Mentors & Topics

Karin Payson, AIA, LEED AP — Principal, KPa+d

Karin Payson is the principal architect of Karin Payson Architecture + Design (KPa+d), a design-oriented, San Francisco-based firm with projects completed throughout Northern California as well as New York’s Hudson Valley and Wyoming.

At KPa+d, Karin has been engaged as an architect and interior designer in a wide variety of new buildings and substantial renovation projects for public libraries, various commercial and institutional clients, and homeowners. She and the firm are currently designing a new building for the JFCS Holocaust Center in San Francisco, which is scheduled to begin construction in early 2027. Karin brings a rich set of skills and interests to her work: Drawing, weaving, clothing design and fabrication, as well as frequent travel in search of fresh experiences, are essential to her practice as an architect and inform her continuing study of the characteristics of natural light and materials.

Before founding KPa+d in 1992, Karin’s professional experience included several years in the New York office of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates where, as a Project Architect, her work focused on the planning, programming and design of large-scale commercial buildings and adaptive re-use of historically significant buildings.

Karin holds degrees from Columbia University and UC Berkeley and is a licensed architect in California and New York. Her work has appeared in several exhibitions and publications, including LUXE, Marin Magazine; California Homes; Science & Spirit; Architectural Digest; San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Magazine; Sunset Magazine; The Sacramento Bee; The San Francisco Examiner Sunday Magazine; and The New York Times.

Kimberly Neuhaus, AIA — Partner, The Brooklyn Studio

M. Arch, University of Pennsylvania // BA, Urban Studies, Columbia University

Kim is a Partner at The Brooklyn Studio which she joined in 2024, after 26 years as the founding principal of Neuhaus Design Architecture.

She has a passion for cities and the ways in which individual structures can enhance and strengthen the urban fabric. Her primary professional focus continues to be the renovation, rehabilitation, and adaptive reuse of historic masonry buildings throughout New York City.

She is currently on the board of AIA Brooklyn and is the founder of its Custom Residential Architects Network committee. When not working, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, and dinghy sailing on Jamaica Bay.

Robert Herrmann — Principal, Offit Kurman

Robert F. Herrmann represents design professionals and other construction-related firms, privately held businesses, and New York City housing cooperatives and condominiums. He serves as general counsel to architects, landscape architects, interior designers, lighting designers, engineers, owners, developers, and contractors, advising them on business matters and representing them in litigation, arbitration, and mediation. Before joining Offit Kurman, Bob spent 34 years as managing partner of the New York City law firm Menaker & Herrmann, where he advised many of the country’s leading architecture and design firms.

A trained mediator, he serves on the American Arbitration Association panel of construction mediators and as a mediator for the New York State Supreme Court, Commercial Division. Bob is also an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and a Visiting Professor at Pratt Institute School of Architecture, teaching professional practice to architecture students. He has led numerous seminars for design professionals and is the lead author of Law for Architects: What You Need to Know, published by W.W. Norton.