#326 - GRANT KIRKPATRICK, Founding Partner of KAA Design
SUMMARY
This week Grant Kirkpatrick, Founding Partner of KAA Design joins David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design to discuss his background and growing up in California; becoming licensed early in his career; creating a multi-disciplinary practice before specializing in custom homes; embracing technology; the evolution of residential architecture; and more. Enjoy!
ABOUT GRANT
A third-generation Californian, Grant Kirkpatrick, FAIA, draws his energy and inspiration from his home state’s optimism and progressive ideals. Since its founding over 30 years ago, Grant has been the visionary force behind KAA Design Group and he and his team strive every day to elevate the human spirit through the benefits and authenticity of warm contemporary residential design.
Raised in Palos Verdes, Grant earned his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Southern California and became a licensed architect at age 24. His entrepreneurial spirit and passion for design led him to found KAA Design just a few years later in 1988. Since then, the firm has completed projects for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Christie’s auction house, Hugo Boss stores across the nation, master plans and renovations for the Jonathan Club, Santa Monica Beach Club, and Manhattan Country Club, and other award-winning commercial and hospitality projects. The firm now focuses exclusively on custom homes, having notably worked with high-profile clients like Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Kirk Kerkorian, Matt Damon, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and The Pritzker Family, among others. Coastal retreats, city-view estates, and distinctive vacation properties for a broad range of passionate clients round out the firm’s impressive portfolio.
Community service and academics are a core part of Grant’s practice. He serves as the Board Chair for the non-profit ArtworxLA and on the Board of Councilors for the USC School of Architecture. Grant teaches at the annual XED Executive Education Program at USC and frequently lectures on topics surrounding Southern California residential architecture. In 2021, Grant was awarded the USC Architectural Guild Distinguished Alumni Award along with 4 other extraordinary individuals. His community involvement has included numerous industry appointments such as two terms as a planning commissioner for the City of Manhattan Beach, membership on the Bel-Air Architecture Review Board, and juror for the Santa Barbara AIA Design Awards. Over the past three decades, KAA Design has won numerous AIA awards, the “Good Design is Good Business” award from Architectural Record, the 2009 PDC Stars of Design award for Architecture, Azure Magazine’s “Best Product” award, as well as several Los Angeles Design Council, LA Business Journal, and City of Beverly Hills Architecture awards. The firm’s work has been extensively published in over 30 design magazines and books including Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Coastal Living, Sunset Magazine, and The Robb Report.
Outside day-to-day operations of KAA Design, Grant has developed a comprehensive line of outdoor furniture for Design Within Reach and a line of prefab homes. He enjoys spending his time off tending to his vineyard in Central California. Grant and his family are longtime residents of Manhattan Beach.
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Background.
(04:43) Studying architecture at USC.
(21:35) Becoming a licensed architect at an early age.
“It was something I thought that if we leave this out there too long, it's going to be difficult… Which ended up helping me because two years into working for a firm in Santa Monica, I had a commission for a very large residence come to my attention. I brought it to my boss at the time, but he didn't want to do it, so I gave notice and that's how KAA started.” (23:42)
(37:10) Custom homes.
(52:06) Embracing technology as an architecture practice.
“Technology is one of the main ingredients of the firm's operation…There is the maintenance, upgrades, constant battle of keeping technology clean and non-compromised, and all of that, but there's also the advancement, there is looking for what's out there and what's going on in the profession. How can we contribute to what's going on out there in the profession? That's really important.” (59:20)
(01:03:28) The process.
“As it matures and as you begin to understand what you're bringing to the table and people are coming to you, you're not knocking on their doors, you've got to set a fee structure that is higher than counting sheets or hours. It's got to be a fee [that correctly values] all of your talents, all of your experience, your intellectual property that you have accumulated through the years that you're giving to that client. So you have a fee for running the shop and then you've got a premium on that for that value.” (01:24:14)
(01:27:23) The evolution of residential architecture.
“Take the case study houses, for example. The use of steel was not new. Steel and glass weren't brand new back in the forties or fifties. It was really the idea of trying to make it into more of a common mass production… and there's still a lot of that going on. I think the curve of new methodologies in construction is going to be pretty steep. There's going to be a lot of it.” (01:28:52)
