Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Wall.
Adam, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
After attending Auburn University, I came back to my hometown Atlanta to start my architecture career. At my first job, I met Eric Kronberg, who was also an intern, and we hit it off right away. We shared a common work ethic and a common interest in trying to create cool places in the neighborhoods we frequented and lived in.
I know this sounds crazy now, but good, small, urban, contextual design was actually not something we were seeing getting built around the City at the time. It seemed to us that most other architecture firms in the city were focusing on larger new construction. We recognized that there may be a niche in Atlanta for adaptive reuse.
So in 2004 we ventured out on our own and started Kronberg Wall Architects. At first, we were working out of a room in Eric’s house, and then that became two rooms, then the whole first floor!
During that time, we cut our teeth on the really tough, tricky, and challenging projects-, the ones other architects in town wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. It was through that hard work that we began to become very well versed in the zoning and building codes. We began to get a name for ourselves as the guys who can make tough projects happen – often taking buildings that others would see as a teardown and turn them into cool, productive places.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The Great Recession was quite a hurdle. Those were definitely challenging times financially, but we were actually able to take that extra “free time” and really focus in on the business.
Working on our goals, business plan, organization chart, setting up processes that would assist our operations in the future. These less glamorous tasks are tough to hone in on when you are doing the architecture, but since there was not much architecture going on, it really paved the way for our efficiency and growth when the economy turned back around.
During that time most commercial developers in the city were waiting out the downturn and not pursuing projects, so the bulk of our work was residential projects. This gave us an opportunity to develop our skills in crafting living spaces. That experience has really come in handy as we work to find solutions to the housing challenges facing Atlanta today.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Kronberg Wall Architects and Atlanta ADU CO. – what should we know?
We had the opportunity a few years back to purchase and renovate an underutilized former church in Reynoldstown. We moved our office in and have Atlanta Bike Coalition as our downstairs neighbor and tenant. It is a great location adjacent to the Beltline, and our current staff of 12 really enjoy it.
Our office is a great example of why Eric and I started KWA – transforming underutilized buildings into creative and functional spaces in the neighborhoods we love. We specialize in a term we coined, “Conscious Urban Placemaking,” which we define as melding a community’s assets, inspiration, and potential to create public spaces that promote health, happiness, and well-being.
Sometimes this means taking an old warehouse and adapting the existing structure to become a new restaurant or place of work. It could also mean designing and planning for small and large-scale urban in-fill housing that respects the context of the existing neighborhood and promotes pedestrian and bicycle use.
We are also pushing the integration of ”Missing Middle Housing” (duplexes, quads, or other multi-unit or clustered housing) back into Atlanta that respects the neighboring single-family homes as opposed to some of the larger condo buildings we are seeing built. We try to inform developers and homeowners on the nuts and bolts of achieving these goals through our blog and through our work with the Incremental Development Alliance.
We have also started a company, Atlanta ADU Co., that specializes in the turn-key construction of our pre-designed “pocket cottages”. We have been proponents of the City’s zoning change to allow for these ADU’s (Accessory Dwelling Units), and now that it has been adopted we are eager to help develop these for homeowners. The experience we got with residential projects during the Great Recession prepared us as we try to provide some additional housing opportunities that there is definitely a demand for in our City.
I think it is our team’s understanding of Atlanta’s current culture that sets us apart. We live in the neighborhoods that we do our work in and respect the dynamic between the user and the place. We understand that it is diversity which creates rich urban communities and we ALWAYS consider that in our designs. I’m proud of our work because of this continued consideration.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
We had a lot of assistance along the way but really all of our Clients who have appreciated what we do for them and have spread the word about the places we create. This has allowed us to focus on the work that we enjoy and continue to grow as a firm and do good projects around Atlanta and the Southeast.
Contact Info:
- Address: 887 Wylie St. Atlanta, GA 30316
- Website: www.kronbergwall.com
- Phone: 404-653-0553
- Email: info@kronbergwall.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kronbergwall/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kronbergwall/
Credit Image:
Fredrik Brauer, Dorian Shy, John Clemmer, Erin Brauer
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