“The great thing about being an architect is that you can walk into your dreams.”
About me:
My name is Kevin Garfield and I am a licensed architect in the state of Illinois with 14 years of post-graduate experience in the architecture field. I have experience in all phases of projects from early design to finished construction and a variety of project scales and types ranging from residential to healthcare to corporate commercial. I have strong client relations skills and experience managing a small team.
Currently I am employed as a Senior Project Architect at NIA Architecture. As a senior project architect I have been put in charge of leading the design and documentation on multiple projects. For one project, a multifamily residential project in downtown Chicago which is currently out for bid, I was responsible for managing a small design team in the documentation of the project from schematic design through issued for Bid. Another project I am the team lead for is a mid-sized healthcare clinic and community space in downtown Chicago. For this project we are partnering with another architecture firm and I am acting as both Senior Project architect and Project manager for our firm for this project. I am in charge of assigning work for my team, reviewing and performing quality control on work going out, preparing specification sections, and producing drawings myself. I’m also responsible for coordination with our partnered firm, consultants, and the client. I am also working as the senior project architect managing a medium sized team for a casino project in downtown Chicago which we are partnering with another firm with as well. For the casino project I am responsible for reviewing current drawings for quality assurance and quality control and coordinating documentation efforts.
Prior to working at NIA I worked as a Project Manager at Chipman Design Architecture. The work that I performed while at Chipman Design focused on managing the team responsible for the reinvestment and remodel of Chick-fil-A stores in the Midwest region. This includes managing staffing for projects, project billing and managing consultant proposals, leading OAC calls, managing permit submissions, reviewing and assembling project specifications. I was also responsible for reviewing and providing quality control for the work of project architects for permit, bid, and construction issuances. I worked extensively on construction administration work including RFI responses, submittal reviews, and change request reviews. I also provided drafting work as needed to meet project deadlines.
Prior to Chipman Design I worked as a Project Architect at Antunovich Associates where I was in charge of the development of high-end student housing and mixed-use projects from entitlement and early design through finished construction and site observation. That included preparing drawings and renderings for presentation to the client and Design Review Committees, preparing permit drawings and documents to submit to the city, and creating issue for construction drawings to send the project out for bid. I also oversaw the submittal and shop drawing review of those projects as well as RFI responses for the general contractor, and I also traveled to make routine site visits and punch list with the client.
Prior to my work at Antunovich Associates I worked as an architect 1b at Cannon Design in their healthcare division where I worked on multiple Healthcare planning projects ranging from medium sized to exceptionally large new healthcare facilities. While there I was in charge of a small team working to develop drawings from permit documents to construction documents. I also performed quality assurance and quality control work for a large Healthcare project in Canada. Prior to Cannon Design I worked as a staff architect at FitzGerald Associates on multifamily housing projects. Before that I worked as a junior architect at several firms including Grund & Riesterer Architects and Gensler.
I am proficient in a variety of programs including Revit, AutoCAD, Bluebeam, PlanGrid, Rhino, 3D Studio Max, Miro Board, Smartsheet, and the Adobe Suite of products. I have led teams in all phases of projects, I have organized and lead consultant coordination calls, and I have met with and presented to clients and construction managers to discuss project progress. I feel very comfortable representing both myself and my firm in a professional manner in client and consultant meetings and OAC meetings.
In my professional career, as of 2017 I am a licensed architect in the state of Illinois. I am always eager to take on a new challenge. I believe that attention to detail, attention to client needs and desires, and problem solving are important in architecture and are attributes I consider to be my strength. I understand the level of professionalism, commitment, and communication required for long-term success in the architecture field.
