David Machemer, RA

David Machemer is a licensed architect with over 30 years’ experience in a wide range of project types and roles, in the US and overseas. 

After 10 years practicing in southwest Michigan and Chicago, he moved to Shanghai in China where he lived and worked for nearly two decades.  In the US, he was involved in projects ranging from single family residential to larger projects for schools, offices, hotels, retail, prisons and airports, most often focusing on design development and generation of construction documents.  He also did structural calculations, reviewed shop drawings, and conducted site observations. 

In China, he became one of the key technical staff in transforming a 20-person rep office into a 250-person project management firm with 15-20 projects ongoing.  Projects in China were mostly western invested production facilities with offices, amenities, and R&D.  The primary focus was on front-end project definition, strategic client consulting work, generation or QC of concept designs, developing document templates, and technical work procedures.  He also worked in a western A/E design firm in China, majoring in pharmaceutical production facilities, leading design teams of all disciplines, and providing training and mentoring for some 18 architects and future project team leaders.  His work included understanding and interpretation of China’s national codes of 3 different editions: 1995, 1999, and 2006.

David brings to his accessibility consulting work an understanding of a wide range of project types and phases, and a wealth of experience at varying project scales and regulatory environments, both in the US and overseas.  He has a fine understanding of codes and code development, including in the BOCA, UBC, Chicago Building Code, IBC, and SBC.  Most of all, he is a problem solver who loves nothing more than advising clients, helping to mitigate risk, and adding value for a project, its community, and all potential users.