An Open Community of Ideas: Bios and Blurbs

Top

Tim Van Meter, AIA

Partner
Architect/Urban Designer
303-298-1480 x18

Tim Van Meter, a firm partner and founder, is a leading architect and urban designer whose work has focused on green architecture and sustainable urban design. Tim heads the firm’s Denver office, which he established in 1999. He has led the design team on many of the firm’s complex and award-winning architecture and urban design projects in Colorado, Hawaii, Texas, New Mexico, and California. He is experienced in a wide range of architecture and urban design projects at various scales, focusing on transit-oriented development, neighborhood design, mixed-use urban infill, and affordable housing. On the national level, Tim is the Urban Design Adviser for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Smart Growth Program. He also is co-chair of CNU XVII, the 2009 national conference of the Congress for the New Urbanism. A licensed architect in Colorado, California, Hawaii, and Utah. A graduate of the University of Colorado School of Environmental Design, Tim has traveled extensively worldwide, studying design, planning, and environmental issues and their effects on communities. He is a community design consultant for numerous communities and organizations, and has extensive experience achieving consensus through the public process. He lectures on issues of urban and sustainable design and development across Colorado’s Front Range and throughout the West and Hawaii.

Top

Rick Williams

Partner
Architect/Urban Designer
415-974-5352 x203

A partner and founder of Van Meter Williams Pollack, Rick Williams is a leader in urban design and transit-oriented development. Rick excels at using his architectural development background--understanding building types and the architectural realm--to inform urban design projects. The scale of his work ranges from residential and mixed-use neighborhoods and urban infill multifamily affordable and workforce housing in inner-ring Bay Area communities to new town plans. His diverse experience also includes designing commercial and institutional projects. Rick has worked extensively with public agencies, cities, and nonprofit organizations, and is adept at negotiating the regulatory framework and writing codes for mixed-use and transit-oriented development. Rick handles project management and construction administration for the firm’s building projects, and has enhanced the firm’s reputation for implementing projects that are successfully completed because they work on all levels of design, financing, and development. Rick earned a Masters degree in architecture and city planning from the University of California-Berkeley, and a Bachelors degree in architecture from California Polytechnic State University. He is licensed as an architect in California. Rick has lectured extensively on issues of contemporary urban planning, and his urban design projects have been published in books and leading design and planning journals.

Top

Fred Pollack, AIA

Partner
Architect, LEED AP
415-974-5352 x202

As a partner and founder of Van Meter Williams Pollack, Fred for over two decades has worked at the forefront of mixed-use pedestrian and transit-oriented planning and urban design. His focus as a leader in green and sustainable architecture has been designing urban infill on a scale that ranges from individual buildings to blocks, and includes mixed-use communities, adaptive re-use of buildings, and multifamily affordable housing. Fred has led many of the firm’s larger and award-winning projects through the entire design and development process. Fred also manages the firm’s business practice. A LEED-Accredited Professional, Fred has worked closely with municipal and nonprofit organizations to implement sustainable building practices. He is a technical advisor for Global Green USA, and serves on several technical advisory committees for developing green and sustainable architecture, including the Multi Family Green Building Guidelines Committee for the Alameda County Waste Management Authority and the steering committees for the Green Affordable Housing Coalition and the Zero Net Energy Housing Project in California. Fred is a licensed architect in California and Hawaii. A graduate of the University of Colorado School of Environmental Design, he has traveled extensively worldwide, and for two years studied and worked as an architect in Denmark on a variety of highly published projects.

Top

Karen Murray

Senior Associate
Urban Designer
415-974-5352 x207

As an Associate at Van Meter Williams Pollack, Karen provides firmwide leadership and direction for projects ranging in scale from from the neighborhood to the individual building. Her unique blend of architecture and urban design skills allow her to act as a bridge between the two disciplines, providing implementable design solutions, feasability studies and prototypical building design for many of the firm’s projects. Weekends find her chasing her toddler around Golden Gate Park wondering when she can get back to work for some peace and quiet.

Top

Michael Kloefkorn

Associate
Architect, LEED AP
415-974-5352 x209

Mr. Kloefkorn brings a mixture of experience in California, Colorado and Australia including furniture, interior design, commercial/retail, mixed-use, residential, multi-family residential and adaptive reuse and construction. He joined VMWP in San Francisco in 1998 and relocated to Colorado in 1999 to assist in establishing the new Denver office. He has been involved in projects ranging from Belmar, a 104 acre redevelopment of a failed 1960’s suburban mall, Valencia Gardens Hope VI, Civiq, to Railyard Lofts, an adaptive reuse of an 1880’s warehouse. As an Associate at VMWP, Mr. Kloefkorn specializes in green urban architecture with a focus on sustainability and community. A resource on sustainability at VMWP, he has sought to push the envelope on every project. Mr. Kloefkorn is a graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a B.Arch degree; his areas of study focused on Sustainable and Urban Design. He is a registered architect in Colorado, a LEED Accredited Professional as well as a Certified Green Building Professional and GreenPoint Rater. He is a member of the Northern California Chapter of the USGBC and currently serves as a Chair for the Residential Green Building Advocacy Committee. Mr. Kloefkorn is active, professionally and in the community, to promote better human environments while decreasing the human impact on the natural environment. In his spare time Michael enjoys snowboarding, hiking, backpacking and flyfishing.

