The mission of DKLEVY Architecture and Design is to reflect God’s goodness in every relationship, and His creativity through every design. At DKLEVY, we are an architectural studio providing large firm expertise within a small, service-oriented experience. We strive to positively impact each community we work and live in to the glory of God, in an era when challenges must be met with faith and integrity as the guiding value.
Hear from DKLEVY Project Manager Chris Morris and President Daniel Levy about what we do, who we are, and what our vision and purpose are.
Q: What do we do at DKLEVY, who are we, and what is our vision and purpose?
A: We are a 12-year-old company here in Knoxville, Tennessee. Our passion is to serve the senior living community as well as multi-family. So we create communities and campuses where people can thrive and really want to be, want to have their best life, and really come to a place where interactions and community can happen. We’ve seen that really across the 16 different states we work with and even some of the countries where we’re trying to create that.
Q: Why did you create DKLEVY?
A: My wife and I started DKLEVY 12 years ago and really felt like God was calling us to create a company and business. For us, it’s more than just doing projects. I am proud that we have a great team and I think every day our purpose is really to work together, and do life together. Not only does that affect our clients, but that also affects our vendors, our partners, and everyone that enjoys our projects. And so really it’s the people that pushed us to start DKLEVY. By connecting with people and connecting people to ultimately God and the things that he’s made, that’s why we started DKLEVY.
Q: What advice would you give someone beginning a career in architecture?
A: If you’re interested in becoming an Architect, make sure you know it’s what you want to do. It’s a huge investment, just the schooling and getting your initial license is about a 10 year process. It’s a lifestyle job. At DKLEVY, we’re always talking about work life balance and how to navigate that and do it well. Make sure you join a firm with a great balance and culture.
That brings me to one of the unique things about DKLEVY, our team culture. We hang out with each other a lot. We enjoy each other. It’s kind of like a family. We have our own struggles and things, but at the end of the day, we do life together and we enjoy being around each other.
Q: What are some of the challenges as an architect and business owner, and in kind of molding those together, have you experienced?
A: I think the challenges are what make it exciting as well. And they’re not just negative things. I think running a business and being a steward are our opportunities to be excellent and to be different and to set ourselves apart. Challenges can range from just interpersonal issues to making the right call with the client and doing the hard thing, but the right thing. And so for us, that’s why our core values are so important. Because we’re looking to exemplify each one of those aspects as we have those opportunities and challenges arise.
We hope through this interview you can see and feel the passion that we bring to architecture. If you have a project in mind, or ideas, dreams or goals, reach out to DKLEVY today. We’d love to help you make your dreams reality.
