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Kevin
Burke, AIA, LEED AP
Director of Practice
 Named design partner in 2000, Kevin Burke has worked closely with William McDonough to give form to WM+P’s eco-effective design principles in a broad array of project types and scales; he served as co-designer on several projects that have become milestones in American sustainable design. His approach is driven by his keen interest in place-making through integrated design solutions.
In recent years, Kevin has led the management of the 46-person practice, which opened a second studio in San Francisco in 2006. This move built on many strong Bay Area relationships that Kevin has nurtured for the past decade. He cultivated an experienced and passionate team to bring the studio to life. The warm reception and rapid success attest to the fact that the time and place were right for this natural growth beyond the thriving Charlottesville studio.
While directing the practice, Kevin has retained his role as a key design leader, heading teams on Fuller Theological Seminary’s Worship Center and Library, the American University School of International Service, VMware Corporate Headquarters, and other projects. Previously, he led teams on 901 Cherry, Offices for Gap Inc., the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies at Oberlin College; the Aspect Communications Headquarters; and the Bernheim Arboretum Visitor Center.
“I see architectural design as a process of discovery centered on the fundamental nature of place and space,” Kevin says of his approach. “I look for opportunities to create memorable places by drawing on the strongest, most significant qualities of a site and its context. In this sense, architecture is a type of focusing—a means of bringing forth essential qualities. This can have potent results. Buildings designed this way can feel rooted to their places in a deeply satisfying way.”
For Kevin, the firm’s leadership role in the design community highlights the ethical aspect of the profession. “With design and construction come responsibilities,” he says. “As architects, we are concerned with our designs impacts on site, community, ecosystem, and social realm over the course of time. Environmental design is rightly concerned with these fundamental responsibilities. Eco-effective design asks how designs can contribute positively—not just be less bad.”
Kevin spoke at the 2006 and 2007 AIA conventions. His latest lectures focus on Cradle to Cradle thinking as the backdrop for the firm’s architecture and its work on guidelines, master plans, and other frameworks. In January 2008, Burke gave a keynote talk at PropertyNL in the Netherlands. In September 2007, Burke gave the Keynote address at San Diego Green. He has also presented before the Association of Academic Healthcare Centers conference, the International Making Cities Livable Conference, the Society for College and University Planning Regional Conference, the San Francisco Academy of Art, and several EnvironDesign conferences.
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