Top

David Brown

Associate
Architect
415-974-5352 x216

David is an Associate and Project Architect. His passion in architecture is the sustainable adaptive renovation of old buildings, giving them a new life, and bringing the new and old together in a juxtaposition that creates an energy and vitality with natural materials, clean lines, and contemporary compositions. David brings a positive energy to all of his work, takes his mentoring role seriously, and pushes others to critically think about the process and the architecture produced. He definitely takes himself too seriously some times (but is working on it). His passions outside the office include playing the guitar, music, and anything athletic (mountain biking, snow boarding, basketball, volleyball, softball, tennis, golf...), and likes to surround himself with creative, compassionate, and extremely funny people. He also likes to build stuff (lot’s of unfinished projects around the house).

Ben Chuaqui

Associate
Architect
LEED AP
415-974-5352 x217

As a project architect at VMWP for the last five years, Ben has managed the design and construction of several housing projects. These projects include affordable as well as market rate housing, ranging in size from 19 to 116 units. Completed projects include a 19-unit special needs project in Oakland, as well as a LEED Gold certified convent for the Sisters of Saint Dominic. Currently Ben is overseeing the construction of a 70-unit complex as well as managing the design of a 116-unit building; both projects in Santa Rosa. Prior experience includes eight years of commercial and institutional architectural work as well as professional experience in city planning. As a design professional, Ben’s academic interests in the social aspects of housing as well as the more technical and idiosyncratic aspects of wood construction have influenced his work in the office.

Top

Adam Rosa, AICP

Urban Designer/Project Manager
415-974-5352 x222

Adam is an urban designer originally from Buffalo, New York. After living at sea level for 9 years, he recently transfered from VMWP San Francisco to VMWP Denver and is adjusting well to his new altitude (but still misses the City by the Bay!) Adam’s work-related travel over the past several years on VMWP’s Hawaii projects including the Waipahu, Aiea / Pearl City and East Kapolei Neighborhood TOD Plans have caused much co-worker envy on cold, windy Denver days and have gotten him dubbed “Mr. Waipahu” by the island locals. He now owns a grand total of eight aloha shirts. Back on the mainland, Adam enjoys exploring Denver and the Rocky Mountain region with his wife, Karie and son, Jaxon.

Jeff Briggs

Marketing Coordinator
415-974-5352 x218

Jeff hates being summarized in a little box - he prefers graphics and interpretive dance but we'll do our best. Originally from New York, Jeff packed up his duffle bag ten years ago to drive cross-country for three months and never went back. He has had his hand in almost everything here at the firm, which makes him the person who knows where everything is and thus choruses of ‘hey Jeff’ can be heard melodically drifting through the air each day. When not at work he can usually be found on his bike and thinks nothing of biking 50 miles for a good cappuccino. Hiking, thrift stores, reading, yoga and all those other clichéd items are among his interest along with being easily distracted by shiny things. Jeff lives in San Francisco with his 17lb cat Willow, an old TV with rabbit ears and lots of plants.

Top

Brett Jacques

Project Manager
303-298-1480 x11

Brett received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from California State Polytechnic University in Pomona where his education consisted of a strong balance of the theoretical and technical aspects of architecture. In his fourth year at Pomona, Brett took his studies abroad to Florence, Italy where he focused on expanding his perception of cultural and social influences on architecture around the world. After receiving his degree, he worked in California with focused efforts on affordable housing with emphasis on quality sustainable design in the San Francisco Bay area. Since joining Van Meter Williams Pollack, Brett has utilized his experience in sustainability and multi-family urban housing design as project manager of multi-family housing projects in the Belmar and Stapleton New Urban Centers. Brett enjoys the diversity and collaboration of sustainable urban design and architecture and looks forward to continuing a tradition of pushing the boundaries in a broader sense of stewardship of people and the environment. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his young family, serving in his church, playing guitar, drawing, spending time outdoors, snowboarding, and playing volleyball.

Top

Christopher Sensenig

Urban Designer
415-974-5352 x220

Chris Sensenig, an Urban Designer, has been with VMWP since 2005. Chris has a Master of Architecture, a Master of City Planning in Urban Design from the University of California, Berkeley and an undergraduate degree in Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis. Chris’s research has focused on creating livable neighborhoods and increasing opportunities for participation and social interaction in the neighborhood landscape through projects that include street design, mixed-use multi-family housing, transit oriented development, and neighborhood planning. In his spare time, Chris lives a happy life in Berkeley with his wife, Kate and his German Shepherd, Blitz. They enjoy cooking, camping, gardening, and entertaining friends. Chris has recently been published in PLACES Journal and ArcCA and is currently lecturing in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cal.

