At Union, we use the power of design to enrich lives and strengthen communities.
We recognize the power design has to connect people to place and cultivate community. We build places that deliver long-term value for clients and communities.
We bring a comprehensive approach to the design of buildings—and we bring unity to the entire process, from design to build. We infuse our work with rigorous technical detail and pull from a breadth of design experience to integrate our broad understanding and respect for key building trades into our practice.
We’re driven by values, including good growth—where people, communities and markets all thrive together. We create beautiful, inspiring, and sustainable buildings and spaces that are grounded in market realities, and designed to stand for generations.
Our unique approach has attracted clients, and awards, from across the United States and Canada.
We are…
Partners who believe in “serving first”. It is through collaboration, empathy, and humility that we earn the opportunity to help shape the future for our clients and the communities we serve.
Leaders and fierce optimists. We challenge ourselves and our colleagues to advocate for and create more beautiful, just, and sustainable places for this generation and the next.
Artists who believe that beauty has the power to enrich and delight—to elevate the merely practical in order to touch the spirit—and we aspire to bring this artfulness to all that we do.
Stewards entrusted with preserving and extending the accumulated wisdom of our profession in service of a more equitable, sustainable, and enduring future.
Grateful and love what we do and who we do it with. We believe that creating places for people to thrive should be fun and enriching for everyone, and we find joy in working to make the world a better place.
Our History
Union was founded in 2001 with one overriding goal: to use our skills as architects and urban designers to make a civic contribution to communities of all types.
Donald Powers founded Union in direct response to what he saw as the general disengagement of the profession from the challenges of urban sprawl. With a single employee and a willingness to confront entrenched perceptions, the firm earned instant recognition and a well-deserved reputation repairing fragmented communities in and around Providence, Rhode Island. In 2003, Donald was joined by Douglas Kallfelz, and the firm grew to include projects throughout the Northeast and across the country.
Together, Donald and Douglas envisioned a studio of designers working to improve communities using an integrated approach to architecture and urban design and who have a professional commitment to the civic realm. Over the past 20 years, our office has grown to nearly 30 architects and designers, all who contribute to furthering our mission.
In 2008, the firm name was changed to Union, reflecting our belief that exceptional work is achieved through the combined talents of many, and that the places we design bring people together.
We are…
Partners
who believe in “serving first”. It is through collaboration, empathy, and humility that we earn the opportunity to help shape the future for our clients and the communities we serve.
Leaders
and fierce optimists. We challenge ourselves and our colleagues to advocate for and create more beautiful, just, and sustainable places for this generation and the next.
Artists
who believe that beauty has the power to enrich and delight—to elevate the merely practical in order to touch the spirit—and we aspire to bring this artfulness to all that we do.
Stewards
entrusted with preserving and extending the accumulated wisdom of our profession in service of a more equitable, sustainable, and enduring future.
Grateful
and love what we do and who we do it with. We believe that creating places for people to thrive should be fun and enriching for everyone, and we find joy in working to make the world a better place.
We Are ...
Partners
who believe in “serving first”. It is through collaboration, empathy, and humility that we earn the opportunity to help shape the future for our clients and the communities we serve.
Leaders
and fierce optimists. We challenge ourselves and our colleagues to advocate for and create more beautiful, just, and sustainable places for this generation and the next.
Artists
who believe that beauty has the power to enrich and delight—to elevate the merely practical in order to touch the spirit—and we aspire to bring this artfulness to all that we do.
Stewards
entrusted with preserving and extending the accumulated wisdom of our profession in service of a more equitable, sustainable, and enduring future.
Our Approach
Union is a nationally practicing, mission-driven firm committed to designing sustainable places that will be loved for generations. Our work includes urban planning and community design, civic and institutional buildings, mixed-use developments, and housing of all types.
We bring a comprehensive approach to the design of buildings and places, infusing our work with rigorous technical detail while pulling from a breadth of design experience that integrates a broad understanding and respect for key building trades. Our expertise lies in understanding the overlapping and interwoven needs of community and client to shepherd the creation of new places that are financially and socially successful and benefit the community and the environment.
Awards & Recognition
Four Awards. Twenty-Five Years. One Unwavering Mission.
Congress For The New Urbanism, Charter Awards
2025
AIA RI awards Southside Community Land Trust Headquarters
AIA RI, Citation, Architecture of Rehabilitation
2024
Union Wins Four Urban Guild Awards!
Urban Guild
2024
See all awards