Principal Michael Kelly’s career focus has been the delivery of quality design, characterized by solutions responding to functional, aesthetic and technological imperatives. With 33 years of professional experience, Michael recognizes that design is a team effort. He especially welcomes an engaged and thoughtful client, generating solutions that are responsive and individual. Mike’s starting point for each project is a thorough understanding of each client’s organizational structure, its likely evolution and its demands for the physical environment.

Common themes in his work are aesthetic integrity, future flexibility and integration of complex technology. Together with each client, he creatively addresses the need for flexibility in meeting the challenges of ongoing organizational change. Mike’s work emphasizes natural daylighting and light as an organizing feature, and places emphasis on clarity and function. Appropriate sustainable design became a factor in Mike’s work long before “green” architecture became trendy.

Prior to forming Tilton, Kelly + Bell with partner Martha Bell, Mike served as vice president of its predecessor firm, Tilton, Lewis + Associates, where he spearheaded the firm’s key projects. Throughout his decades of experience in both entities, Mike has guided his projects by leading both design and management efforts.

Mike has extensive experience with state-of-the-art communications and security systems, office automation systems and electronic trading rooms and trading firm environments. His project history emphasizes corporate facilities of many types, including corporate headquarters, brokerage/trading and financial services firms, banks, and law firms. He has headed major governmental projects for the firm, carrying over the important themes from his private sector work.

Mike is a licensed architect in Illinois and Wisconsin. He is certified with the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), is a Certified Energy Professional with the City of Chicago, a Certified Self-Certification Architect with the City of Chicago and is a Certified Energy Professional with the City of Chicago. He received his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Notre Dame.