Cassie Turbow

Designer
303-298-1480 x15

Cassie Turbow is funny - funny in a dry, ironic, sarcastic, self-deprecating, point-out-the-obvious-gotta-know-her-to-love-her kind of way. Sometimes, she thinks she’s funnier than she actually is. Her love and appreciation for sarcasm is tried and true, especially her own. This is a lifelong skill. Cassie is also a new mom. Her baby really thinks she’s funny, but he also thinks the ceiling fan is his best friend. He does however have a well developed sense of irony for an infant and a lot of hair. She does yoga for the 20 year old in her and plays mahjong for the 80 year old in her. She is lifetime undefeated in Scattergories, makes unquestionably the world’s best chocolate cake, loves the color orange, only drinks her coffee iced, and can change a diaper in less than 5 seconds. She will never wear “mom jeans.”

 

Top

Cheney Brooke Ferguson

Designer
303-298-1480 x22

Cheney joined VMWP in July 2006. Cheney received her Master of Architecture from the University of Oregon in 2006 and Bachelor of Architecture from Southern Illinois University in 2004. While at University of Oregon, her studies were based on the urban model and transit oriented development. Cheney was a coordinator for the annual HOPES (Holistic Options for Planet Earth Sustainability) conference while at UofO. Cheney looks forward to being part of the next generation of young architects who continue to re-shape American cities and the urban environment. She values sustainable urban design and architecture and dreams of designing ‘places of the heart’. She is currently working on becoming LEED AP and fulfilling her IDP requirements to become a professional licensed architect. In her spare time, she enjoys snowboarding, traveling, listening to live music, and hanging out with friends, family, and her dog Nollie.

Top

Kristin Keenon

Designer
415-974-5352 x208

Originally from Portland, Oregon, Kristin graduated from the University of Oregon in 2003 with a BArch and decided to move south in search of slightly warmer weather. Since joining VMWP in 2006 Kristin has been involved with 55 Laguna, a two block redevelopment and Adaptive Re-Use project in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco which is also a LEED ND Pilot project, and St. Joseph’s Affordable Senior Housing/Adaptive Re-Use project in Oakland. In her spare time, she is training for a marathon and enjoys urban hiking, backpacking, baking, good burritos, and collecting passport stamps.

Top

Jessica C. Smith

Designer, LEED AP
415-974-5352 x227

A Bay Area native, Jessica returned to San Francisco and joined VMWP in 2006 after graduating from University of Colorado School of Environmental Design. She has primarily been working on the as-built drawings and new plans for the historical renovation and adaptive reuse of Oakland's St. Joseph's Convent currently in use as an office building. Like many other VMWP-ers, she shares a strong commitment to sustainable design which will be her eventual focus in graduate school.

Carla Hyman

Designer, LEED AP
415-974-5352 x228

Carla Hyman aspires to be an architect. When not espousing architectural rhetoric or ecological imperatives, she can be found making things of all shapes and sizes - from tasty ad hoc recipes in her SF co-op to various objects out of yarn and fabric to just about anything else. She can commonly be seen cruising around the city on her beloved terry road bike. Originally from the suburbs of Baltimore, she witnessed her bucolic childhood home get squashed by bad planning and inappropriate development. Years later she was drawn to architecture via environmentally and socially responsible design, coincidence? Carla loves the hiking and mushroom-collecting opportunities the natural wonders of California affords. On beautiful warm days, she daydreams of backpacking in the Sierras and swimming in cold mountain lakes.

Top

Alesha Romero

Business Manager
415-974-5352 x201

Alesha joined VMWP in February of 2008. She is a Bay Area native who loves sharing her casual carpool nightmares with her fellow co-workers. Although her primary responsibilities are in management and accounting, her experience includes architectural drafting and project management. Her love for the industry has brought her to VMWP in the capacity of our Business Manager. On top of her love for crunching numbers, she is also an avid mixologist and has taken on the roll as resident libation officer. When she’s not shaking up martinis Alesha enjoys a good game of baseball, SportsCenter highlights, Baseball Tonight Web Gems, and watching fast cars turn left. In her spare time you can find her entertaining friends and family or rocking out on Rock Band with her husband Tedd and son Daniel.

Top

 

Elitsa Shepherd

Interim Business Manager
415-974-5352 x201

A Bulgarian native, Elitsa moved to the United States during her late teens. After living in Las Vegas for 7 years and having had enough of the desert sun and pompous architecture, she relocated to San Francisco. Elitsa has always been an architecture devotee but her professional experience has taken numerous directions: before joining VMWP, she worked as a master control operator at a TV station, office manager at a financial network and a customer relations manager for a wealth management company. Elitsa is currently pursuing a degree in Architecture. She and her husband Andrew like spending their free time playing foosball with friends and working on independent film projects.