David M. Owens

DAVID M. OWENS, AIA

As principal at Tsoi/Kobus & Associates, I was responsible for a variety of projects from initial programming through design and construction and there I designed many of TK&A's award-winning buildings. I recently spent a year in the Boston office of Perkins Eastman as principal where my primary focus was on large scale projects and urban design. I am currently working independently as a design consultant, under the banner of Design Memory LLC. Clients include Bowling Green State University (BGSU) and the Medical Academic and Scientific Community Organization (MASCO) My work  work incorporates 3-D software and other similar computer design applications along with hand drawings and watercolors.

Design Intent       On a basic level, all outstanding buildings serve their user well. They are reliable with strong bones and adaptable spaces. They are highly durable and efficient in the use of resources. They are beautiful, and convey something important about the users. Additionally, the great building, when designed for a university or corporation, should articulate the values central to the purpose of the institution. It should add a strong positive voice to the intellectual legacy and longevity of the institution. The intitution’s core mission should be perceptible through its built forms. When designing for a great academic institution, sited in a place of exceptional historic architectural beauty, such as Boston College, a building should speak to its unique heritage with confidence and conviction. It should play an important role in influencing the highest standards for future buildings and students alike. An outstanding building should accomplish all these things with quiet, understated grace. It should facilitate a deeply personal connection to the space and to each other. It should change us. 

Question of Style    The ability to work in more than one style evolved over the years. It was driven by the needs of the different clients that came to us. By being involved with both commercial and academic clients, each of whom had their own message and approach, the need to move from one attitude to the other created its own opportunities. With this wide range of requirements came a chance to investigate what, I felt, made each style special. Sorting out the message that’s buried within each style helped me, I believed, to strengthen the logic of the design. The goal was to develop each design in a way that would be true, as strictly as possible, to the meaning and grammar of the style I was using. To get there, we have to see style as a language. Prose or poetry is either good or bad because of how the writer uses it, not because of the language they speak.

The Gothic language is still very much alive on many historic academic campuses. It is important to the institution when it speaks to their mission. It is a language steeped in associations. It can strengthen the university community by its shared associations. Its vocabulary is large and can be quit poetic. It is not neutral about what it may see as proper social values. To work in this style, all aspects of it must be mastered. And if the client requires it, it must be done as honestly as possible.

The Modern language also has its very strong logic and grammar. Pragmatism drives it. If it works efficiently, it is right. To rely on associations is to be dealing in false hopes and sentimental fantasy. It’s these fantasies that backfire and lead to disappointment at best and hypocrisy at worst. The community is held together through open access to commercial opportunities, through the excitement that comes from seeing something new, for the first time. It is not through shared romantic notions.

On Community   Our work should be in response to the human being - to the scale of the individual person - on the street, within the city fabric. The individual building is less important than the context in which it is placed. The spaces between buildings is more magical than the buildings themselves. Each building has a role in building community. The architect should respond to that role honestly, without embellishment. A building is one part of its fabric, one member of the family, within the structure of the city. Hierarchy must be respected. The city fabric has primacy. The individual buildings follow. By recognizing the power of place, we can use it to our own advantage, creating a design that is special to its place, drawing from it and adding to it.

Representative Experience:      Boston College, Stokes Hall, Boston College Middle Campus Concept Plan and Lyons Dining Expansion Study • Boston Properties, 77 CityPoint Office Complex, Waltham • Washington University in St. Louis, Danforth University Center (DUC), Scott Rudolph Hall • Earth and Planetary Sciences Building, Olin School of Business Renovation and Expansion, Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine, Strategic Facilities Master Plan • Boston Children's Hospital, Two Brookline Place • Brigham and Women's Hospital, Tower Lobby • Fordham University Law School, Feasibility and Design Study • MIT Real Estate, 28 Osborn Street and 700 Main Street (Renovations for Biotech Headquarters) • Harvard University, Harvard Medical School, Pathology and Microbiology Laboratory, Harvard Law School, University Center, as well as Law School Expansion Feasibility Study and Implementation Strategy, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Programming and Space Planning • Suffolk University Law School, Sargent Hall • University of Florida, Levin College of Law, Expansion/Renovation • Fessenden School, Classroom Addition • Intercontinental Development, Winthrop Square Mixed Use Development, Nine Zero Hotel, One Bulfinch Place • Lotus Development Corporation, Offices at One Rogers Street, Offices at One Canal Park • Babson College, Undergraduate Program Building • Boston College, Student Center and Academic Building Study • UT•SWMC, West Campus Master Plan • University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Bed Tower Study • The Chiofaro Company, Parcel F Development • Congress Group Ventures, East Boston Embassy Suites Hotel • Hall Gillespie, Littleton Corporate Commons • Macomber Development Associates, Framingham Office Park • Marine Biological Laboratory, Marine Resources Center• National Development of New England, Dedham Corporate Center • Parametric Technology Corporation, Corporate Headquarters and Laboratories • Serono, Corporate US Headquarters • Trammell Crow, Blue Hills Nursery Development, Canton • Massachusetts Water Resource Authority, Central Administration and Laboratory Building, Wellsford/Whitehall Holdings LLC, Corporate Headquarters for a Major Technology Corporation, Milk Street, Boston, Congress Street

