Kevin Daly Architects (KDA) is Kevin Daly's architecture firm in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1990 as Daly Genik. Daly has taught architecture and is a fellow at the American Institute of Architects (FAIA).
KDA's work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), shown most recently in "A New Sculpturalism: Contemporary Architecture from Southern California" (2013). The SFMOMA acquired original drawings and models of one of the firm's earliest projects, The Topanga Canyon House, for their permanent collection. KDA was on the cover of Metropolis in 1999 and was featured in All American: Innovation in American Architecture in 2001. In 2005 the firm was selected as one of five American architectural practices to be included in Phaidon's 10x10_2, a book featuring 100 of the world's most exceptional architects to have emerged internationally over the past five years. Their work has been noted in the New York Times, Dwell, Architectural Record, the Los Angeles Times, The Architectural Review, A+U, Domus, Azure, and others.
KDA has designed educational, residential and institutional buildings. The firm designed the Camino Nuevo Charter Academy Schools project— a series of five projects designed over the course of a decade. Architecture critic, Nicolai Ouroussoff, called KDA's the school's design as "one of the most inspiring projects built in Los Angeles in years" and as "a thoughtful, low-cost work of architecture that embodies the kind of civic purpose and progressive ideals that so many public institutions give lip service to but rarely fulfill".
The AIA described Daly's architecture as a combination of "innovation in technology and fabrication, economy and livability, materiality and form" as executed in the characteristics of an affordable housing apartment complex at 2602 Broadway in Santa Monica (2013). The project uses high-performance, sustainable materials and design elements that offer private, interior spaces for residents along with a "community zone" that maximizes every corner of the 1.5-acre site. Transforming infill properties, like 2602 Broadway, into buildings that become community landmarks, is characteristic of the firm's public work.
According to Daly, architecture can be "performative on every level: environmentally, structurally, economically, and aesthetically".
The Valley Center House and the Palms Residence are examples of the firm's residential work Daly's practice includes pro bono work; most recently he designed UCLA Medical Center Santa Monica's new Stuart House, a program of the Rape Treatment Center, and was on the advisory board of USC'sCenter for Sustainable Cities. In 2009, Ouroussoff said that Daly belongs to the younger generation of architects contributing to the country's westward shift from New York to Los Angeles as the center for innovation and creativity in architectural thought (along with established architects Frank Gehry, Thom Mayne, Eric Owen Moss, Robert Mangurian and Craig Hodgetts). KDA projects in process include expansion of the UCLAOstin Music Center and the new Edison Language Academy for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.
Project list
UCLA Mo Ostin Basketball Center, Los Angeles, Calif. (2017) – new basketball practice facility for the men's and women's teams
BIHOME, Los Angeles, Calif. (2015) – affordable architectural models for infilling Southern California's single-family residential fabric
UCSB San Joaquin Housing, Santa Barbara, Calif. (2016) – 50,000 sf low rise student apartments and social space.
UCLA Ostin Music Center, Los Angeles, Calif. (2012) – 30,000 sf recording studio, practice and teaching facilities on the UCLA campus.
Edison Language Academy, Santa Monica, Calif. (2014) – New 35,000 sf K–5 Spanish/English dual language school. Sustainability practices include solar thermal ventilation for classrooms and an extensive storm water storage cistern.
Galisteo House, Santa Fe, NM (2014) – Studio for a photographer.
Broadway Affordable Housing, Santa Monica, Calif. (2013) – A 33 unit affordable housing project arranged around a courtyard.
Stuart House, Santa Monica, Calif. (2013) – Concept design for a new one stop wellness center.
Harvard Art Museum, Allston, Mass. (2010) – Planning and concept design for a new 100,000 sf museum on the Harvard University campus.
Venice/Palms Residence, Venice (2010) – Perforated metal screens surround a single family residence, garden and guest apartment in Venice.
Harvard College Library Media Center, Cambridge, Mass. (2010) – Archive and media conversion workspace is located in the James Stirling designed Sackler Museum on the Harvard University campus.
W Hotel & Residences, Hollywood, Calif. (2009) – Interior design, planning, and layout of the residences and sales studio.
Tahiti Housing, Santa Monica, Calif. (2009) – A 33-unit affordable housing for families in Santa Monica.
This Side of Paradise, The Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif. )2008) – Design and fabrication for an international exhibition of Los Angeles photography.
Camino Nuevo Charter Academy Early Learning Center, Los Angeles, Calif. (2007) – Renovation of a warehouse facilities to create classroom and outdoor play areas for a 50 student preschool facility and after school dance program.
100 Rooms/5000 Cells, SCI-Arc, Los Angeles, Calif. (2007) – Honeycomb cardboard packing material was machined and then expanded to form a labyrinth in the SCI-Arc gallery.
Artist's Studio, Los Angeles, Calif. (2007) – Upper level clerestory glazing provides natural light and ventilation for an artist's studio on a steep hillside overlooking Silver Lake.
BMW DesignworksUSA, Newbury Park, Calif. (2007) – An open, collaborative work space for an industrial design studio.
Winnett House, Los Angeles, Calif. (2007) – Custom private residence.
Studio for a Painter, Los Angeles, Calif. (2006) – A double height painting studio completes a compound of live/work buildings for a noted Los Angeles painter.
Lawrence House, Hermosa Beach, Calif. (2006) – Renovation of the Morphosis-designed Lawrence House.
34th Street Guest House, Hermosa Beach, Calif. (unbuilt) – A guest and entertainment pavilion above a lap pool, adjacent to the Morphosis-designed Lawrence House.
Camino Nuevo Charter Academy High School, Los Angeles, Calif. (2006) – National AIA Award winning design for a 30,000 sf high school campus on a linear, island site.
Camino Nuevo Charter Academy Middle School, Los Angeles, Calif. (2003) – Phased renovation combining a warehouse and a boulevard office building for use as a 12 classroom middle school.
Beverley House, Santa Monica, Calif. (2001) – A renovated bungalow was turned into a terraced hillside house in the Ocean Park district of Santa Monica.
Camino Nuevo Charter Academy Elementary, Los Angeles, Calif. (2000) – 12,000 sf conversion of an abandoned mini-mall retail center for use as a 12 classroom elementary school.
ASU Campus Cafes, Tempe, AZ (1999) – Planning and concept design for series of cafes on the ASU campus.
Pico & Main, Santa Monica, Calif. (1999) – Renovation of an office building.
Slot Box House, Santa Monica, Calif. (1999) – Custom residence for a family.
Valley Center House, Valley Center, Calif. (1998) – A 2800 sf house on a citrus ranch employing a range of fire-resistant building strategies.
Mar Vista House, Los Angeles, Calif. (1998) – A translucent cube housing a library and textile gallery is added to an historic Gregory Ain house.
Topanga House, Topanga Canyon, Calif. (unbuilt) – Fire-resistant design of a house in a rural canyon setting.
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