OUR FIRM | Based in Philadelphia, MGA Partners is a nationally recognized firm distinguished for architecture that is considered, crafted, and resonant with its place. We are a design-oriented firm with experienced and mature leadership. Over the past thirty years, the focus of our practice has been for respected public and private institutions. Our work is collaborative, seeking fresh ideas drawn from the people and circumstances of each project—establishing our long tradition of making lasting contributions to urban and campus spaces, improving the quality of community through our planning and architecture.
OUR STORY | Our firm began as Mitchell/Giurgola Architects, established in 1958 in Philadelphia by Ehrman Mitchell and Romaldo Giurgola. The firm achieved international prominence for architecture, during which time Mr. Giurgola won the Gold Medal—the American Institute of Architects’ highest honor for design. Their character, values, skill, and accomplishments are reflected in the succeeding firm MGA Partners with a next generation of leadership: Daniel Kelley, Mary Keefe, Catherine Broh, and Amy Stein. Today, the firm is comprised of twenty professionals, including ten registered architects, a graphic designer, and staff.
OUR APPROACH | We pursue Architecture as a human act reflecting aspirations for a better life and public responsibility. We focus our work in the context of art and we design in a language of form that is universal. We consider the way a building and its component pieces are made simultaneously with how they will be perceived and used—realizing our work through balanced attention to design, technology, and building craft. As Architecture always coexists with an existing context of buildings, spaces, cultures, landscapes, and time—our design process is founded on how new architecture can be informed by and can illuminate its unique conditions as well as what came before it.