Studio – Kempel Architects

Profile

Founded by Chris Kempel, AIA, NCARB, we are a Los Angeles-based architecture studio dedicated to creating homes that honor both craft and intention. Our practice is built on the belief that thoughtful design can transform how you experience daily life—where every detail serves a purpose and every space connects you more deeply to your surroundings and to those you love.

What began as a passion for the interplay between nature and architecture has evolved into a practice known for seamlessly blending indoor and outdoor living, utilizing natural materials like stone, cedar, and mahogany, and creating custom residences that reflect our clients' unique lifestyles. From Mandeville Canyon to Malibu, our work spans Southern California's most distinctive landscapes.

Explore our Services
Learn about Our Process
Meet our Team

Services

We start by understanding your vision, evaluating your site's potential, and establishing a realistic budget and timeline. We handle all permits and approvals, ensuring your project moves forward smoothly from day one.

This is where your dream takes shape. We create detailed architectural plans, help you select materials and finishes that reflect your style, and provide 3D renderings so you can see your future home before construction begins.

We oversee every aspect of the build process, coordinating with contractors and ensuring the highest quality craftsmanship. From foundation to final details, we're your advocate until you receive the keys to your completed home.

Process

We begin with an in-depth conversation about how you live, your vision for the home, and your site's unique opportunities. This phase includes site analysis, budget planning, and understanding what success looks like for your project.

We develop the project strategy, secure necessary permits and approvals, and establish a detailed timeline. Our team handles all regulatory requirements while keeping you informed throughout the approval process.

Your vision comes to life through architectural plans, elevations, and detailed drawings. We collaborate on material selection, finishes, and spatial layouts, providing 3D renderings so you can visualize your future home.

We oversee the entire build process, coordinating with contractors and ensuring quality craftsmanship at every stage. Regular site visits and quality control inspections keep your project on track and on budget.

Final inspections, walk-throughs, and finishing touches ensure every detail meets our standards. We handle the final approvals and deliver the keys to your completed home, ready for you to create lasting memories.

Team

Led by Chris Kempel, AIA, NCARB, our team approaches each project with a craftsman's attention to detail and an artist's eye for beauty. We believe the best homes emerge from deep collaboration—listening to how you live, understanding your site's potential, and translating your vision into spaces that exceed your expectations.

Christopher Kempel, AIA, NCARB | Founding Principal

Chris Kempel, NCARB, AIA, channeled his lifelong fascination with the visual arts and construction into the pursuit of architecture. For 33 years, he has focused his career on practicing architecture that values excellence in design, craft, and the elevated human experience.

A Modernist at heart, Chris has spent the last 22 years running an architectural business, which has led him to his current role as founding principal of Kempel Architects, a firm based in Santa Monica, California. KA's unique purpose rests in its people, uniting the talents and experience of long-time colleagues and architects, Bridget Krajacic and Keith Ireland. Together, they have delivered exceptional homes and estates for discerning private clientele locally and across the country. From the southern coast of California to the wine country of Oregon. North Carolina's Piedmont to the Gulf Shore of Florida.

As a graduate of the NCSU School of Design and the UCLA Master of Architecture program, Chris also studied at the Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin. This now international program values an interdisciplinary approach, viewing society and art as symbiotic relationships.

Since childhood, Chris has admired the juxtaposition between natural and built environments, which has manifested into the art of drawing, building, and unique visionary skills. He emphasizes excellence in craft, understanding to tailor a client's home fully, and the finest details heighten the experience. While having designed and worked on both small and large commercial projects, restaurants, offices, and hotels, his greatest passion lies in designing residential spaces. The notion that a well-designed home can positively impact someone's well-being drives him to consider every detail. He once spent several days living in a family's existing home to better understand how sunlight changes throughout the day, all to inform the design of the future dwelling.

Chris has dedicated a significant portion of his personal life to giving back to the profession through his affiliations with the AIA, his contributions to the CA professional licensing process, and his service to communities at home and abroad. Whether through the Los Angeles Chapter of Habitat for Humanity and Downtown's Union Rescue Mission, or volunteer work in places like Jacmel, Haiti, Caracas, Venezuela, Cairo, Egypt, or in The Shankill of Belfast, Northern Ireland, he's experienced how acts of service can enrich the server as much as those being served.

Bridget Krajacic, AIA, NCARB

Bridget has always had a passion for design, dreaming of creating glass houses on the beach since she was just two years old. In 2005, this aspiration led her to sunny California, where she began her West Coast career with Kempel Architects.

Her architectural journey began at the University of Virginia, where she studied architecture and architectural history. After that, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked on the Pentagon renovation. Bridget then spent several years working on various projects on the East Coast, from Virginia to New York City to Boston, before relocating to Florida to pursue her Master of Architecture. During her studies, she also assisted in teaching graduate classes and consulted for architects, interior designers, and structural engineers.

As Co-Founding Principal, Bridget combines her professional experience with a collaborative approach to every residential project. She finds the greatest joy in working closely with clients and project teams, transforming innovative ideas into thoughtfully realized designs.

Keith Ireland, AIA

Keith’s passion for design and creating physical environments that can be inhabited and experienced was evident from an early age. His love of LEGO, and a simple middle school art class project on designing a house, set him on a path that led him from Albuquerque to Los Angeles. In 1999, he earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Southern California and embarked on his professional career on the West Coast.

As a Principal at Kempel Architects, Keith brings a keen attention to detail and expertise in project management, construction drawing, construction detailing, and 3D/BIM computer modeling to his team. His diverse experience working on various project types, including single-family homes, historic adaptive reuse projects, apartments, hospitality facilities, and condominiums, enables him to ensure that creatively designed projects are fully realized and ultimately enjoyed by those that inhabit them.

Adam Perez

As a designer and musician, Adam finds that both disciplines inform and enrich each other. With a creative edge to his process, Adam's meticulous level of care and attention is evident in every project, whether professional or personal. He believes that thoughtfully curated design in any medium can inspire and evoke distinctive and memorable experiences.