Kipnis Architecture + Planning

Our experience with Kipnis Architecture and Planning was simply outstanding from the very first day that we met Nate, to the full completion of our project. The project involved complete renovation (down to the foundation and studs) and first and second story additions to a post-war, 1950 ranch. After meeting with us and hearing our vision and desires for our home, Nate and his team, especially Dan Contreras, clearly understood what we wanted, and also made numerous helpful suggestions for various features of the house, including incorporating aging-in-place design. However, we could not have dreamed that the transformation would be so dramatic. KAP first provided us with three fantastic floor plans and exterior designs to choose from which incorporated modern and traditional elements - difficult for us to choose, but no bad choice! It was truly amazing to us how KAP reimagined the space. KAP also helped us to identify three quality building contractors and shepherded us through an RFP/bid process. Once again, difficult for us to choose, but no bad choice! We were also very pleased with the contractor we worked with and the quality of work provided was excellent. In any such project of this scope, particularly when working with the bones of an old home, problems undoubtedly arise (nothing too serious in our case), but KAP worked with us and our contractor to come up with practical solutions that we were happy with. One of the most important aspects to the redesign was to "bring the outside in" so that we could enjoy our yard year round, and we love the way that KAP was able to achieve that for us. Nate also recommended a wonderful landscape architect to help us design a beautiful outdoor living space. We are simply thrilled with every aspect of this project and can't recommend KAP highly enough. We are currently enjoying the beautiful design and comfort of our energy efficient home and look forward to many years here. Dan & Sandra Springer

Choosing Nate and the Kipnis A&P team was the right decision for us. They helped us shape our vision and skillfully guided our basement excavation and remodeling project from start to finish. Kipnis A&P was prompt, ethical, skilled, creative and detail oriented. I am very happy with Nate's work and give him and his team my highest recommendation.

It was a joy to work with Nate and his team. We are still discovering and appreciating the details that he added to our renovation of our 70+ year old home. He has helped us to honor the integrity and the history of the home while updating it for today's lifestyle and the considerations of living in the future. I like that he challenged us to be more environmentally conscientious in our decision making process. Debbie and Dan from his team were wonderful to work with as well--helping us to iron out small details and fine tuning how we would live in the home. The Kipnis team worked well with our builder (and I HIGHLY recommend them as well--Berliant Builders).

They took my historic Chicago Bungalow and did a major renovation that preserved the history I love yet gave me modern touches. Very creative and knowledgeable.

We had a wonderful experience working with Nate and his architectural team on the full gut renovation of our new house. We acted as our own GC and came into the project with specific ideas about the build and materials we wanted to use, and Nate and Dan were both indispensable collaborators to ensure that every aspect of the design could be successfully executed as we envisioned it. The house is located in a historic neighborhood, so it was important to us to keep the existing brick and maintain other mid-century features of the house. Nate was able to seamlessly incorporate these original details into the plans while at the same time completely redesigning the facade of the house into something really beautiful and unique. For the interior, Nate and his team put together a precise and thoughtful floor plan which skillfully included every detail we requested. Nate and his team are so great to work with - creative, responsive and engaging - it was truly a pleasure. Thank you for designing our home, Nate! We could not be happier with the final product.

Picking an architect is perhaps one of the more daunting tasks of a home build or rebuild project. After working with Nate Kipnis and his team for over a year, I can highly recommend him without hesitation! We bought an early 1960's ranch with the goal of complete redesign and rebuild into our 'age-in-place' forever home! The idea of being green, and implementing sustainable principles, was on the top of our priority list but had to be compromised in certain cases due to budget and situational concerns. Nate worked with us on every detail, listening to and responding to our goals, providing advice and counsel and following the project thru to the end. Not only did he come up with an innovative, creative, and stunning design, but he worked with us throughout the project guiding the choice of materials and resources. The now completed house is truly our dream home!! We continuously get compliments on the design and are proud to recommend Nate and his team.

We hired Kipnis to architect an extensive exterior and interior remodel of our home. We could not have made a better decision. Nate and his team led us through the process, providing consultative guidance throughout. And besides coming up with some really creative and innovative plans for our house, I particularly valued how they helped facilitate the build by connecting us with a great set of contractors and monitoring the progress along the way. End to end, Kipnis was a fantastic partner and I recommend them without reservation!

I have worked with Nate for almost 20 years. I first met Nate when he was highly recommended to be the Architect for the new building design for my company. He took an old building that looked like it could be condemned and turned it into a state of the art modern office space. His design is timeless. Our building still wows after all these years!! I also had Nate help me when I bought a home and completely remodeled it inside and out. The creative ideas he came up with were nothing less than spectacular. Nate is without a doubt one of the top Architects in Illinois. His environmental conscious is second to none. Nobody does green like Nate Kipnis!!!

Excellent work! We live in a 125 year-old home and wanted a garage that echoed its architecture. Nate and his staff did a masterful job integrating a historic feel with modern features. There were a number of challenges that they easily navigated, and we are thrilled with the results. We’re just sad that we unexpectedly moved out of state and didn’t have the opportunity to work with Kipnis on renovating our home as we had planned. Nate and Dan had amazing ideas, and we know it would have been beautiful!

We have the distinction of being Nate’s very first client back in 1993, which included the renovation of the kitchen and master bath of our Deerfield home upon moving in. This was followed by two more major renovations in the same house over the next 25 years. In 2017 we decided to move and recruit Nate to design/build our current dream home in Glencoe, IL. And that he did. Nate’s attention to detail, knowledge of the efficient use of space, materials and layout to conserve energy is awesome. The construction included 20 solar panels perfectly placed within the design of the structure to collect the suns rays throughout the year. Nate has excelled in his pursuit of ‘green’ architecture and we are extremely satisfied with our newest, whole house project. It was a pleasure to work with Nate, Dan and the rest of the team who all listened to our desires, preferences and dreams, and really delivered.

We had a great experience working with Nate, Debbie, Kudo and the rest of the team on our new home construction in Highland Park. The design of our house is stunning and the green construction is amazing. Our HVAC system rarely kicks in; yet the temperature in the house stays remarkably constant no matter what the temperature is outside. We are thrilled with our new home and enthusiastically recommend them!

We have now used Kipnis for two renovations of our historic Victorian home exceeding $250K: bathrooms, mechanicals, structural -- you name it. His knowledge of historic renovations met the standards of our local preservation commission, and the use of LEED practices and materials were a great fit for our values. In both of the projects, we lived through the renovations, and the contractors he helped us find were very professional and reasonably-priced. His practical designs fit the historic nature of our house while giving us much more space and storage (all in the same footprint). We wouldn't hesitate to use Kipnis again.