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about KITE
about
KITE Architects is a thoughtful and creative architecture firm that works closely with clients to create beautiful, sustainable, productive and timeless buildings and spaces.
Working with forward-thinking organizations and innovative developers, we explore the possibilities of each project with an honest and creative lens. With a perspective that balances technical expertise, a practical sensibility, and an eye for elegant design, we guide our clients to the finished product: an inspiring built environment where utility and possibility meet.
services
KITE offers a full complement of architectural design services as well as:
• feasibility studies
• interior design
• planning
• consulting services for new construction
• renovations at a variety of scales.
team members
Principals Albert Garcia, AIA and Christine West, AIA lead a team of talented architects and designers at KITE that continue the firm’s legacy of quality design. The firm was founded in 1974 by William L. Kite, Jr., FAIA, who fully retired in 2013. Thanks to his design leadership and the extraordinary talents of staff (compiled here) who have worked with KITE over the last four decades, KITE has grown to one of the most respected architecture firms in Southern New England.
Albert Garcia, AIA
Principal
Christine M West, AIA
Principal
Albert Garcia, AIA
Principal
Christine M West, AIA
Principal
Albert Garcia, AIA
Principal
Christine M West, AIA
Principal
Albert Garcia, AIA
Principal
Christine M West, AIA
Principal
Albert Garcia, AIA
Principal
Christine M West, AIA
Principal
Albert Garcia, AIA
Principal
Christine M West, AIA
Principal
Albert Garcia, AIA
Principal
Christine M West, AIA
Principal
Albert Garcia, AIA
Principal
MojoTech Expansion
KITE helped MojoTech, a growing mobile application developer, expand vertically as they added new employees. With existing offices in an open floor plan and minimal partitions on the second floor, MojoTech wanted to keep a sense of light and connection as they doubled their space on the ground floor.
A key part to making the connection is a new custom stair that KITE detailed in collaboration with the design talent at MojoTech. The treads make innovative use of 2″ solid ballistic rubber to reduce sound, provide a durable surface, and create a dramatic contrast look with cantilevered black treads against the white metal structure.
Desks are arranged in the open floor plan with standing desk. To allow a variety of seating areas and collaboration zone, KITE identified opportunities for work/lounge furniture as well as glass-enclosed conference rooms and “privacy pods” where people can have private phone conversations.
The offices make ample use of south facing daylight and views onto the adjacent park. Marsella Development was instrumental in providing a progressive vision for contemporary office space that met the needs of this growing Rhode Island based tech company.
Modelo’s Design Manifesto Features Interview with KITE
KITE is thrilled to be one of the featured architects in Modelo’s Design Manifesto series. The interview offered Principals Albert Garcia and Christine West an opportunity to offer an insight to our thinking and unique approach to architecture. We are also excited to use Modelo’s new collaborative tool that will allow us to engage our clients in the design process like never before!
Deepwater Wind
KITE designed this interior fit-out for Deepwater Wind as they expand their offices in Providence.
Wellness & Fitness Center, University of Rhode Island
The new Anna Fascitelli Fitness and Wellness Center is at the heart of the University of Rhode Island’s campus. With a bold, wood lined cantilevered entrance and glass volumes that reflect the wooded surroundings, the facility is intended to be an exciting, contemporary amenity. However it is in reality a case study of how mid-century modern buildings can be re-imagined and refreshed by using a preservation sensibility viewed through a creative lens.
As a former dining hall, the original Roger Williams Commons building was designed by Pietro Belluschi, and winner of a 1965 Progressive Architecture award and already boasted large, light, open spaces. The new design is inspired by the original building’s cantilevered structural volumes that grow from the center, and adds new volumes with a lightweight glass structure to form a new entry, lobby, and stair. The interior was opened up dramatically exposing views through the building. The interior is light-filled, open, and vibrant, and projects energy outward to the campus. Special attention was given to the original orientation to the quarry pond to the south which appeared in original renderings, but had long since become overgrown. New additions and interior spaces such as a mind-body studio were opened to face the tranquil natural scenery. KITE enlisted the help of a masonry preservationist to restore the original terra cotta walls, and added a contemporary rain-screen terra cotta tile to new walls and infill areas.
