Kevin Chappell
Principal Engineer



Education: Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, Texas Tech University
Master of Science in Structural Engineering, Texas Tech University

Registrations: Structural Engineer - California, Professional (Civil) Engineer - Colorado, Nevada, Utah

Experience: Over 20 years including 15+ years in the Truckee-Tahoe area.

As a native Texan, Kevin grew up in the heat and wind. His graduate studies emphasized wind effects on structures and he worked for the Wind Engineering Research Center during his time at Texas Tech. Since moving to the Tahoe-area in 2005, Kevin has gained expertise in snow and seismic design. Kevin has a strong background in structural engineering analysis, design, and consulting in the residential, commercial, institutional, and hospitality sectors. He has a depth of knowledge in building design with a focus on high-end custom homes. Kevin’s designs are well thought-out, practical, and sustainable, and he strives for the structure to reflect an architectural aesthetic with detailed craftsmanship and contextual responsiveness. Kevin has extensive experience with conventional construction materials such as steel, concrete, masonry, and wood as well as less traditional materials and construction. He has designed structures throughout western North America from the Arctic Circle to Mexico, and his ability to consider and incorporate environmental interaction into his designs results in superior structural performance.


All Staff

I would like to highly recommend Kristi Thompson for Architectural and Engineering services along with her associates at MWA. When we hired Kristi we were looking for a professional who was thorough, thoughtful and was interested in providing the home we wanted which was more European Old World than the traditional Tahoe style of home. Kristi listened and responded to our desires and we ended up with a home that exceeded our expectations. She first did research to be sure we were aligned on the look and feel we wanted providing images of existing homes and buildings in the Alps for our consideration. After many meetings and lots of back and forth we came up with a design that we loved that blended old world and mountain architecture. Kristi studied the lot considering the slope, sun angle, views and our desire for privacy and came up with an ideal site for the home. As the design developed there was a high degree of interaction ensuring our ideas of which we had many were incorporated. Overall we were very pleased with the result. Others seem to have liked it also as it won the Peoples Choice Award at the Martis Camp Architectural Show in 2008.


-- Ed and Betsy Richardson
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