
QKA Principal Aaron Jobson was honored to present at the Graphisoft Key Client Conference in Budapest in October. Aaron’s presentation focused on the critical role Graphisoft’s BIM software plays in the design of QKA projects. His audience was an amazing group of professionals from around the world. Check out his interview here.
Archive for the ‘QKAers’ Category
BIM in Budapest
Tuesday, January 8th, 2013Paws for Purple Hearts
Thursday, July 12th, 2012
QKA Principal Mark Quattrocchi has a long history with training service dogs. Outside of the office, he is on the Board of Directors for Paws for Purple Hearts—an organization that provides a unique program for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) veterans who become service dog trainers for their fellow veterans. A veteran will do just about anything to help a fellow veteran and in this process of training service dogs they are able to heal the psychological scares they carry. This moving article from Smithsonian magazine and video do a wonderful job of showing just how effective this is in helping our wounded warriors.
iPad Artistry
Friday, April 20th, 2012
This summer will mark my fifth year with Quattrocchi Kwok Architects. As a firm of 50, we’re a close knit group so it never ceases to amaze me when I discover something NEW about a fellow QKA’er! Just recently I was talking to Shawn in our Construction Administration department. His typical day is spent in the field working with contractors. These can be long days since QKA’s projects are spread throughout the North Bay.
To my surprise, Art is his medium for creative self-expression and stress relief. He enjoys painting and creating mixed media pieces. And now with iPad in hand, he’s creating remarkable pieces like the eagle above using a painting application–an inspiring example of blending technology & creativity.
Happy Valentine’s Day
Tuesday, February 14th, 2012Today my fellow QKA’ers and I got together at lunch to create our own Valentine cards. Using items found in the office (with a few extras from our friends at Corrick’s), we assembled a variety of cards for the special people in our lives. Although we didn’t have paste or glitter, we had fun being creative together.
Happy Holidays from QKA
Friday, December 23rd, 2011
Christmas 2011
Each year QKA’ers participate in the KZST sponsored Secret Santa program. Despite the economy, QKA’ers generously gave an array of gifts to those in need in our community—what a wonderful reminder of the spirit of the holiday season. Happy Holidays from all of us at QKA!
Volunteer Spotlight
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
With pencil in hand, Lyanne leads discussion at WildCare
Architect Lyanne Schuster was recently honored for her volunteer work at wildlife rescue organization WildCare. Based in San Rafael, WildCare helps care for injured and orphaned wildlife and supports nature education programs that show people how to live well with wildlife so wildlife can live well with us. A volunteer since 2004, Lyanne donates her Sunday mornings to WildCare and is deeply committed to animals and wildlife. When an opportunity arose for WildCare to consider a facility expansion Lyanne asked QKA to consider supporting the process through a pro bono effort. Working with Mark Quattrocchi, Lyanne assisted in the creation of a Programming document that will help guide Wildcare’s planning for the new facility.
Creativity & The Kranok
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
Saving Lives One Pint at a Time
Friday, April 29th, 2011
We’re a firm of nearly 50, yet we truly have a family atmosphere here at QKA. There have been many times I’ve felt honored to be amongst this group of people. Last Monday was one of those moments. Organized by fellow QKA’er Carol, the bus from the Blood Bank of the Redwoods parked in front of our office for a blood drive. Carol reached out to our staff, consultants, local businesses and friends to honor our colleague Spencer and support his fight against cancer. There was a line going out the bus door. FORTY FOUR people gave blood and it would have been more if there had been more time. Carol said it best in an office-wide email; “In addition to honoring Spencer, his supremely positive spirit and his fight against this cancer, we saved lives today and THAT, my friends, is no small thing.”
Handcar Regatta 2010
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
They both love bicycles and metalwork, and Janelle has a welder, so they figured they could probably work something out. Inspired by Willy Wonka’s car, Dr Seuss, and jellyfish, the two built their handcar at night and on weekends on Janelle’s back patio in the West End, with painting, building and general morale-boosting help from friends. The handcar, called Big Giant, was almost entirely constructed from recycled materials: old bike frames from the dump and Community Bikes cut up and welded together, part of a chair found by the side of the road, pipes from a car purchased at a garage sale, a friend’s torn curtains, fake leather from Jeff’s defunct couch, thrift store kitchen items, etc.
They constructed wheel guides out of bike tubing and rollerblade wheels to stay on the tracks. The first race was fantastic: they stayed on the tracks all the way to the finish line and actually won, amid wild cheering from the crowd! However, they started falling off the tracks during the second and third races as the forces on the wheel guides proved too great and they bent too much to keep the handcar on the tracks. The crowd cheered anyway as they ran alongside and pushed the handcar to the finish line.
Schuyler and Janelle rode Big Giant to the office a few days after the Regatta and gave Sara a ride around the block! They’ll be riding it around town…as they think about next year’s handcar. (**Click each photo for a closer look).
QKA Associate Aaron Jobson Named “Top 40 Under 40″ (again!)
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010We’re proud to announce that QKA Associate Aaron Jobson was selected as a Top 40 Under 40 professional in the A/E/C industry by national publication Building Design + Construction. Aaron is in good company–BD+C refers to this group of 40 professionals as “some of the brightest stars in the AEC universe”. This commendation follows Aaron’s previous award as Top 40 Under 40 by the North Bay Business Journal. Congrats Aaron!












