David Kilby, Managing Editor
CRANBURY — KSS Architects co-founder Allan Kehrt, stepped down from his role as senior design partner to an emeritus position on Jan. 1 — a move that has been ongoing for more than 10 years as part of the firm’s ownership transition plan.
Mr. Kehrt of Evans Drive, Cranbury is chairman of the township’s Planning Board and a member of its Historic and Preservation Commission. Since establishing KSS Architects in 1983 with colleagues Michael Shatken and Rafael Sharon, he has helped the firm grow from a staff of three focused on residential design, into a 40-person company with offices in Princeton and Philadelphia.
With the leadership of its six partners — Mr. Kehrt, Mr. Shatken, Edmund Klimek, Pamela Lucas Rew, David Zaiser and Merilee Meacock — KSS has risen above recent economic challenges and developed an award-winning portfolio of projects across the nation in the markets of higher education, K-12 education, industrial, commercial, corporate interiors, municipal design and sustainable design.
Ms. Rew will most likely take over as the senior design person in the firm, Mr. Kehrt said.
”The younger generation we have is very talented, very capable, and they can do it all,” he added. “They can get work, continue work, get awards and everything.”
KSS Architects hired Ms. Meacock about a year ago. A member of the Cranbury Zoning Board of Adjustment, Ms. Meacock also lives on Evans Drive and is working with Mr. Kehrt in designing the future Cranbury Public Library.
In the revised Master Plan, Cranbury has designated a spot for the new library across the street from Cranbury School. The Cranbury Library Foundation is conducting its own fundraising campaign so that the new library’s construction doesn’t raise taxes. The foundation plans to raise $3 million and finish the library by 2015.
Mr. Kehrt has been involved in the plans for the library since their beginning.
”I have every intention of staying heavily involved in the library,” Mr. Kehrt said. “I’d like to see it come to fruition.”
Mr. Shatken said Mr. Kehrt has helped establish the strong values of KSS.
”The past year was one of the strongest we have had in the market,” Mr. Shatken said. “Allan shaped our core values about design excellence as well as client relationships, which all of the partners have instilled throughout the firm. As a result, our breadth of work and our national presence continue to grow.”
Mr. Kehrt, 67, said this most recent recession is about the fourth or fifth he’s gone through since starting the firm, and it has always managed to endure.
”We have a diverse market,” he said. “That’s one reason we’ve survived recessions.”
”I will admit it’s hard to back away from KSS after 28 years,”he added, “but it’s something we have been planning for many years. I have absolute confidence that Michael and our next generation will continue to add to the exceptional achievements of KSS for many, many years. It’s been a great ride!”
Mr. Kehrt’s legacy of celebrated projects include Rutgers University’s Biomedical Engineering Building, the renovation and expansion of Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, the recent new campus center at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, the student center at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, the Eden Institute at Forrestal Village in Plainsboro, and Princeton Township’s Municipal Complex.
He said he started getting involved in building educational buildings about 26 years ago with a small project at Princeton University.
”It (Princeton Uuniversity) is such a rewarding kind of a client to work for,” he said. “They’re all smart. They care about what they do. They’re all engaged. They want to do things right.”
In 2001, Mr. Kehrt was elevated to the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows, an honor bestowed to only 3 percent of all registered architects in the U.S. In 2008, Mr. Kehrt was nominated to the AIA’s Jury of Fellows, a three-year post, and served as a chairman in 2010. Mr. Kehrt was also named Architect of the Year by AIA New Jersey in 2006.
Last year, KSS won three of 11 awards from the New Jersey AIA.
Mr. Kehrt studied economics for his undergraduate degree at Ohio Wesleyan University. Then he spent five years as a naval aviator during the Vietnam War before studying for his master’s degree in architecture at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Active in the design education community, Mr. Kehrt has served as faculty, guest lecturer, or juror at many colleges of architecture in the east, including the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia University, Moore College of Art & Design, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Virginia Tech, where he will continue on its Advisory Board. He has presented and lectured for many professional organizations including the American Institute of Architects and the Society of College and University Planning.
Mr. Kehrt will remain active in the design community, not only at KSS, but also as a longstanding member and chairman of the Planning Board for Cranbury.
”Allan has had a wonderful influence on our town through preservation of the look and feel of this special place while encouraging new development that provides new opportunities in today’s world,” Ms. Meacock said. “His many years on the Planning Board have provided steady guidance for so much of our town; rezoning to encourage tax ratable development, Cranbury’s Master Plan, the layouts for developments like Cranbury Green, Leidke Drive, and the Four Seasons, as well as his designs for the gym addition and potential new library. We look forward to his continued and increased (now that he has more time) involvement in our community.”
Mr. Kehrt said, “Cranbury has a good idea of where it wants to go. I think the idea of putting warehouses on the other side of 130 was a good idea. It pays a lot of our taxes. We’ve done a good job on thinking out how the town should grow, and when that happens, preserving farmland and maintaining the historic district.”
He said he supports the idea of a town naturally growing outward, and used the Liedke Drive development as an example of Cranbury doing just that.
”Historically that’s how towns develop,” he said, “until the automobile came along with the whole idea that you can build away from the central downtown and still be fine.”
Not one to take life easy, Mr. Kehrt and wife, Michaele, have a long list of to-dos, including traveling, sailing, painting and visiting their three grown children, Matthew, Emily and Katherine. He also expressed the desire to teach architecture, and was offered a position on the University of Hawaii’s College of Architecture Advisory Council.
