Kevin Yoder Bio
Kevin Yoder, AIA, LEED AP, started his architecture career at age eight, pencil poised above the Reading Eagle’s newspaper house plans. He spent hours reconfiguring and drawing, adding his creativity to the stock layouts.
He went on to earn a Bachelor of Architectural Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University and a Bachelor of Architecture from Drexel University, effectively balancing design skills with a rigorous understanding of how buildings go together. As a registered architect and a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional, active in his Society Hill neighborhood and Philadelphia’s larger context, Kevin values quality architecture and its place within the community and the environment.
Kevin has designed and managed projects for high-profile hospitality, corporate, and institutional clients. Working with international hoteliers, tech-savvy businesses, and major hospitals exposed him to materials, methods, and a big-picture mindset. But it often left him without a direct connection to the individuals for whom he was designing space. When Kevin founded k YODER design in 2010, he came full-circle, back to the residential focus of his youth and to a more personal, client-focused design philosophy.
Kevin’s leadership and imagination guide k YODER design’s team and projects. His aesthetic vision – refined, classic modernism – sets the tone for award-winning work that has been heralded in the regional and international press. While Kevin’s background in five-star hospitality design means he understands luxury, his family and young child keep him grounded in the belief that real lives are the biggest influencers of quality design. Kevin has the uncanny ability to draw out his clients’ preferences and to interpret their wishes in a clean, modern way.
Kevin was privileged to present at the 2018 15th International Docomomo Conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He spoke to an audience of designers, preservationists, and academics about the importance of continuing livability when renovating midcentury houses. He also discussed the design philosophy kYd uses to guide each project: letting original architecture, context, and history guide choices; involving historians, conservators, and experts as needed to inform decisions and best pratices; and valuing collaboration and dialogue to result in thoughtful solutions.