Rendering of a dark timber-clad house with a tall glass gable, autumn trees and a rain-wet drive

Design worth building.

We design homes, workplaces and apartment buildings across Philadelphia, the surrounding counties and New Jersey. Bring us the property and the possibilities you see in it. We’ll help you work out what it can become.

See the work Start a project

Chadds Ford House · Proposed design

Selected work

All projects

Fieldstone farmhouse between two white board-and-batten wings, seen across the front lawn

Custom homes & renovations

West Chester Farmhouse

A new Chester County home with the proportions and character of a traditional stone farmhouse.

West Chester, PA · Completed

The rowhouse among its neighbors: a charcoal bay over a wood garage door, a white pilot house above

Philadelphia homes

Ellsworth Street Rowhouse

A South Philadelphia rowhouse expanded upward, with a rooftop lounge and views across the city.

Passyunk Square, Philadelphia · Completed

Rendering of a long brick and dark-metal building on a corner at sunset

Multifamily & mixed-use

Greenwood Avenue

A 24-apartment building in Trenton, with a brick entrance tower marking the corner and eight homes on each floor.

Trenton, NJ · Under construction

The new entry: a stone tower and timber canopy in front of the metal sports buildings

Commercial spaces

The Campus

A roller rink expanded and transformed into an ice rink and multifunction sports facility, with a stone tower and timber canopy at its new entrance.

Downingtown, PA · Completed

Line drawing of the house in three-quarter view from the permit set — Glen Mills House: the permit-set model view, and the house it became.

The finished house through autumn leaves: two white gables with arched windows, the arched porch and front doors, and a fieldstone wing, behind a split-rail fence — Glen Mills House: the permit-set model view, and the house it became.

See it before you build it.

Explore the decisions while they’re still drawings. Move a wall. Compare a layout. See how an addition changes the house. We help you work through the choices before they become construction decisions.

01
Start with the right questions. What do you want from the project? What works already? What’s getting in the way? We look at your priorities alongside the property, budget and requirements.
02
Explore the design. Plans, 3D models and live design sessions show how the rooms connect and what the building looks like from the street. We work through the options together.
03
Work out the details. We develop the design into coordinated drawings for permitting and construction, bringing in the engineers the project needs.

How we work The client portal

Level 9 · Hundreds of projects since 2017

Good architecture starts with good people.

Jared Blake and Brendan Kemmerer met in the architecture studios at Temple University. In 2017, they started Level Nine, taking the name from the floor where they studied. Today, our team works from Philadelphia and Downingtown on projects throughout the region.

Meet the studio

Jared Blake, RA Principal
Brendan Kemmerer, RA Principal
Ben Hoffman Architectural designer

Next step

Tell us what you have in mind.

An addition, a new home, a building with potential. Send us a little about the property and what you’d like to do.

Start a project Send a message or call (215) 259-8332

Get a ballpark design fee A preliminary architectural fee range by email, for houses and buildings of up to four homes. The design fee only, not the cost of construction.