— COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE —

A PERSONAL PASSION FOR COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION

CDA was founded with the goal of continuing a legacy of community based architecture, design and planning in our hometown of Hamilton. Cindy and Mike each have over 32 years of experience with design and project management responsibilities for a variety of public and private sector clients. Over our respective careers we have been involved in over 1 billion dollars of project cost. During our time at SHP, we enjoyed a long partnership with numerous public and private sector clients, including governmental agencies. Today, as Community Design Alliance, we believe the small firm model and our skill set brings value and a wealth of experience to our clients. Community Design Alliance’s primary firm focus is on the revitalization of Hamilton and we have founded our firm based on that mission. We bring both personal and project experience with us and continue to translate those learned skills to projects for the City of Hamilton and others.
When we first looked at the space that is now our CDA office in the Mercantile Block, the space was literally no better than a shell of its former glory. We had the vision to turn that existing space into a light filled, LEED Silver certified, architectural office that never fails to elicit positive comments from the many guests and clients that visit. Additionally, the Dingeldein family lives in a home built in 1906 in the Rossville Historic District, so are intimately familiar with the concept of being caretakers of our historic urban fabric. Our D Street home was designed by architect Frederick Mueller, the founder of the firm that evolved into SHP, and his legacy of serving the Hamilton community carries on today with Mike and Cindy’s efforts with Community Design Alliance.
The CDA project approach is the result of years of experience running large and small scale projects for school boards, city government and other public and private entities. We know the importance of gaining consensus, and keeping the lines of communication open between all team members. We have developed successful long-term relationships with many clients over the years and believe that the trust and partnerships that we value, enhance the planning and design process for the many clients we work with. Leading a team through the steps of prioritizing projects, establishing budgets and designing cost effective solutions, as well as coordinating the construction process to implement that vision, requires the communication skills that we have honed over our many years working with all types of clients. We are comfortable with very small to very large projects including renovations, new design and construction.
Our firm focus, combined with a history of work in the public sector, make CDA an experienced local choice, within a regional community, for your project. Having spent years in a big firm culture, with the constraints and overhead that involves, we have made an intentional decision to operate under the small firm model which allows us to provide high quality, yet cost effective architecture and design solutions to the local community and, as our name implies, to simultaneously build alliances with other small practitioners to build our team. This model is a “win, win” for us as design professionals in a regional community, as well as our clients.

Community night at Municipal Brew Works.

“Mike and Cindy Dingeldein and the entire CDA Team are knowledgeable and have a proven track record of urban revitalization. Their work in the City of Hamilton demonstrated to our board how a collaborative community project could have a major impact on a downtown community.”

– Rich Dinsmore, President, Troy Community Works