KieranTimberlake is an American architecture firm founded by Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake in Philadelphia. The firm espouses a philosophy of sustainable design, collaborative design, and in-depth research. They have also shown an interest in prefabrication, new technologies and integrating architecture with the actual activities to take place in the buildings they design, especially using "teaching" design elements in schools. Their interest in productions and craft led them to team up with DuPont to develop Smartwrap, a laminated polymer film that can support thin interstitial films, including photovoltaics, OLEDs, polarizing or UV screens, etc.

History

James Timberlake and Stephen Kieran met at the University of Pennsylvania School of Architecture, joining Venturi, Scott Brown, and Associates, before receiving Rome Prizes separately and finally founding their practice in 1984.^[1] The firm maintained itself as a noted sustainable design firm for many years, building a reputation for attention to detail and consistency. The partners were awarded the inaugural Latrobe Fellowship from the American Institute of Architects in 2001.

KieranTimberlake received more attention after the publication of Refabricating Architecture, a book that explains and argues for the prefabrication of buildings using Building Information Modeling and close coordination of architects and contractors. Timberlake and Kieran argue that offsite production of buildings would be less expensive, more sustainable, and offer tolerances and techniques not possible in on-site construction. They also insist that mass-customization, as they call it, is the proper extension of the ideas expressed by Le Corbusier and other early modernists, who sought to develop inexpensive and easily built housing. Consequently, the book emulates the format and style of Toward an Architecture.

Research and development

KieranTimberlake has actively pursued research of new architectural materials, processes, assemblies, and products, as well as develop tools to help quantify their research. They are known for helping to develop Tally, a software plugin application that allows architects and engineers working in Revit software to quantify the environmental impact of building materials for whole building analysis as well as comparative analyses of design options. Tally was a joint development project alongside Building Transparency, thinkstep, and Autodesk and was launched at the Greenbuild conference in November 2013, where it captured the attention of AEC professionals who are seeking an integrated and intuitive tool for understanding the environmental impact of materials of new buildings.^[2]

Work

• Atwater Commons, Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont
• Art and Ideals: President John F. Kennedy, Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.^[3]
• Berkeley College, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
• Brockman Hall for Physics, Rice University, Houston
• Cellophane House, for MoMA's Exhibit Home Delivery, Fabricating the Modern Dwelling New York City
• Center City Building, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina
• Engineering Research Center, Brown University, 2017^[4][5]
• New Embassy of the United States, London^[6]
• LivingHomes, Single and Multi-Family Off-site Fabricated Housing (LEED Platinum Certified)
• Loblolly House, Taylors Island, Maryland^[7]
• Stewart Middle School, Sidwell Friends, Washington, D.C. (LEED Platinum Certified)
• Melvin J. and Claire Levine Hall, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
• Noyes Community Center, Cornell University, 2006^[8]
• Northwest Campus Infill Housing, University of California, Los Angeles
• Pendleton West, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts
• Pierson and Davenport College, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
• Sculpture Building and School of Art Gallery, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut (LEED Platinum Certified)
• Silliman College, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
• SmartWrap Pavilion, Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, New York City
• Special NO 9 House, Make It Right Foundation, New Orleans (LEED Platinum Certified)
• West Campus Residential Initiative, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

Awards

• Rice University Physics Lab, Institute Honor Awards Recognize Excellence in Architecture, American Institute of Architects, 2015
• The Quaker Meeting House and Arts Center at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC, Institute Honor Awards in Architecture, American Institute of Architects, 2014
• Morse and Ezra Stiles Colleges, Yale University, Institute Honor Awards Recognize Excellence in Architecture, American Institute of Architects, 2013
• Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Architecture 2010
• AIA Architecture Firm Award, 2008.^[1]
• Special NO 9 House, Make It Right Foundation, Top Ten Green Award, Committee on the Environment (COTE), American Institute of Architects, 2010
• West Campus Residential Initiative, Cornell University, Citation, Committee on Architecture for Education, American Institute of Architects, 2009
• Sculpture Building and School of Art Gallery, Yale University, Award for Excellence, Committee on Architecture for Education, American Institute of Architects, 2009
• Yale University Sculpture Building and Gallery, Top Ten Green Award, Committee on the Environment (COTE), American Institute of Architects, 2008
• Loblolly House, Institute Honor Award for Architecture, American Institute of Architects, 2008
• Sidwell Friends School, Award for Excellence, Committee on Architecture for Education, American Institute of Architects, 2007
• Sidwell Friends Middle School, Top Ten Green Award, Committee on the Environment (COTE), American Institute of Architects, 2007
• Yale University, Pierson and Davenport College, Institute Honor Award for Interior Architecture, American Institute of Architects, 2007