Interview With The Designer

A man is much more that his work. Kevin opens up to our guest contributor to talk about life, love and what draws him to design.

Kent McCoy is an award winning architect, a former partner at Smith Edwards McCoy and currently Associate Principal at QA+M architecture.

Where did you grow up? What was it like there? I'm from a small island off the coast of Virginia called Chincoteague. I was raised by my grandparents in a little white house on the channel. In many ways growing up there was magic. It really was. But hometowns are complicated and mine is really no exception. Chincoteague always has a way of making me nostalgic for my past while reminding me that it can't be repeated. It's summertime now which would mean mosquitos, marsh mud, free carnival tickets from Aunt Kack, drives to get ice cream in the back of Uncle George's green pickup truck, and shucking beans or picking crabs on the back porch with MomMom and PopPop. But the close family I grew up with there is gone now and the missing faces still carry a sting for me. But with the sting is an overwhelming sense of gratitude and Chincoteague was and is the most amazing place. It will always be my home no matter where I live.

Do you have any kids or pets? If so, do you think minimalistic design is realistic in a full household?

I do. I have a 12 year old daughter, Sadie. Being her Dad is the best thing that's ever happened to me - the hardest job I've ever had but the most rewarding. You know, back when Sadie was a baby I had to make a choice. I could have an immaculate house or my sanity - not both. I chose sanity. After that, my daughter chose two dogs, a cat, 11 hens and a rooster. So, so much for the sanity... (Laughing)

Kids come with stuff... lots and lots of stuff and I think minimalism is a hard goal to achieve with a child but people have to follow their hearts in their homes. If they long for minimalism there must be a way to find it - at the very least they could find a good compromise.

Did you always know that you wanted to be a designer? How old were you when you knew? I can't say I did. I always loved designing. I was obsessed with building Lincoln Log houses and Lego furniture when I was a kid. Completely obsessed. I'd draw dream house plans too but coming from where I did, and the family I had, the concept of designing for a living never occurred to me.

Though art and design have always been a big part of my life, design was mostly a personal passion as I pursued a career in finance and then became a stay-at-home Dad. It was after my daughter started elementary school, when I realized that, for her sake as much as my own, I should have a career that I found fulfilling. That is when I decided I needed to finally turn my personal passion into a career. I started graduate school in 2017... at 42. Blimey! (Laughs)

“Design is a part of everything I do.”

Do you come from a design-oriented family? Did your family's aesthetic have an influence on your approach to design? My grandfather was a rigger for NASA and my grandmother a homemaker. Aside from growing up in an immaculately clean home - no one would call my family "design-oriented". But our house was filled with love and objects made with it. MomMom's quilts and braided rugs were made with heart and I value those things more than any "designer" objects I have. That having been said, my approach to design has definitely been influenced by it. Spaces that speak to the people that occupy them - speak to me. Collected and curated objects with meaning will never replace something that is bought new in a store. I believe there is, or should be, heart in every space, every design, and that is what I strive for.

Is design something that you apply to other aspects of your life? Do you garden or make art or bake?

Design is a part of everything I do. I have recently turned my sights to designing my own gardens but I've been an artist since I was a kid, selling my paintings at 14 in a gallery in my hometown. I bake too. My Christmas cookies seem to go over especially well.

Who are your favorite designers of all time? There's something I admire about most of them. I couldn't choose just one. Wren? Saarinen? van Der Rohe? I'm all over the map...

If you could have dinner with one of them, who would it be? Good grief...again just one? I'd love to sit down with Thomas O'Brien, Peter Dunham or Darryl Carter... if I could time travel - maybe Pierre Chareau at the Maison de Verre, Eileen Gray at E-1027 or Billy Baldwin in his Manhattan apartment circa 1980.

Then again, I know for a fact that Kent McCoy makes a killer steak au poivre. Hmm...

What is the first thing you notice when you walk into a room? Does it have a soul; a heart? Was it considered? Is there a pile of books somewhere?

What do you think is the most important element of a well-designed room? Proportion. Livability. Well, that's two... Really, I think that an overall balance is more important than any one thing.

I like spaces that aren't all matchy-matchy but take a risk or two.

When working with a client, how important is their own personal history? Are they allowed to keep pieces that are important to them or do you insist on working with a blank slate? When you are designing for a residential space the client's personal history is paramount. I think our homes should reflect our paths, our journeys, and I love pulling beloved objects, things that really mean something to a client - collected over time, together in a space that represents a client's style, comfort and life.

What do you think is the single biggest misconception that people have about design? That it's unapproachable... Everything around us is designed - even when you don't notice.