KD2 Architects

Be an architect they said….wait - nobody said that. 😎

We had a great time playing our role bringing Polestar to Jersey! Its first location in the region, this brand does an excellent job designing the customer experience so that it's on par with the quality and detail of its product.

And now we're off to help expand this EV company to its next location! 🥳

It's beginning to look a lot like....finished! Final touches on this shiny new dealership is what's up. 🚘

While we always work within a brand's image program, each location has design elements that are driven by (pun totally intended) its unique individual needs. At this location, trucks are big business, and their service bay had to support.

Here we nearly tripled the percentage of truck lifts (20,000-30,000lb capacity) we typically allocate, which meant an adjustment in the concrete slab depth over half the area.

Concrete slabs, and everything else by Milnes Engineering, Construction & Surveying 😊

Designing to code is the name of the game in this biz. Nothing – NOTHING – is specified or drawn that hasn’t been influenced by a building code along the way. 🥳

An easy example:

To maximize visibility into their showroom from the exterior window, our client wanted a staircase that was open underneath. Naturally that meant parts of the underside would be lower than 6’8”, potentially creating a bumping-of-the-head hazard for the visually impaired.

ADA codes require that in circumstances where built structure is suspended so that it might encroach on a person’s head clearance, a warning structure must be built anywhere up to 27” from the finished floor (so that the sweep of a long cane can hit it.)

In other words, you need something low to warn you something might be overhead.

The solution in our case was to create a 7” concrete pedestal for the entire staircase. Seven inches is (by code!) the maximum height of a stair riser, so this pedestal could also serve as the bottom step of the flight. Matching concrete treads, metal mesh risers, and a custom metal and glass rail system complete this functional and sharp showroom showcase piece!

Can you spot any of the other code compliances in this photo?! Be careful if you spot them all… we just might offer you a job!😁

Honoring the historic stone wall surrounding the property was a must when designing Bryn Mawr Medical Specialists Association’s new home, so finding a similar stone to incorporate in the façade was the starting point in the process (Thanks Coal Building Supply LLC! ) Coordinating EIFS, brick and curtain wall button up the exterior of this recently opened 20,700 sf medical office building.

The harmonization of new and historic is demonstrated by the painted steel structure supporting a portion of the wall. This reinforcement was required to preserve the integrity of the wall after the previously attached carriage house was removed (the small cutouts shown in the wall once served as windows to the house.)

The interior currently hosts three practices, and our interior work continues as new tenants will soon fill the remaining space.