DARA HAAGENS

Dara values sustainability, innovation, and user-centered design. For her, each project has unique challenges that demand to be examined for each client, site, project, program, and budget; and successful designs better the human experience and are environmentally sound.

Before working at KFA, Dara explored many allied design fields including interior design, landscape design, graphic design, and design/build architecture. Consequently, she has worked on a range of project scales (tenant improvements to a new construction high-rise), project types (home gardens to mixed use buildings), and design phases (conceptual storytelling to construction detailing). Through these varied experiences, Dara has found designing dignified housing for the unhoused, under-housed, and aging to be the most fulfilling.

Dara is a leading member of KFA’s Sustainability Initiative Committee, which develops and implements actions to deliver sustainable design more effectively and consistently across all projects.