Chris Kennedy, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB
Founder/Principal
Chris is a founder and principal at Mayor + Kennedy Architects. Through his leadership, the firm has developed a vision of enhancing the communities of Northern New England. Chris strives to bring this vision into all the firm’s work.
As a design leader at the firm, Chris enthusiastically embraces the opportunity to develop appropriate strategies and project teams for solving client needs and actively participates in creating the final aesthetic appearance of projects. His extensive background in historic preservation and adaptive reuse contributes to his delight in preserving important pieces of architectural history.
Often the shepherd of projects as they move through the office, Chris ensures that client goals and objectives are realized and that outcomes are successful. He is a nuts and bolts guy, with a passion for efficient construction methods and techniques for achieving maximum sustainability and energy efficiency in buildings.
Chris currently serves on the Sustainable Hanover Committee, as well as its Energy subcommittee and the Master Plan subcommittee. Additionally, he has served on a committee to revise town zoning to incentivize affordable housing. He previously served on the Hanover Planning Board, during which time he participated in the rewriting of the Town Master Plan. This experience augmented his understanding of the intricacies of Community Planning and the permitting process.
He’s also participated as a volunteer expert on numerous community design charrettes, exercises in which local citizens along with Plan New Hampshire volunteers come together to explore potential solutions to planning or design issues in individual New Hampshire towns.
In addition to volunteering his time for community enhancement, Chris is also a founding member of the Better Future Alliance, an integrated team of subject-matter experts with experience in Economic Development, Community Planning, Site Design, and Architecture, all practiced through the lens of Sustainability. A shared mission of enhancing communities in the New England tradition brings the Alliance members together.
In Chris’ spare time, you will find him promoting and creating opportunities for sustainable development in his hometown and the Upper Valley of New Hampshire and Vermont through his involvement as a member of the Sustainable Hanover Committee.
Chris actively travels and photographs architecture around the globe and takes advantage of the summer months by growing his own vegetables.