OUR TEAM

We are designers, planners, architects and consultants that help our clients navigate the complex process and design and construction. Our small, nimble studio allows us to work directly with clients on a daily basis, using our knowledge of materials and constructability and full attention to detail to produce high-level documentation and award-winning projects.

LEADERSHIP

Richard Keating, FAIA
Principal

Richard Keating graduated from UC Berkeley with significantly high honors that propelled him to work for SOM in Chicago. The youngest person in the firm’s history to be named full Partner he created the Houston office and then the Los Angeles office. After 23 years at SOM, he formed Keating Architecture and has since completed a wide range of projects that includes office; housing; repositioning mixed-use urban centers and master plans for existing communities and new cities. Each project is an opportunity for learning and exploring new technologies, for simplifying and clarifying intents and ultimately for shaping architecture collaboratively with clients and consultants.

ON TALL BUILDINGS

Our track record in building ground-up towers has developed into a technical expertise of tall structures, deepened by our experience using sophisticated building systems such as building enclosure and high-performance glass systems, lighting and ceiling systems that excel in energy savings and flexibility, cabling and communication expertise, and smart elevators that assume shaft position, in accordance with varying demand.

ON RENOVATIONS AND REPOSITIONS

Existing buildings abound that are outdated, tired or just plain irrelevant. To renovate an existing structure into something more modern and functional is often more complicated than building new but also a more ecological and cost-conscious approach that can be immensely fulfilling. Our approach starts from a respect for what exists. From the appropriateness of the building systems to the architectural intentions of the original design, we research, form judgments both objective and subjective, and then establish a basis for design. As a result, our designs often blend old and new, resulting in a timelessness that translates into lasting values. Ultimately, when repositioning commercial buildings, success is measured by the change in economic status from beginning to end.

ON HOUSING

Our track record in building ground-up towers has developed into a technical expertise of tall structures, deepened by our experience using sophisticated building systems such as building enclosure and high-performance glass systems, lighting and ceiling systems that excel in energy savings and flexibility, cabling and communication expertise, and smart elevators that assume shaft position, in accordance with varying demand.

PROCESS

We are dedicated to positively contributing to the urban fabric of today’s society and the legacy of our built environment. From very tall buildings to landscape concepts and interior design, our work uses simple forms, optimized building systems, and thoughtful details and materials to produce design with impact while adhering to the practicalities of economics and ensuring usability and flexibility over time. Our guiding principles are as follows:

DEFINE THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS

Throughout the design process, thousands of decisions are made, both subjective and objective. We organize these design decisions from general to specific, getting signoff along the way in order to ensure progress is linear and tangible.

DESIGN FOR SCALES OF PERCEPTION

We believe that a building is at once an object and a place, experienced from various vantage points and scales. Appropriate design responses vary based on how a building is viewed, whether from a distance, within its context amidst other buildings; from street level where a pedestrian interacts much closer yet still outside of the building, noticing exterior details and the layering of materials and choreographed glimpses of the interior; and finally, from inside the building where a person’s gaze might focus on patterns, textures, and material choices.

SPEED TO cONCEPT, sPEED TO MARKET

Our extraordinary depth of experience of technical and design issues, including a thorough understanding of cost and code ramifications, allows us to quickly amass various and multiple concepts and versions of an idea in order to swiftly garner feedback and gain consensus. In many cases we can offer fully thought out and fully rendered multiple concepts within days. 

Throughout the process, our deep knowledge of the construction and real estate industries and 30-year track record allows us to guide clients using developer logic to make strategic design decisions to maximize design impact and integrity in a cost-effective manner. 

We can foresee problems early and are able to quickly pivot and generate alternative solutions based on anticipated repercussions, whether they pertain to the structure, unit plan configurations, building layout, or construction detailing. 

VALUE ENGINEERING AND PRESERVING INTEGRITY

Preserving integrity is paramount to us. We see our job as stewards of the design and construction process, ensuring an end result that aligns with the concepts agreed upon with the owner early on. We work tirelessly through the subsequent phases of design and construction to detail the nuances of the building, always with an eye on the bigger vision and end goal. This allows us to maintain the ethos of a project while maintaining a clear understanding of where and how to reduce overall scope and fee without dramatically impacting the overall vision for the project. 

We employ cutting-edge technology early and often. In addition to three-dimensional modeling software such as BIM 360, Revit, Rhino, and Sketchup, we also have the ability to create light and shading studies, user flow predictability models and calculate the embedded carbon of a building. All of this allow us to create smarter buildings with much more fluidity and efficiency.

These also allow us to create a visual and interactive story for our clients. Using tools such as virtual and augmented reality has been a great help to visualize a 3D model and experience a building and its various spaces in real-time, even during the initial design phase.

In lieu of showing a few static renderings, real-time immersive 3D architectural visualization allows us to curate an interactive experience for our clients who can imagine themselves within various spaces of the building and really understand what it would feel like to be inside. We also create animated paths for how we could imaging building users might navigate a building, in order to better curate and refine the UI/UX of a building.

We are also able to easily transition from building information modeling (BIM) to VR in a few clicks in order to see and coordinate the different components of a building. We have also been experimenting with overlaying 3D BIM models on the construction site itself using augmented reality. This allows the team to detect errors prior to constructing the building, reducing mistakes and unnecessary back-and-forth between parties.

We have found that using these technologies accelerates the process and creates more confidence in decisions, ultimately reducing potential rework later in the design process. When clients better understand what we’re delivering earlier on, they are less likely to change their mind later on in the design process. If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then a VR experience is worth 10,000 pictures.