DENVER, Colo., April 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA), a leading education planning and design firm serving Northern California and the Rocky Mountains, announces the opening of its Denver office. Headquartered in Santa Rosa, California and operating an East Bay Area office in Oakland, the nearly 80-person firm now has three employees in Colorado that will support projects across the company and look to build a strategic pipeline of opportunities in the region. The office will be led by Studio Director Joel Williams and he is joined by new Project Designers Joseph Puyot and Spencer Robinson.
Joining QKA in 2020, Williams has more than 18 years of experience in education design, from small classroom renovations to large-scale campus master planning projects. With a leadership style rooted in collaboration and communication, he will build on his established client and partner relationships to grow QKA’s presence in the Rocky Mountains. Williams is a LEED Accredited Professional and an Accredited Learning Environments Planner (ALEP) through the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE), where he is active in its Rocky Mountain chapter.
Puyot and Robinson both join QKA as Project Designers and bring more than a decade of design experience across industries. Puyot has managed the design of hospitality, residential and education projects through all phases from pre-design through construction administration. He has particular technical expertise in the area of accessibility compliance, ensuring projects meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. Robinson’s design, documentation and project management experience includes large-scale government and civic projects. He has also managed teams working on several education projects with an emphasis on sustainable design.
“The Denver metro area has experienced significant population growth, and alongside that, a strong investment in its schools with the approval of large statewide bonds,” said Williams. “This expansion is a natural extension of our community-minded work in California, and offers great opportunities to build our talent pipeline in a highly-desirable region to live and work.”
Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, QKA has established a distinguished reputation as the North Bay Area’s largest architecture firm, specializing in designing TK-12 education facilities with a focus on sustainability and community engagement. With a company culture deeply-rooted in investing in its people and communities, the firm established an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) in 2020 and participates in the JUST scorecard for equity and transparency.
“As we continued to grow in California, it was important that we look for ways to expand the capacity of our team while continuing to prioritize designing impactful learning environments that meet a high level of technical quality,” said President and CEO Aaron Jobson. “Bringing on new talent in Colorado to support Joel and the rest of the team will allow us to do this while also looking for exciting ways to expand our work and company culture.”
QKA is invested in the long-term development of a strong team in Colorado. The firm is establishing an initial three-person office in Castle Rock with the goal of growing a full-service studio over the next five years to support projects in Colorado and California.
About Quattrocchi Kwok Architects
QKA provides comprehensive master planning and design services for TK-12 and higher
education, historic renovation, and community facilities in Northern California and Colorado. With more than $2.5 billion in projects completed in its 40-year history, QKA’s award-winning portfolio reflects a commitment to design that emphasizes environmental sustainability and community impact. Building Design + Construction has recognized QKA as one of the nation’s top K-12 and BIM (building information modeling) architecture firms. Engineering News-Record has called it one of America’s top design firms. Majority employee-owned through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), visit qka.com to learn more.
Contact Info
Ava Hanak
ava@studiopr.com
