KlingStubbins
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Architecture, Engineering, Interior design, Urban planning |
| Predecessor | The Kling-Lindquist Partnership, Inc.; Stubbins Associates |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Founder | Vincent G. Kling (via predecessor) |
| Defunct | 2011 |
| Fate | Merged into Jacobs Engineering Group |
| Headquarters | Philadelphia , United States |
Area served | United States, China |
Key people | Vincent G. Kling, Hugh Stubbins |
| Products | Architectural design, Engineering services, Interior design, Urban planning |
| Parent | Jacobs Engineering Group (from 2011) |
KlingStubbins was a multidisciplinary firm specializing in architecture, engineering, interior design, and urban planning, with its main office located in Philadelphia. Additional branches operated in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Raleigh, North Carolina; San Francisco; Washington, D.C.; and Beijing. In 1982, founder Vincent G. Kling received the prestigious Frank P. Brown Medal from the Franklin Institute.
Firm history
The establishment of KlingStubbins occurred in 2007 through the union of The Kling-Lindquist Partnership, Inc., initiated by Vincent Kling in 1946, and Stubbins Associates, which was founded by Hugh Stubbins, FAIA, in 1949. Kling’s practice grew to become Philadelphia’s largest architectural firm, distinguished by projects such as the Bell Atlantic Tower, completed in 1991 and ranking among the tallest structures in the city. Additionally, Kling partnered with urban planner Edmund Bacon on various initiatives.
Stubbins Associates, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, earned recognition for designing significant skyscrapers including New York City’s Citicorp Center, Boston’s headquarters for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and Japan’s tallest edifice at the time, the Yokohama Landmark Tower. Prior to their formal merger in 2007, Kling joined forces with Stubbins Associates in 2003. The merged entity broadened its scope by integrating engineering, interior design, and landscape architecture services while expanding its geographic presence through multiple offices.
Among its notable former employees was model maker Michael Paul Smith, who later created the miniature town known as Elgin Park during his tenure at the firm in the 1970s.
In 2011, KlingStubbins became part of Jacobs Engineering Group, functioning within their Global Buildings division.
Notable designs
- Employee Center for Campbell's, located in Camden, New Jersey, completed in 2010
- Headquarters for Autodesk AEC division in Waltham, Massachusetts, finalized in 2008
- AT&T corporate headquarters situated in Basking Ridge, New Jersey (constructed between 1971 and 1974)
- Processing & Distribution Center for the United States Postal Service in Philadelphia, finished in 2006
- Research Laboratories for Merck based in Boston, completed in 2005
- Research Complex I at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Aurora, Colorado, completed in 2005
- The Venetian Resort located in Las Vegas, opened in 2003
- Phase II of the headquarters for Wyeth in Collegeville, Pennsylvania
- The iconic Bell Atlantic Tower in Philadelphia, completed in 1991
- Development of the Penn Center, Philadelphia during the 1950s
- Pharmaceutical Research & Development Headquarters Complex for GlaxoSmithKline at Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
- Corporate Office Facility for Dow Jones & Company situated in Princeton, New Jersey
- Corporate Headquarters for SAP AG America located in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
- Headquarters of the International Monetary Fund (Phases I–III) based in Washington, DC, constructed from 1971 to 1999
- Congress Hall in Berlin
- The towering Yokohama Landmark Tower located in Yokohama, Japan
- Medical facility at the Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania
- The former sports venue known as Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia
- The prominent skyscraper, Citigroup Center, situated in New York City
- Educational building at North Shore High School located in Glen Head, New York
- The presidential library dedicated to Ronald Reagan located in Simi Valley, California
- Office tower known as One Cleveland Center situated in Cleveland
- Headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
- The PacWest Center located in Portland, Oregon
- Salesforce Tower positioned within Indianapolis
- Nashville City Center based in Nashville, Tennessee
Publications
Both Kling-Lindquist and The Stubbins Associates have produced multiple architectural monographs. Their inaugural collaborative publication, KlingStubbins: Palimpsest, was issued in 2009 by Images Publishing. Drawing from comprehensive internal studies on laboratory architecture, KlingStubbins released Sustainable Design of Research Laboratories: Planning, Design, and Operation in 2010 through Wiley, emphasizing cross-disciplinary approaches to sustainable laboratory design and energy conservation.
Project delivery innovation
KlingStubbins pioneered the use of an Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) model in New England with the development of the Autodesk Headquarters in Waltham, MA. This method contrasts with conventional practices where owners separately engage architects and contractors; instead, IPD integrates owner, architect, and builder into a single contractual agreement. This collaboration streamlines the design/build timeline while distributing responsibility and financial outcomes collectively. The project gained international acclaim for both its architectural excellence and innovative delivery framework, achieving a shortened schedule without legal conflicts or change orders.
Honors and awards
- Autodesk AEC Headquarters, Waltham, MA, USA, 2008
- Kling inducted into the National Academy of Design, 1964