million El Paso Children’s Hospital. Hospital CEO Lawrence Duncan had the honors of cutting the ribbon with the help of several children. Tours of the hospital were given to the ceremony’s participants, highlighting the rich interior healing environments. Designed within a small footprint, the hospital features 72 private rooms, a 50-bed baby intensive-care unit with recliners for recovering moms, and family lounges that are fully equipped with mini kitchens, washers and dryers, for families to use. In the spirit of fun and playfulness, the interiors were designed with children in mind, allowing for lots of light to fill pastel-colored rooms and gleam on bright yellow and blue tiled floors. The architectural styles, colors, materials and landscaping will be the flagship for the larger medical centers, research laboratories, manufacturing facilities, education centers, health agencies and departments serving the entire community to be relocated in the future.

Recent Groundbreaking of Pier 27 Ushers in Construction Phase of Landmark Project

David Hobstetter (KMD), Monique Moyer (Port of SF Executive Director), and Dan Wheeler (Manager at Turner Construction) at Pier 27 Groundbreaking Ceremony on Jan. 31, 2012

The official groundbreaking on the long-awaited Port of San Francisco’s James R. Herman Cruise Terminal at Pier 27 marked a pivotal moment in the project designed by the KMD Architects/Pfau Long joint venture. With the San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ acceptance of the EIR, the groundbreaking ushers in the construction phase of the new terminal that will act as headquarters for the 34^th America’s Cup, and be seen as a world-class gateway to San Francisco for cruise passengers.

In a perfect marriage between the city’s and the 34^thAmerica’s Cup event needs, the 88,000 square-foot, two-story facility, slated to achieve LEED Silver certification, is a salute to San Francisco’s robust shipping history, and a nod to its prominent position as a world-class city.

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Rob Swartz Joins KMD Architects to Lead Corporate Practice

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – KMD Architects is pleased to announce its recent hire of Rob Swartz, who has joined the firm as the Principal and Market Sector Leader for Corporate Architecture.

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Rooms With a View: San Diego County Women’s Detention Facility

Correctional News

Slowly but surely, criminal justice science is undergoing a shift in modern America. While it’s long been acknowledged that reform is the optimal outcome of incarceration, this principle has yet to be uniformly recognized in the physical forms of adult detention facilities.

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A Model for Female Correctional Design

Correctional News

The $28 million, 99,000-square-foot Naval Consolidated Brig addition to NAVFAC’s (Naval Facilities Engineering Command) existing confinement complex at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, Calif., is special. Not just because the expanded complex serves as the Navy’s confinement facility for the entire Southwest or because it will absorb prisoners from other NAVFAC correctional facilities scheduled for closure, but because it is a model for female correctional design and rehabilitation.

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Oregon State Hospital Replacement Project Timeline

February 2006: KMD Architects released its Oregon State Hospital Master Plan Phase II report recommending new state-operated hospitals as part of a strengthened statewide mental health system. KMD’s project experience includes an unusually diverse resume of mental health and medical facilities within secure environments.

Link to project’s timeline

Cinepolis Headquarters featured in ArchDaily.Com

KMD Architects was selected as the winner of an International Design Competition for their design of the new Cinepolis Headquarters, the sixth largest “Multiplex” chain in the world and the leading theatre operator in Mexico.

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KMD San Francisco participates in ULIsf panel discussion

On Thursday, September 22, ULIsf hosted “The Dirt on America’s Cup: Premier Global Race’s Impact on S.F. Real Estate” at the Hotel Nikko. KMD participated in the panel discussion on the current plans for the North Waterfront and key shoreline venues, as well as related infrastructure improvements and long-term scenarios of the post-race waterfront and real estate economy.

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KMD Wins Women’s Detention Facility With Balfour Beatty / Barnhart

DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The County of San Diego has awarded Balfour Beatty / Barnhart the first phase of a two-phase contract for design-build services to construct the new $221.5-million San Diego County Women’s Detention Facility in Santee, Calif. The joint venture is a partnership between Balfour Beatty Construction and Barnhart Balfour Beatty.

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Building Owners Want Water That Never Leaves

The Wall Street Journal

Building owners and managers are discovering a great untapped resource: the water that flows out of—and off—homes and commercial structures.

Some wastewater from buildings is reused after treatment at municipal plants, but much of it ends up flowing back into the environment. And buildings rarely are equipped to capture rainwater. A slew of technologies hitting the market, though, are enabling more homes and businesses to reuse much of their wastewater, without it ever leaving the site, and to put the rain to use as well.

That saves building owners money by allowing them to purchase less water from municipal sources. And it benefits communities by conserving water.

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