"Make your ambitions bigger than your past."

Kevin Deabler

Principal & Co-Founder
Education
N.C. State, Northeastern
About

A proud Co-Founder and Principal at RODE, Kevin has a broad design background through years of experience practicing in North Carolina and Boston. His mentors were entrepreneurs who transformed their community with vision and determination. Kevin studied environmental design and architecture at North Carolina State University and earned an MBA from Northeastern University.Kevin applies strategic insight for project teams tackling complex urban sites, cultural and non-profit planning, housing, and unique rural landscapes. He is always motivated to find innovative solutions for RODE clients and to inspire the creative drive within the team. Kevin and his family live in Dorchester, MA and he loves spending time volunteering, skiing, exploring Maine, painting, and printmaking.

Relevant Projects And Collaborations.

Perspectives

Perspectives

Culture

Co-Founder Kevin Deabler on Post-Pandemic Restaurant Design

Kevin Deabler
1.16.2025
Culture

Kevin Deabler to Speak About the Future of Healthy Cities

Kevin Deabler
1.16.2025

Honoring Marvin Malecha's Impact on RODE and The Design Community

We, at RODE Architects, are saddened by the recent passing of Dean Marvin Malecha. We wish to offer our condolences to Marvin’s family and his friends and colleagues whom he touched. Marv had a profound impact on so many people and we pause here to remember that our tenure on land is brief, but what we do carries on. Marvin was an apostle of the design education and its many benefits.

As many know, RODE can trace its origins to a ‘Fundamentals’ studio at NC State’s College of Design, pictured here at Leazar Hall. Fundamentals meant we started with basic principles and took up design learning through a variety of media types--color, light, drawing, graphics, and the environment.  Eric and I met in that studio and in many ways, carry on with a spirit of integration and collaboration across many disciplines. Dean Malecha was a perfect steward for this pedagogy.

Marvin took over just as we were finishing, but I knew him as my connection to the school as an alumni. He was always curious, passionate, and proud of the NC State grads making it in Boston. Thanks Marv, you will be missed.

- Kevin Deabler, AIA,

 Principal, RODE Architects

Kevin Deabler
1.8.2025