Education architect Quattrocchi Kwok opens Castle Rock office, adds jobs

Quattrocchi Kwok Architects planted a Colorado flag at 610 Jerry Street in Castle Rock, opening a three-person office built around the kind of school and civic work that is likely to keep Douglas County busy for years.

The Santa Rosa, California-based firm, which also operates in Oakland, opened the Castle Rock office on April 21 and said it wants the location to support projects across the company while building a deeper pipeline in the Rocky Mountain region. The local team is led by Studio Director Joel Williams, joined by Project Designers Joseph Puyot and Spencer Robinson.

The move lands in a county where growth keeps colliding with school-facility pressure. Douglas County’s population reached 399,396 on July 1, 2025, up 11.6% from the April 1, 2020 census base, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. The county also remains relatively affluent and well educated, with a 62.0% bachelor’s-degree-or-higher rate and a median owner-occupied home value of $713,600 for 2020-2024. That kind of demographic profile tends to support sustained demand for higher-end professional services, including design firms that can compete for public work.

QKA’s timing also lines up with what is happening inside Douglas County School District, which says it serves about 61,000 students and is Colorado’s third-largest district. In April 2025, the district board unanimously approved school pairing recommendations for six Highlands Ranch elementary schools starting in the 2026-2027 school year, a reminder that enrollment shifts are still forcing officials to rework facilities even as other parts of the county continue to grow.

The district’s capital needs remain large. School leaders approved a $490 million bond measure in 2025 to ask voters to fund new schools, programs and facility upgrades, and April 2026 reporting indicated the district was moving closer to asking voters about a mill levy override in November. For an architecture firm specializing in TK-12 planning, those are the kinds of signals that can translate into real business.

Williams brings more than 18 years of education-design experience, including classroom renovations and campus master planning, along with LEED credentials and education-planning accreditation. Puyot adds work across hospitality, residential and education projects, with an emphasis on accessibility compliance and ADA standards, while Robinson brings project-management experience from government and civic work as well as sustainable design.

Castle Rock has been trying to draw exactly this kind of company. The town’s economic-development messaging says it aims to create jobs, expand the tax base and maintain a high-quality business environment, and local development leaders point to the town’s location and workforce as advantages. For Quattrocchi Kwok, the office is more than a foothold, it is a bet that Douglas County’s growth, school planning and public investment will keep feeding the regional pipeline.