Education:       Bachelor of Architecture, Boston Architectural Center

                        Bachelor of Fine Arts, Tufts University/Boston Museum School

Publications:      SCUP Journal, “Stokes Hall at Boston College • Planning a New Home for the Humanities”, Fall 2013 Traditional Building, “Two for One, the new Collegiate Gothic humanities center at Boston College”, October, 2013 Building Stone, " The Educated Edge" January, 2010 Contract, "Frontiers in Learning" Suffolk University Law School, February 2001   American School & University, “2000 Architectural Portfolio” Suffolk University Law School, November 2000 American School & University, “Citations” Suffolk University Law School, August 2000 Design Solutions, "A New Era of Legal Education Calls Upon Traditional Style" Suffolk

Awards:      Palladio Award, Stokes Hall, Boston College, 2014. Associated General Contractors, Build New England, Performance Award, Boston College Stokes Hall, 2013.   BAC Craft Award, Best Stone Project, Boston College, Stokes Hall, 2013.   Bulfinch Award, Boston College, Stokes Hall, 2013.   CMAA Project Achievement Award, Boston College, Stokes Hall, 2013.   Palladio Award. 2009, Danforth University Center, Washington University in St Louis. Midwest Construction Best of 2008 Award of Merit, Danforth University Center, Washington University in St. Louis. Associated General Contractors of America (St. Louis Chapter), Project of the Year, $20 Million or More, Earth and Planetary Sciences Building, 2004. Associated General Contractors, Build Massachusetts Award, Grand Honor, Suffolk University Law School, 2001.   Boston Preservation Alliance, Preservation Achievement Award, Suffolk University Law School, 2001    American School & University, Architectural Portfolio, Citation, Suffolk University Law School, 2000    American School & University, Educational Interiors Showcase, Bronze Citation, Suffolk University Law School, 2000    Associated General Contractors/Boston Society of Architects, Owner Recognition Award, Suffolk University Law School, 2000    Cambridge Historical Commission, Preservation Award, Winthrop Square Redevelopment, 2000    Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Small Business of the Year, 2000 Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, New England Section, Illumination Design Award, Suffolk University Law School, 2000    International Masonry Institute, New England Region Golden Trowel Award, First Place, Educational Facilities, Suffolk University Law School, 1999     Associated General Contractors/Boston Society of Architects, Owner Recognition Award, Classroom Addition, The Fessenden School, 1998     AIA, Advanced Technologies Facilities Design, Citation, Marine Biological Laboratory at Marine Resources Center, 1996    Massachusetts Historical Commission, Preservation Award, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority's Deer Island Pumping Station, 1995    The Waterfront Center, Excellence on the Waterfront Annual International Awards Program, Honor Award, Marine Resources Center at Marine Biological Laboratory, 1994    Research & Development Magazine, Laboratory of the Year Competition, High Honors, Marine Resources Center at Marine Biological Laboratory, 1994    American Institute of Plant Engineers Foundation, Facilities Management Excellence Awards, Award of Excellence, Marine Resources Center at Marine Biological Laboratory, 1994     Boston Society of Architects, New England Healthcare Facilities Competition, Honor Award, New England Medical Center Hematology/Oncology Addition, 1994     The National Symposium on Healthcare Design, Fifth Annual Healthcare Environment Award, New England Medical Center Hematology/Oncology Addition, 1993     Associated General Contractors, Build Massachusetts Awards, Grand Honor, Marine Resources Center at Marine Biological Laboratory, 1993

Registrations and Certifications:Registered Architect: Massachusetts, 1986 (#6624) AIA /BSA number: 30102393NCARB Record Number: 143063

Associations and Civic Activities:

American Institute of Architects Boston Society of Architects

Boston Architectural College