Princeton Design Guild (PDG) is the name of an umbrella organization that includes the American construction company PDG Construction and the architecture firm Wilkes Architecture. Founded by architect Kevin Wilkes (a graduate of Princeton University (1983) and Yale University (1991)) in 1985, PDG developed into an integrated design-build practice that combines architectural design with construction, along with custom woodworking and fabrication, historic preservation, and custom millwork. Its work has included residential architecture, renovation and new construction, commercial and municipal projects, historic preservation, and public art installations.

Princeton Design Guild (PDG) was founded by architect Kevin Wilkes in 1985 in Princeton, New Jersey.^[1][2] The firm developed as an architecture and design-build practice, with architectural design and construction carried out as part of the same operation.

One of PDG's earliest projects was a Princeton ranch house begun by Wilkes while he was a student at Princeton University, at the corner of Harrison and Sycamore Streets. Contemporary coverage in *The Times* in 1985 described the transformation of the 1950s house and Wilkes's hands-on involvement in carpentry and masonry.^[3]

Wilkes's early residential work was also included in Donald Prowler's *Modest Mansions: Design Ideas for Luxurious Living in Less Space*, published in 1985. A photograph on page 117 identifies the project as the “Wilkes House” and credits its design to Wilkes.^[4]

The first completed house attributed to Princeton Design Guild was a renovated prefabricated ranch house later known as Villa Speranza. An April 1989 profile in *Architectural Digest* identified it as PDG's first completed house and stated that it had been completed in 1987. The approximately 1,750-square-foot house was extensively remodeled, with its interior reorganized around a central corridor and its exterior altered while its basic form was retained. Nicholas Ulanov purchased the house shortly before its completion.^[5]

In 1988, Wilkes received an Architecture Fellowship Grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.^[6] He later earned a Master of Architecture degree from Yale University in 1991.^[7]

During the 1990s, PDG expanded from its early residential work into an integrated design-build operation combining architectural design, construction, and custom fabrication. A 2008 profile published by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development described Princeton Design Guild as a “design-build collaborative of architects and craftsmen.”^[8]

The firm's work included both new construction and the rehabilitation of existing buildings. In 2000, *Fine Homebuilding* published an article by Wilkes describing PDG's reconstruction of a large nineteenth-century porch on a three-story manor in central New Jersey. The project included new structural footings and masonry piers, custom columns, a new roof, and custom-fabricated mahogany arches, keystones, and railings. The article identified Wilkes as the founder of Princeton Design Guild.^[9]

By 2011, PDG operated a design, construction, and fabrication business from Belle Mead, New Jersey. The firm maintained woodworking facilities for producing custom architectural elements including doors, cornices, columns, mantels, moldings, flooring, cabinetry, and furniture. Its construction operation handled work ranging from excavation and foundations to framing, roofing, utilities, and mechanical systems, while the firm also managed municipal approvals and permitting.^[10]

A 2020 *Town Topics* profile marking PDG's 35th anniversary reported that the firm occupied approximately 20,000 square feet in three buildings in Belle Mead and employed 20 full-time workers. The company had completed more than 500 residential and commercial projects in locations ranging from Florida to Manhattan. While residential renovation had initially been the firm's primary focus, commercial work had grown to approximately half of its activity. The firm continued to combine architectural design, construction, and fabrication, including woodworking and metalworking, within its operations.^[11]

PDG's projects expanded beyond private residential work to include municipal, commercial, and public projects. The firm participated in the design of the Princeton Township Municipal Building and later served as architect of record for the Remembrance Fountain in South Brunswick Township, a memorial to local residents who died in the September 11 attacks.^[12]

PDG also became involved in a series of temporary public-art and garden projects in Princeton. The firm's work included Writers Block, established in 2004, and Quark Park, established in 2006. Quark Park was developed by Peter Söderman, architect Kevin Wilkes, and landscape architect Alan Goodheart and brought Princeton scientists and engineers together with artists and designers to create installations on a vacant lot in Princeton.^[13]

Writers Block received an Honor Award for a Built Project from the New Jersey chapter of the American Institute of Architects and a New Jersey Office of Smart Growth award for Creative Initiative. Quark Park subsequently received recognition from professional architecture and planning organizations.^[14]

In 2010, PDG partnered with Community Options and Hopewell Township on a sustainable group home for four people with disabilities. PDG managed the project's architecture and construction. The project was designed to meet LEED for Homes standards and incorporated extensive material reuse and recycling, including the planned salvage of more than 10,000 board feet of lumber from an existing barn and reuse of the farmhouse's timber frame, flooring, and siding for historic-restoration projects.^[15]

Historic preservation and renovation became an important part of PDG's practice. The firm's projects have included the restoration and adaptive reuse of existing residential, commercial, and historic structures.

PDG participated in the adaptive reuse of Princeton's former United States Post Office in Palmer Square as Triumph Restaurant & Brewery. The project, which followed several years of planning and construction, involved the restoration of significant portions of the approximately 90-year-old building while incorporating new uses and building systems. Wilkes served as the owner's representative and helped oversee the project team. Princeton Design Guild performed historic-preservation woodworking and contemporary millwork and worked with Massimo Building Corporation on the project.^[16]

PDG has also undertaken the restoration of the childhood home of actor, singer, scholar, and human-rights activist Paul Robeson at 110 Witherspoon Street in Princeton. By 2021, Wilkes and a Princeton Design Guild construction crew had been working on the project for approximately six years. The restoration has sought to preserve the building's historic footprint and exterior while rebuilding deteriorated portions of the interior and installing new building systems. The completed building is planned to include a gallery, meeting and nonprofit office space, temporary lodging, and community gathering areas.^[17]

The restoration has involved extensive investigation of the building's physical history. Because no historic photograph of the house has been located, the project team has examined the structure itself to determine which elements are original. Workers uncovered original clapboard siding, multiple layers of flooring, and personal objects left between successive renovations, as well as evidence from the building's later use as a boarding house.^[18]

In July 2026, *Town Topics* reported that the Robeson House had entered its final phase of construction. The nearly completed three-story building was being developed as a community resource, with the first floor becoming the Robeson Gallery, the second floor providing meeting rooms and nonprofit office space, and the third floor providing temporary lodging. A rear courtyard will provide additional gathering space.^[19]

In 2019, *Remodeling* magazine selected Wilkes and Princeton Design Guild for its Big50, recognizing the firm among the leading remodeling companies in the United States. At the time, PDG reported 34 years in business, $2.9 million in 2018 volume, and a staff of 20. The profile described the firm as a design-build operation with architects and tradespeople working alongside woodworking, stone-fabrication, and metal-fabrication facilities.^[20]>