Workshop/APD Promotions Recognize Leaders Guiding Growth + Progress

January 24, 2022

Workshop/APD has promoted three longtime leaders, Andrew Kline NCIDQ, Zachary Helmers Assoc. AIA, and Michael Luft-Weissberg AIA NCARB, for their ongoing contributions to its growth and progress. Kline, Helmers, and Luft-Weissberg, already instrumental within the firm’s leadership in its New York, Minneapolis, and Nantucket offices, will each take on expanded roles in 2022 and beyond.

Previously a Design Director and Senior Associate, Andrew Kline has been named the first Associate Principal at Workshop/APD. Kline is a five-year veteran of the firm with broad experience in high-end residential, retail and hospitality design. Today, he guides a multidisciplinary team of architects and designers realizing luxurious, meticulously crafted single family homes, residential developments, and hospitality projects across North America, as well as the firm’s successful product design practice. As Associate Principal, Kline will be responsible for generating new business across practice verticals, overseeing office development initiatives and working with the firm’s principals to set, monitor and evolve business and marketing strategy for the vertically integrated, 80-person practice and its New York, NY; Minneapolis, MN; Nantucket, MA; and Greenwich, CT offices, as well as satellite locations in Colorado, South Florida and California.

“When Andrew Kline joined Workshop/APD in 2017, we knew that his experience across key design categories would be crucial to the expansion of our growing hospitality and product practices,” said Andrew Kotchen, Founding Principal “His contributions to the firm, including the steadfast leadership of our largest multidisciplinary studio, relentless pursuit of exceptional design, and connectivity to the greater design community have propelled him into an exciting new leadership role that we know will put his many talents to good use as we expand and envision the future of our business.”

Zachary Helmers has been promoted to Managing Director, Senior Associate at Workshop/APD. For seventeen years, Helmers has applied a passion for design and cutting-edge technical innovation and fabrication to some of the firm’s most recognizable residential and development projects. From Workshop/APD’s Minneapolis office, he oversees projects from coast-to-coast with a team of local and NYC-based architects, designers, and project managers. In his new role, Helmers will build upon previous business development work in the Midwest and beyond, strengthening local and national partnerships and guiding the strategic growth of Workshop/APD’s Minneapolis office.

“It’s rare to find a designer with such extraordinary dedication to a growing firm, not to mention to his craft and trade,” Founding Principal Matt Berman said. “Through his entire professional career Zach Helmers has worked tirelessly to build Workshop/APD’s practice and portfolio, always with an eye to the future of design and craft. We’re thrilled to recognize his innumerable contributions through this promotion, and we look forward to continuing to build our business and brand together.”

Michael Luft-Weissberg, formerly Senior Project Manager, Associate, has been named Managing Director, Associate at Workshop/APD. A skilled project manager and team leader, Luft-Weissberg will apply his considerable expertise in guiding complex architectural projects from conception to completion to the oversight of project teams, consultants, craftspeople and more. In his new role, he will be responsible for facilitating and ensuring team performance, overseeing project design, development, management and execution, as well as ongoing business development.

“In all he does, Michael pushes us to be better designers, architects, builders and people,” said Thomas Zoli, Workshop/APD Principal Architect. “He has an unerring eye for detail and an encyclopedic understanding of building practices across categories and regions, and a passion for knowledge. But he has also contributed tremendously to the improvement of Workshop/APD as a firm, as an advocate for our staff, ever-evolving policies, and our inclusion, diversity, equity and access efforts.”

Andrew Kline, NCIDQ, Design Director, Associate Principal

Andrew Kline views the built environment as a communication tool capable of evoking emotions and meaningful human interaction. It is an ethos that drew him to hospitality and retail design early in his career and has guided his later work including luxury residences, multi-family developments and products. As Design Director, Associate Principal, he leads a multidisciplinary team of architects, interior designers and product designers working collaboratively across project verticals at every scale. Dedicated to creating a holistic experience, his creative process is guided by the development of a fully realized conceptual narrative which creates a lens through which all design decisions are filtered, resulting in a unified creative direction from architecture and interiors to furnishings. As a leader, Andrew is known for fostering seamless collaboration, drawing on each team member’s unique skills and experience and pushing the boundaries of design at Workshop/APD to inspire the best outcome. He is passionate about space planning, determining the project’s energy in the initial plan sketch, then realizing that energy through massing, elevation studies and finally color, texture and materiality.

Inspired by his grandfather, an artist, Andrew began drawing lessons at a young age. A summer studying graphic design at Otis College of Art & Design in Los Angeles catalyzed his love of design, leading to a Bachelors of Fine Art in Interior Design from Columbus College of Art and Design, in Columbus, OH as well as a Master of Architecture from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI. An internship at LBrands in Columbus led to a full-time role in the retail giant’s NY headquarters, designing stores for multiple brands in the US and abroad. Prior to joining Workshop/APD in 2017, he worked at Yabu Pushelberg designing high-end multifamily projects and luxury hotels in the US, Middle East and Asia.

Zachary Helmers, Assoc AIA, Managing Director, Senior Associate

A 17-year Workshop/APD veteran, Zach has been integral in shaping the firm’s identity from its earliest days. In 2012 he moved from New York City to Minneapolis, Minnesota, establishing our firm’s Great Lakes Region office and building a centralized team to more efficiently service clients in the Midwest and on the west coast. Today, he leads high-end residential and multi-family development projects across the US, overseeing design, day-to-day client relations, and project realization in close collaboration with the entire Workshop/APD team.

As a high school student in Sumner, Iowa, Zachary Helmers, Assoc AIA, Managing Director, Senior Associate discovered a love of art and geometry, leading to a five-year Bachelor of Architecture degree at the Iowa State University, followed by a Master of Architecture from Columbia University – selected for its position as a digital fabrication leader. There, he focused on architectural theory, honing 3D software skills and developing a lifelong interest in groundbreaking building technologies. He has been with Workshop/APD since graduation, cutting his teeth on high-end residential projects – where he became known for jaw-dropping kitchen designs – and focusing on developing the overarching client experience and journey. A decisive, technical designer, Zach enjoys owning the process from start to finish to ensure that the design intent is perfectly executed. He is passionate about collaborating with partners that will push the boundaries of fabrication and material to create a unique and impactful moment within a space and blurring the line between minimalist architecture and art.

Michael Luft-Weissberg, Managing Director, Associate

Since joining Workshop/APD in 2015, Managing Director and Associate Michael Luft-Weissberg has advanced through the firm’s ranks to the role of Managing Director, overseeing high-level communication and coordination of all project details between teams, tradespeople, consultants, contractors and clients. He is passionate about ground-up construction and inspired by the search for technical beauty and clever design solutions. This focus informs his work overseeing complex projects in regions with unique design and regulatory restrictions. Michael is passionate about learning, and in addition to teaching a course on Building Information Modeling (Revit) to graduate students at the City College of New York, he constantly seeks opportunities to educate himself and the Workshop team. He holds a BFA in fine art and design from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a Master of Architecture from The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture at the City College of New York.