The fitness center is oriented towards undergraduate students who live on campus and is centrally located to many of the dormitories. It includes new cardio and weight training areas, studios for group classes, and expanded wellness and health offerings. KITE worked with specialists S3 Design to ensure the fitness facilities were state-of-the-art.
The project has been designed to achieve LEED-CI Silver levels and is awaiting final certification. Green aspects include features geared toward the fitness center environment, such as bottle fillers to encourage re-usable containers and avoid pre-packaged bottled water, and athletic flooring made from recycled rubber. All new heating and power systems optimize energy use, and new full glazing and exterior wall retrofits conserve energy.
Pike Street Mixed-Use Project, I-195 Parcel 8
KITE Architects is excited to design one of the first projects to be proposed for the I-195 Redevelopment District with the goal of connecting Providence’s vibrant neighborhoods and setting a precedent for excellence. Parcel 8, located at the intersection of South Main and Pike Streets, is on newly created land from the I-195 move. The new building project will stitch together Providence’s Wickenden Street neighborhood with the waterfront area. KITE sees this as a critical project for this new I-195 land in establishing scale, pedestrian experience and tying in the historic character of the surrounding neighborhoods and city as a whole.
This new mixed-use building will incorporate existing historic office building on the adjacent site, and create ground-floor retail, office space and residential units that make the most of the water and skyline views. The site will create a gateway for people arriving in Providence. A key element of the design takes into consideration the pedestrian, cyclist, and motorist experiences as they move around the site. KITE will employ its long history of working in Rhode Island’s communities and elevating its historic character, including Providence’s walkable urban streetscape, to deliver a progressive and fresh design for this exciting new land.
More details will be coming soon. Stay tuned!
Merchant’s Bank Building, 20 Westminster Street
Situated in the heart historic of Providence, when this shockingly narrow six-story masonry building was built in 1840, it was the tallest building in Providence and played a key role in the city’s maritime past. Still containing multiple bank vaults, it played an important role in the city’s history as a financial hub of New England, and is a contributing structure in the National Register Historic District. Situated on the banks of the Providence River, it took advantage of its waterside location and catered to merchants arriving with precious cargo. From structural evidence and historic photos, the top story was built after the original was constructed, and the ornamental stonework of the lower facade replicated.
After use as an office building, and home for many years to RISD Works, it was vacant for many years until a new life as upscale residences with a ground floor restaurant was undertaken. KITE helped the developers with appropriate interior layouts, details, and finishes to the interiors. The construction challenges of a tight urban site were dealt with as the decaying stonework were stabilized and new openings with wood windows crafted to match the original were created. Now completed, the mixed-use building contains the ground floor restaurant Cilantro, and high-ceilinged sophisticated apartments with unparalleled riverfront and city views.
As a recipient of State and Federal Historic Tax Credits, the project was subject to Department of the Interior standards, and also benefited from the special provisions of the RI State Rehabilitation Code. The central historic staircase was allowed to be maintained, and historic elements such as the ornate main entry were preserved.
The Dean Hotel
Now open for guests and earning worldwide media attention, The Dean Hotel offers a stylish and affordable home base for visitors to Providence. In collaboration with developer and interior designer ASH NYC, KITE transformed this historic property with an infamous past into a unique destination that offers a glimpse into the character of the city.
Located in Providence’s historic downtown core, the hotel includes 52 guestrooms in a range of sizes, a breathtaking restored lobby that features finishes that are newly rediscovered after generations in hiding, the biergarten-style restaurant Faust, the mysterious Madelanae Lounge, and the hit karaoke lounge Boombox. The hotel features numerous locally crafted elements and artwork as well as hand-picked vintage items.
The complete renovation left no element untouched, from its high efficiency individually controlled heating and cooling system, to completely new and luxurious bathrooms, to restoration of its historic brick exterior and windows. All new plaster, doors, flooring, lighting, bath tile, and fixtures have resulted in a building that retains its historic character yet is fresh and updated.
Curbed.com recently published a slideshow of our “before” construction photos with completed “after” images. For additional blogs and media coverage, see our news story for a growing list.
Photography by Christian Harder
32 Custom House Street
One of the more enigmatic of buildings in Providence, KITE is assisting in its rehabilitation and conversion into ten residential units and ground floor commercial space. Originally built in 1875, the building retains its beautiful bronze storefront and interior grillage from the time when it was a waterside bank.