Kendle Firm Designs with the Land

Kendle Firm Designs with the Land

Kendle Design Collaborative’s office within a historic artists’ haven on Scottsdale’s Cattletrack Road is the birthplace for many a modern luxury home throughout Arizona — homes created with of-the-moment technology and timeless focus on people and their chosen property.

We practice regional modernism,” Brent Kendle, president, says. “That is the design of homes influenced solely by their unique program, the personality and character of our clients, and are shaped by the climactic and contextual influences surrounding them. We don’t work in a style; style is a bad word in my book as it limits possibilities and stifles creativity.

Kendle’s firm has worked on notable commercial projects including the Arizona Science Center addition in Phoenix. Today, though, the focus is on distinctive, expansive custom homes.

Prime examples are found in Paradise Valley, Scottsdale and Peoria, as well as to the north in Sedona and Flagstaff. Since the terrain is different, the houses are different, Kendle says.

Homes in Southern Arizona tend to have greater amounts of glass, shaded of course, taking in the views — blurring the line between indoor and outdoor living,” he says. “Homes in Northern Arizona need to open up to nature as well while providing greater shelter from the cold.

“Material selections and detailing is also quite different,” he adds. “When designing in the shade of the tall pines, wood is an obvious choice. While designing in the desert, materials such as rammed earth and masonry are more appropriate.” The firm designs renovations as well as new structures, taking the same basic approach with both kinds of projects. “We try to determine the ‘spirit of the site,’ blending the client’s needs and personality into a unique solution. With remodels there is often the spirit of what came before. If you respect the original spirit and the ‘bones’ of the old house, you will likely design a more cost-efficient solution that blends old and new,” Kendle says. Kendle earned his architecture degree from Arizona State University and was an early adopter of LEED accreditation, launching his own firm in 2002.