McKibben + Cooper Architects Collection

McKibben + Cooper Architects was founded in August 1997 by Sherry McKibben and Doug Cooper, and closed in December 2022.

Sherry McKibben graduated from Borah high school, and attended the University of Oregon, where she received a Bachelor of Architecture degree. Her father Douglas McKibben was also involved in architecture and construction, working for TrusJoist, Emkay Development (where he was Vice President for Design) and as a Construction Manager for Walt Disney Imagineering. While with Disney he worked on the Muppet Theater at Disneyland, as well as the original construction of Euro Disney in France.

Doug Cooper graduated from Peters Township HS (Washington County, PA) and attended Penn State University, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Architecture.

Ms. McKibben and Mr. Cooper met while they were students at the Yale University School of Architecture, graduating with Master of Architecture degrees in 1981. Ms. McKibben won the Franklin Memorial Scholarship award upon graduation. Mr. Cooper had a project selected for the student work publication Retrospecta, and won the Yale entry to the Harvard Design Competition in both 1980 and 1981 in association with classmate Don Blair. After graduation from Yale, Ms. McKibben and Mr. Cooper practiced in New York, NY, San Francisco, CA, Manchester, NH, and Pittsburgh, PA, before moving to Boise and founding their practice. While in Pittsburgh, Ms. McKibben was also an adjunct professor in the Carnegie Mellon University College of Architecture, and Mr. Cooper served as a guest critic at the Knowlton School of Architecture at Ohio State University. In 1998, Ms. McKibben and Mr. Cooper volunteered with several other Boise architects as instructors in the first year of the Idaho Urban Research and Design Center of the University of Idaho College of Architecture. The following year the IURDC directorship was funded and Ms, McKibben was named director after a national search. She continued in this position until 2014.

Mr. Cooper served as a City of Boise Planning and Zoning Commissioner from 2004-2012, and was one of the founding board members of the Idaho Chapter of the United States Green Building Council, serving as board chair in 2014-2015.

Ms. McKibben and Mr. Cooper’s practice focused on what they feel are the allied goals of sustainable building design and sustainable community design, and the recognition their work received reflects this focus. During the period of their Idaho practice, McKibben + Cooper projects won (4) Idaho AIA design awards, (12) Idaho Smart Growth Grow Smart awards, won (2) design competitions, and their projects achieved (6) LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certifications. Ms. McKibben also received the Idaho Smart Growth President’s award in 2009. Mr. Cooper received the inaugural BetterBricks Idaho award for architects in 2004. Ms. McKibben received the BetterBricks award for advocacy in 2005. The BetterBricks award program is conducted by the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA), a program funded by northwest utilities to promote energy efficiency in the Pacific Northwest. McKibben + Cooper Architects received both the Idaho and Region 10 (Pacific Northwest) Head Start Corporate Award for their service to the Head Start program. They completed (5) Head Start projects for Friends of Children and Families, the Ada and Elmore County Grantee for the national Head Start program.