New York Architecture Firm Expands To D.C., Hires 2 Designers From Gensler
A 60-year-old architecture and interior design firm headquartered in New York City has expanded to the nation's capital.
MKDA recently opened a new design studio in the WeWork building at 1701 Rhode Island Ave. NW, and it brought on two Gensler alumni.
Kristín Aldan Guðmundsdóttir is leading the firm's D.C. office as executive managing director. She previously served as a senior project designer at Gensler, where she designed offices for law firms in the D.C. market. Prior to joining Gensler, she owned her own design firm in Iceland, InnArk.
Joanna Ha Yean Shin joined MKDA as senior design lead. She previously served as design purpose leader at Gensler. She has helped reposition commercial office buildings and designed workplaces and sports facilities.
The firm also has offices in New York, Miami and Stamford, Connecticut. It said the new office allows it to provide services to current clients that have a D.C. presence and expand its client base to new companies.
"MKDA is uniquely qualified to serve the Washington, D.C., market," Guðmundsdóttir said in a release. "The firm's history, culture and project delivery strength, coupled with my experience in the local market and a strategic design vision that has been honed over the course of my career, will be a boon to space users across the D.C. Metro area."
The new WeWork space filling the entire 1701 Rhode Island building opened in October as part of the coworking giant's rapid expansion in D.C. WeWork brought in tech company GetUpside to occupy the full top floor.
