Keith Kirley, AIA
MANAGING AND FOUNDING PARTNER
Keith is a third-generation architect, known for his distinctive style rooted in tradition and his New England upbringing. With a Master's in Classical Architecture from Notre Dame and an undergraduate degree from Brown, Keith brought his expertise to Northern California, establishing Kirley Architects. His firm specializes in single-family homes but has also completed notable commercial projects like the Instagram Campus and Noosh restaurant in San Francisco.
Outside of work, Keith serves on several design review boards and is active in the Institute for Classical Architecture and Art. He enjoys skiing, ice hockey, and fly fishing, and lives in Kentfield with his family.
Nii-Akanu Quao
senior project manager
Nii started his career in high end residential in Montreal and Toronto before relocating to San Francisco in 2000. At successive prominent boutique Bay Area firms, he has worked on complex, high-budget homes in San Francisco, Napa, Sonoma, and Atherton. His world-class level experience brings clients visions of their custom homes, estate projects and extensive remodels to completion through creative and meticulous detailing. He has worked with Keith for many years, having met and collaborated with Keith on a project prior to the founding of Kirley Architects.
An experienced communicator, Nii loves to assemble great project teams and excels at explaining architectural and construction concepts to clients, consultants, contractors as well as Building and Planning departments. He has been a leader at every firm he’s worked, including the top residential Project Manager at Backen Gillam Architects for 5 years.
Megan Leicht
PROJECT ARCHITECT
Megan is a licensed architect at Kirley Architects. She has a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Notre Dame and nearly ten years of experience in high end residential architecture in the Bay Area. In her free time, Megan can be found exploring Mt Tam or sketching the unique architecture the Bay Area has to offer. Megan also instructs architecture workshop classes for the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA).
John Court
PROJECT ARCHITECT
John is a licensed architect and accomplished designer with a global portfolio spanning from New York to Jakarta. He has excelled in delivering architectural and interior designs across multiple sectors, including residential, community, hospitality, workplace, and commercial interiors—with an experienced focus on retail and F&B. He has held design leadership roles as Head of Design, Founder & Principal Architect, Senior Design Manager, and Owner's Rep—joining with stakeholders as partners—along with those who craft the work—in an engaging, lively process with an eye for detail and the unexpected.
His work emphasizes the value of diverse experiences, a global perspective, and commitment to collaboration. By recognizing the uniqueness of each individual or organization and sharing that story effectively, we can thoughtfully leverage these perspectives to enrich both the projects and people we work with.
John truly enjoys architectural practice, the iterative and explorative nature of the work and the range of people involved in the process of getting things built. Beyond this work, he enjoys international travel and photography—exploring nature, people and the built environment through his camera lens.
Mu Chang
Commercial Senior Project Manager
Mu concentrates on retail projects providing full spectrum architectural services. She managed design and construction projects for a wide variety of retail, restaurants and commercial clients as they built retail stores, restaurants and offices. Prior to focusing on commercial architectures, Mu worked on mostly high-rise and mid-rise buildings.
Mu earned her architecture degree at the University of Oregon, School of Architecture. Outside of architecture, Mu enjoys teaching volleyball, the outdoors and travel.
LANCE KIRLEY
Director of Architectural Millwork
Lance Kirley has been in the position of Director of Architectural Millwork for Kirley Architects since its founding in 2015. He brings over 25 years of experience in traditional design and construction and leads the company's efforts in designing and developing traditional based architectural millwork products. Lance oversees Classic Colonial Homes and his collaboration with Kirley Architects focuses on creating high-quality, traditionally inspired architectural millwork products. He operates in the New England region and leads the project management of East Coast projects for Kirley Architects.
In his youth, Lance was a member of the U.S. Olympic Luge Team. He enjoys studying American history, woodworking, and maintaining his historical farm with his wife, Jacqueline.