Following last week’s visit to New York-based Bates Masi + Architects, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to Philadelphia this week to explore the work of KieranTimberlake.

Founded in 1984, the firm describes its approach to architecture as an “alchemy of art, science, analysis, and intuition.” As we have previously reported, the firm’s impact on the built environment was honored in 2021 with their receipt of the 35th Louis I. Kahn Award while, in that same year, the team spoke with us in relation to their Tally life cycle assessment software as part of our feature ‘Meet the Architects Designing Software to Fight Climate Change.’

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring for several positions to join their Philadelphia office. For candidates interested in applying for a position, or anybody interested in learning about the firm’s output, we have rounded up four contemporary glazed projects by KieranTimberlake that exemplify the studio’s ethos.

Paulson Center at 181 Mercer, New York, NY

The Paulson Center saw a collaboration with KieranTimberlake, Davis Brody Bond, and New York University, designing a campus building to cater to the university’s various school programs previously dispersed across separate buildings. Behind a distinctive glazed facade, the scheme placed hallway circulation along its transparent perimeter to “provide faculty and students with one-of-a-kind city views while also giving outside observers a sense of the building's activity.”

“In addition to using cleaner energy, the building's design itself minimizes its carbon footprint,” the firm adds. “The transparent facade and its use of glare-reducing strategies, for example, lower energy requirements by allowing the building to rely primarily on natural light during the day.”

US Embassy in London, London, UK

KieranTimberlake’s US Embassy in London takes the form of a transparent crystalline cube sitting atop a large colonnade. The high-performance facade is made of laminated glazing with an outer envelope of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), designed to minimize solar gain and glare while allowing natural light into the interior. The resulting composition “represents a holistic fusion of urbanism, building, and landscape” that is both “evocative and performative,” according to the team.

“Curving walkways continue into the interior of the building with gardens on each floor that extend the spiraling movement upward,” the firm adds. “The internal gardens evoke American landscapes, enhancing circulation by providing alternative paths through the building and informal meeting and gathering spaces.”

Dilworth Park, Philadelphia, PA

Dilworth Park was designed to stitch together a variety of transit systems in central Philadelphia, which had previously been connected only by a dark, uninviting concourse. Working with the state’s transportation authority, KieranTimberlake raised the sunken court to form an even surface on the above plaza, making a roof over the transit concourse. Glass pavilions were then inserted to act as monumental entryways to the concourse.

“The transparent pavilions, counterpoised to the north and south of the central artery, appear to emerge from underground and are joined through a single arcing gesture that frames views of City Hall,” the firm explains. “Whereas before the concourse was dim and unwelcoming, the transparency of the glass allows light to flow into the new concourse, which is reorganized to provide clear and unencumbered access to public transportation.”

Student Innovation Center, Ames, IA

For the Student Innovation Center at Iowa State University, KieranTimberlake sought to create a “high-quality, centralized space for undergraduate students to explore ideas outside the bounds of conventional curricular structures.” From the outside, the scheme is defined by a pleating glazed facade, designed to reflect the dynamism of the building’s function while juxtaposing against the resilient aesthetic of the maker spaces inside.

“This intentional dichotomy establishes a dialogue between the act of making and the results of the endeavor,” the firm explains. “The facade is also performative. Solar heat gain due to incident radiation is reduced by one-third because of the pleats' careful orientation. This facade, coupled with high-efficiency heat recovery, greatly contributed to the Center's LEED Gold certification.”

Meet Your Next Employer is one of a number of ongoing weekly series showcasing the opportunities available on our industry-leading job board. Our Job Highlights series looks at intriguing and topical employment opportunities currently available on Archinect Jobs, while our weekly roundups curate job opportunities by location, career level, and job description.