Robert A.M. Stern Architects is a 140-person firm of architects, landscape architects, interior designers, and supporting staff. Its founder and namesake, Robert Stern, is Dean of the Yale School of Architecture. He was previously Professor of Architecture and Director of the Historic Preservation Program at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University.

Over its thirty-five-year history, the firm has established an international reputation as a leading design firm with wide experience in institutional, as well as residential and commercial work. Currently, the firm has projects underway in twenty states as well as in Europe, Latin America and Asia. It is an industry leader in the design of buildings that are environmentally sustainable and energy efficient. It is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council.

The firm's practice is to develop a distinctive and appropriate character for each of its projects -- especially important for an institution such as the Westport Weston Family Y that serves an entire community. Architect Kevin Smith, an associate partner of the firm working on the Family Y project, is also a Westport resident. A Yale graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Architecture degree Degree, he has more than 20 years of experience in architecture and urban design. He is particularly excited about the Family Y project, as it gives him the opportunity to create a state-or-the-art facility for use by families in his own community. His care is evident in the initial building and site plans, which provide ample space for the programs and services the Family Y offers – from Fitness, Dance, Gymnastics, and Child Care, to meeting rooms and babysitting – plus expanded use of and access to open space at Mahackeno.

Nestled in the northeast corner of the 32-acre Mahackeno property, the building is sited to leverage the naturally sloping terrain to maximum effect. Only one story of the planned two-story building will be visible from the Merritt Parkway or Sunny Lane and the building will not be visible at all from Rice’s Lane. The building design matches key elements of the surrounding environment, drawing from the traditions of American camp architecture and using a material palette composed of native fieldstone and rough-hewn timber.

Notably in the region, Robert A.M. Stern Architects designed the new Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass.; the Spangler Campus Center at the Harvard Business School; and the new Museum Center at the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut. Kevin Smith was project manager for the latter two. The firm has designed and constructed lodges in such environmentally sensitive locations as Yellowstone Park and Mount Rainier.

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