We are a full-service creative studio and construction management firm providing integrated project delivery for owners, real estate investors, and brands.
STUDIO
SPEEDBOAT was established with the mission of marrying art and commerce to deliver detailed and concept-driven residential, commercial, and cultural projects for the most discerning clients. Recognized as one of Archinect's '20 Must-Watch Emerging U.S.-Based Practices', our studio collaborates with a local and international network of designers, builders, investors, and artists to create uncommon value. Our work is informed by oblique strategies concerning scale, climate, context, materiality, and history, and it comes into life with warmth, clarity, and craft.
PHILOSOPHY
What can we do for you?
Architecture can feel shrouded in complexity, yet we strive to provide a clear, perfectly calibrated service to our clients. We’re ready with a red pen, white-glove service, a 100-foot crane, or even garden shears, and our teams are custom-curated to optimize the path to your architectural dream. We extend aesthetic reverence to raging currents of construction information. Drawings and documentation are what keep us going. SPEEDBOAT is a dynamic studio embracing the joy of daily communication, in-person interfacing, and uncomplicated language.
To make the California-modern, New York–cool, clever and expressive spaces that our hearts and minds desire, we create pleasure in the details—the glorious spreadsheets, emails, transmittals, and contracts. Bring us your family townhouse, country estate, mixed-use office building, or your personal art gallery, and we will create something extraordinary. From mullions to museums, there is no project too big or too small for us to structure and address with finesse.
SERVICES
Our services include site analysis, design, ideation, drawing, drafting, research, permitting, three-dimensional modeling, spatial computation, rendering, detailing, fabrication data, cost estimating, project scheduling, cost control, bid leveling, bid solicitation, cost-benefit analysis, value engineering, design optimization, specialty fabrication, on-site contractor supervision, client communications, as well as collaboration with interior designers, engineers, fabricators, contractors, and other consultants as needed.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Speedboat is a progressive design studio and construction management firm. Our early publications, including “The Architect, Inventor of the Modern Kitchen,” a portrait of the pioneering design work of Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, and “A Garden Is a House,” a speculation on super high-quality, affordable housing development, are the founding documents of our organizational culture, expressing our commitment to equitable design practices.
We proudly support the following organizations:
AIA Los Angeles
Build Out Alliance
Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles
New York Review of Architecture
Los Angeles Review of Architecture
Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design
Office Hours – Architectural League of New York
SoCal NOMA
STOMP Out Bullying
CULTURE
We’re an open culture where learning is central to our work and individual differences are valued. We encourage sharing perspectives that result in generative ways of collaborating and understanding. Through listening and practice, we actively engage with our employees, clients, and neighbors with compassion and respect, because we believe the strongest projects incorporate a diverse range of voices, experiences, and contributions.
PEOPLE
CHAD KARTY is a project executive. His approach to the work is rooted in a desire to create timeless spaces with exacting geometries and considered materials. Before founding SPEEDBOAT, Chad practiced architecture and construction with nationally recognized firms across diverse typologies and site conditions in New York, Los Angeles, and Detroit. He has nearly twenty years of experience in roles as a teacher, laborer, carpenter, designer, project architect, construction manager, and principal on large-scale residential and commecial works. He earned a BA and MArch from Columbia University, where he received multiple academic scholarships and taught in the New York–Paris Studio.
JESSE HAMMER is a project designer with a background in architecture, interiors, and furniture. Their expertise operates at a range of scales and disciplines, with a throughline in their dedication to craftsmanship and aesthetics. In addition to their experience in both professional and experimental architecture, Jesse is a woodworker and an educator. They hold an MArch from UCLA and a BFA from the Savannah College of Art & Design.
BEN DERLAN is a construction manager. With experience in environmental studies and fine art, he is passionate about creating ethical and sustainable built environments. Prior to his role at SPEEDBOAT, Ben supported green and public space development in Baltimore, where he also managed an urban farm. Ben writes about architecture and ecology for publications including the New York Review of Architecture and MOLD magazine. He received an MArch from Yale University.
DAVE CROKE is a field superintendent and construction manager with twenty years’ experience in carpentry and site supervision for residential and commercial projects across the U.S. At SPEEDBOAT, he manages field operations and subcontractor coordination. He has a fine arts background and co-authored Norman Bel Geddes Designs America (Abrams, 2012). Dave holds a BFA from Yale University and a PhD in American Studies from the University of Texas, Austin.
CHRIS LIEM is a project coordinator specializing in materials research, procurement, and archiving. Chris’s approach to design is imbued with varied and ongoing observations of light, shadow, color, form, and surface. His attention to these physical attributes and concerns of functionality guide his work. He also has a photography career spanning several genres, including architecture, fine art, portraiture, product, jewelry, and fashion. He holds a BA from UCLA.
HANA LEMSEFFER is a project designer. She is committed to ensuring that good design and creative expression are accessible to everyone. Her knowledge of architecture informs her practice in adjacent disciplines, including interiors, furniture, and art. Hana was previously an exhibition designer at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She earned a BArch from California Polytechnic University, Pomona.
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