Architecture and Innovation

Kevin Kennon | Founder AIA, LEED, AP, NCARB

Kevin Kennon · January 2, 2025

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Interview with Kevin Kennon

Kevin Kennon | Founder AIA, LEED, AP, NCARB

Podcast: Architecture and Innovation

January 2, 2025

Inspiring Architecture and Urban Design with Kevin Kennon In this episode of the Architecture and Innovation Podcast, host Tom DiOro interviews visionary architect Kevin Kennon, discussing his impactful career, significant projects including the World Trade Center Design…

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Key topicsGood Bones — Why the Best Return Is in the Building Already StandingKevin Kennon has spent 40 years putting buildings up and taking old ones apart, including the conversion of the American Express Building in Tribeca and the rebuild of Macy's Herald Square. Most developers price a site as if the structure on it were a cost to clear, when the frame, floors and shell are often the most valuable thing in the deal. He walks through how he reads an existing building for what it can carry, where reuse beats new construction on cost and timeline, and where it does not. Listeners leave able to look at an older property and tell whether the return sits in the land or in what is already standing.Own Worst Client — Why the Best Projects Start When You Stop Taking CommissionsAfter 40 years taking commissions from other people, Kevin Kennon founded Beyond Zero DDC and became the client he used to work for. He argues that the work practitioners are proudest of only happens when they carry the risk themselves, and that waiting to be hired quietly caps what a firm can ever build. He covers what changed once he was raising the money, picking the sites and answering to investors: slower decisions, harder trade-offs, and far fewer compromises written into someone else's brief. Listeners leave with a clear view of what a practice gives up by staying on the commission model, and what it takes to fund a first project of their own.How to Build Zero-Carbon Where There Is No Power GridKevin Kennon builds at zero carbon on sites with no power line, no water main and no road, as founder of Beyond Zero DDC and after 40 years on projects as large as the 1.5 million square foot Barclays North American headquarters. A remote site removes the usual escape route: there is no grid to buy clean power from, so the building has to make and store its own. He explains what that forces, from off-grid generation and local materials to the trade-offs between what gets shipped in and what gets built on site. Listeners leave knowing which of those choices transfer to ordinary projects on the grid, and which only work when there is nowhere to plug in.View all topics →

About Kevin Kennon

Award-Winning Architect and Sustainable Design Visionary

40+ Years of architectural practice40+ Design awards20+ Iconic buildings1.5M sq ft Barclays North American Headquarters

Kevin Kennon is an internationally renowned architect with more than 40 years of experience designing landmark cultural, commercial, and hospitality projects around the world. Known for combining design ambition with deep human insight, he brings a humanity-first philosophy to architecture — creating spaces that do more than impress visually; they shape how people feel, connect, recover, and remember an experience.

As Founder and CEO of Beyond Zero DDC Inc., Kevin is leading the development of a new model of luxury hospitality: zero-carbon wilderness resorts designed around intimacy, wellbeing, adventure, and safety. Rather than treating sustainability as a marketing layer, Kevin approaches it as a natural consequence of building responsibly in remote environments — while placing the guest experience at the center of every design decision.

His portfolio includes the 1.5 million square foot Barclays North American Headquarters, the Rodin Museum in Seoul, multiple award-winning Bloomingdale’s stores, and leadership of United Architects, a finalist in the World Trade Center design competition. His work has been featured in the permanent collection of MoMA, New York, and he has received more than 40 international design awards.

Kevin’s expertise spans architecture, adaptive reuse, urban development, hospitality design, and high-level real estate advisory.

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About this episode

Inspiring Architecture and Urban Design withKevin Kennon

In this episode of the Architecture and Innovation Podcast, host Tom DiOro interviews visionary architect Kevin Kennon, discussing his impactful career, significant projects including the World Trade Center Design Competition, and his perspectives on beauty and dignity in architecture. Kennon shares his experiences in designing across various urban landscapes and how trust plays a central role in client relationships. The conversation also delves into the future of architecture with the rise of AI and decentralized practices. The episode concludes with reflections on the importance of collaboration and gratitude for the contributions of colleagues.

For more information visit:

https://www.kdcaia.com/

00:00 Introduction to Trust in Business

00:43 Meet Kevin Kennon: Visionary Architect

03:07 Kevin's World Trade Center Design Experience

06:35 The Power of Architecture in Healing

07:00 Exploring Beauty in Architecture

09:58 The Concept of Dignity in Architecture

16:19 The Impact of AI on Architecture

21:07 Cityscapes and Urban Design

24:15 Reflections and Gratitude

Guest: Kevin Kennon