Interiors Reworked From the Bones Out — Interior Architecture in New York, NY

It's a real and important distinction. An interior designer focuses primarily on the decorative layer of a space — furniture, fabrics, color, styling — and does beautiful work at that level. An interior architect works one layer deeper, with the architecture of the interior itself: the plan, the structure, the light, the flow, the walls that move, the kitchens and baths that are built into the space, and the custom millwork and detailing that turn a raw box into a considered home. In a city of pre-war apartments and complex renovations, that structural work is usually what separates a home that merely looks nice from one that genuinely lives well. We do the architecture of the interior; we're glad to collaborate with a decorator on the final layer, or to see a project all the way through.

Yes, and it's a core part of what we do. Renovating in a New York co-op or condo means navigating alteration agreements, board review, and building requirements, and doing it well requires both thorough documentation and credibility with boards and managing agents. We produce the drawings and paperwork these reviews require, present the work, and carry the project through approvals so that what is often the most daunting and delay-prone part of a New York renovation is handled for you. Our track record with board approvals is one of the reasons clients — and their contractors — are glad to have us leading the project.

Yes — apartment combinations are some of our most rewarding work, and they are fundamentally an interior architecture problem. Turning two adjoining apartments into one seamless home is not about knocking down a wall; it's about reconceiving the entire plan so the combined space flows as though it was always meant to be one home, resolving the structural, mechanical, and code realities, and doing it all within the building's rules. Done well, the result feels effortless and inevitable — no one can tell it was ever two. Done without that structural intelligence, combinations feel awkward and stitched-together forever. Seeing the unified plan inside two separate apartments is exactly the kind of thing an interior architect is trained to do.

Both, in balance — and that balance is the art. We have deep reverence for the original detailing that gives a pre-war New York apartment its soul: the moldings, the plaster, the casement windows, the herringbone and parquet floors. Wherever we can, we restore and repair those elements rather than lose them. At the same time, we rework the plan and the systems so the home functions for the way people actually live now — open where it should be open, with modern kitchens, baths, storage, and light. The goal is an apartment that feels unmistakably like a pre-war New York home, only better: its character honored, its shortcomings resolved. Getting that balance right on each specific apartment is at the heart of what we do.

Interior architecture fees are typically a percentage of construction cost or a negotiated fee based on the scope and complexity of the project, and after an initial conversation and a look at your space we provide a clear, transparent framework. A full gut renovation or a combination involves far more planning, coordination, and documentation than a surface refresh, and the value that structural work protects — a home that lives beautifully and holds its value in the New York market — is significant, so we're glad to frame the investment in those terms. We're candid about numbers from the very first meeting. Thoughtful interior architecture is never the cheapest path, but on a New York home it is what makes the difference between a renovation you tolerate and one you love for decades.

Our studio is on Broome Street in SoHo, and we work throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn — Tribeca, SoHo, the Upper East Side, the West Village, Brooklyn Heights, Hudson Yards, and the neighborhoods around them. This is our home ground, and our deep familiarity with New York's pre-war buildings, co-op and condo boards, and the city's best trades is essential to the quality and the smoothness of our work. For a significant apartment or home just outside those areas, we're glad to talk. If you have a New York interior you want reworked with the rigor of architecture, we'd welcome a conversation.