The Federal Home Loan Bank has published a detailed article on KITE’s successful project with Crossroads Rhode Island to create 104 apartments for families facing homelessness at Kingstown Crossings in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. The article covers the project beginnings, how the design features were developed, the development process, and how it is benefiting a large number of local families.  Project 2 is complete as of August, 2013, with 17 buildings plus a central office building and maintenance facility.

The State of Rhode Island has recently formed a new board to regulate utility-purchase rates for solar, wind, and other alternative energy sources. Called the Board of Distributed Generation Contracts, the effort is part of a broader policy to increase the amount of power generated in Rhode Island by renewable sources and streamline their development and approval.

Christine is honored to part of this effort that so many advocates have worked hard to realize, and believes that the resiliency of our economy and long-term sustainability depends on building a strong infrastructure for renewable energy. The integration of energy production technology into architectural and development projects is a unique challenge.

KITE Principal Christine West, AIA was interviewed and featured as a “trender” in GoLocal Prov’s news website. Click here to see the full interview, which highlights her views on sustainable, community oriented design.  KITE Principal Albert Garcia, AIA is responsible for the photography.

KITE Architects, Inc. has become the official name of our firm.  The change reflects the continuity of the legacy of founder William L. Kite, Jr., FAIA while acknowledging the larger group of professional architects that KITE has become. Principals Albert Garcia, AIA and Christine Malecki West, AIA and the rest of the staff intend to continue the strong sense of professional responsibility, quality design, and technical expertise that has been established over the last 40 years.

In former incarnations the corporation has been named Kite Palmer Architects, Inc., and most recently William Kite Architects, Inc.

KITE Principal Christine Malecki West, AIA, was elected Chair of the Providence City Plan Commission. Having been appointed to the commission early in 2012, she succeeds Steve Durkee in the role of Chair.

As a volunteer citizen board, the Commission works closely with the Department of Planning and Development on issues affecting Providence’s built environment. The Commission’s responsibilities include review of major land developments, updates to the comprehensive plan, review of institutional master plans, and advising the Providence City Council on referrals such as zoning changes.

William Morgan’s article about the Carter Center for Music Education (“Places: Sound Consolidation”) is featured in the January-February 2013 issue of Design New England magazine. (For those who prefer it in print, it can be found on the newsstands on pages 48-55.) Will captures nicely the creative and technical challenges that KITE and our team faced and resolved with this project.

KITE is once again honored to be recognized with multiple design awards at AIAri’s annual gala. The Vedanta Society won a Merit Award in the Interiors category, and the new Narragansett Bay Commission Operations Building in the shadow of the giant wind turbines on Field’s Point won in the Sustainable Design category.

We are very excited to have won a record number of Design Awards from RI Monthly for five separate projects in a variety of categories from commercial new construction to residential renovation. The projects receiving awards are:

Gold:  “Heaven Sent” for the Vedanta Society‘s new addition on Angell Street in Providence

Silver: “Going With the Flow” for the new Narragansett Bay Commission‘s administrative building and educational center on Field’s Point in Providence

Gold: “Yard Work” for a residential addition to a 1960’s home on Providence’s East SIde

Silver: “Spirit Lifting” for a mid-century modern renovation and restoration in Providence’s Blackstone neighborhood

Silver: “Family Affair” for a new East Bay family compound including a new main house, guest house, and pool structure on a striking waterfront site.

The webzine World Landscape Architecture features the ‘landfill garden’ at Narragansett Bay Commission, highlighting the work of L+A Landscape Architecture with KITE on the newly completed Operations Center.

“A working, educational landscape that re-uses demolition debris in the construction of a “landfill garden” utilizing concrete planks sawn from an existing ash storage tank and crushed asphalt from an existing parking area, both of which were removed to make way for the new project . The use of these materials in the garden diverted approximately 90 tons of debris from Rhode Island’s Central Landfill. The garden, located to the south of the Narragansett Bay Commission’s new Operations Center, performs as a water retention and filtration system integrated with an outdoor room for staff and for educational groups that frequently tour the center.”  – Damian Holmes

On September 12, 2012, KITE Principal Christine Malecki West, AIA will be one of the featured speakers at a special program by the Boston chapter of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) entitled “Investment Opportunities in 5 New England Markets”, including the parcels cleared in Providence by the moving of I-195.  Each of five cities will be represented by two speakers presenting perspectives from the public and private sectors. Also representing Providence will be Colin Kane, chair of the I-195 Commission as the public perspective, while Christine will speak from the private sector.

As an architect working on proposals for the area, past-president of AIA Rhode Island, a member of the Providence Planning Department’s technical committee guiding the re-zoning of the I-195 parcels and Knowlege District, co-chair of the Fall 2012 PPS Symposium on the I-195 parcels, and initiator of the “195 Hopes” project, Christine is activley involved with discussions about the vision for this area of tremendous development potential from a wide range of stakeholder perspectives.