Riverdale Country School, The Egg Green-Wood Cemetery
Cooke School & Institute
New 42 Street
20 Times Square
Moise Safra Center
The Educational Alliance
Saginaw Art Museum
Equinox Hudson Yards
Founded in 1965, PBDW Architects provides creative, sensitive, and innovative responses to a wide range of institutional, commercial, and residential design challenges. We are a collegial, 32-person practice of partners, associates and staff who consistently deliver evocative designs that enrich their contexts and satisfy our clients’ objectives.
Firm Culture
We believe in fostering the growth of the “whole architect” in our practice. PBDW’s size and mix of projects exposes our staff to all aspects of design and construction. Expertise is cultivated through an open exchange of knowledge and further participation in focus groups for various topics such as material research, sustainability, and technology. This interchange underlies an informed curiosity about new design possibilities.
Client-Centered Practice
We consider ourselves to be our clients’ partners. The needs of our clients define the project. Throughout the project we listen, learn, and adapt as required to develop our client’s goals and realize their vision. We maintain a continuous and close collaboration with our clients and provide a consistent project team from start to finish to strengthen the relationships that define a successful partnership.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
We have made significant strides toward creating a more equitable, inclusive, and ultimately diverse practice, based on priorities aligned with our 2021 DEI Strategic Plan. In addition to internal staff-led DEI work groups on topics of design, process, learning, mentoring, and wellness, PBDW’s staff serve on non-profit boards and the Landmarks Preservation Commission and teach at various architecture schools in NYC. Our staff also mentor, write articles, and give lectures, engaging the firm in constant dialogue with others in intersecting fields and keeping the firm in the forefront of knowledge sharing and innovation.
Sustainability
A central part of PBDW’s work ethos is the commitment to developing environmentally responsible projects. PBDW is a signatory to the AIA 2030 Commitment, fostering energy performance improvements as we work towards a goal of carbon-neutral buildings by 2030. We strive to specify environmentally friendly materials as much as possible and take special pride in working on restoration and adaptive reuse projects, valuing the embodied carbon footprint of existing buildings along with their intrinsic historic value.
Award Winning Architecture
MASterworks Award, Urban Amenity
Open House New York, Open Cities Award
American Architecture Award
Religious Buildings
Preservation League of NYS: 2021 Pillar of New York State
Architizer A+ Awards, Popular Choice Architecture + Sustainability
Architizer A+ Awards, Finalist Architecture + Stone
Connecticut Green Building Council Award
AIA New York Chapter Design Award
AIA New York State Design Award
AIA Michigan Design Award
AIA National Honor Award
The Chicago Athenaeum: American Architecture Award
Powerhouse Arts
Powerhouse Arts
Moise Safra Community Center
Firm Award, PBDW Architects
Williams College, Fellows Hall
Moise Safra Community Center
Williams College, Fellows Hall
Powerhouse Arts
The New 42nd Street Studios
Saginaw Art Museum
New-York Historical Society
Cooper Union, Foundation Building
Powerhouse Arts
The New 42nd Street Studios
Reece School
Dana Discovery Center
Cooper Union, Foundation Building
Saginaw Art Museum
The New 42nd Street Studios
Cooke School & Institute
Saginaw Art Museum
Reece School
Moise Safra Community Center
AIA/CAE: Educational Facility Design Award
LearningSpring School
Selected Clients
14th Street Y
462 Broadway
Archdiocese of New York
Brooklyn Conservatory of Music
Central Synagogue
Cooke School & Institute
Columbia Grammar & Prep School
Educational Alliance
Fordham University
Green-Wood
Hotel Beacon
LearningSpring School
Marymount School
Moise Safra Center
New-York Historical Society
Park Avenue Armory
Park Lane Hotel
Powerhouse Arts
Regis High School
Riverdale Country School
Saginaw Art Museum
St. Joseph’s Seminary
Vassar College
Williams College
Powerhouse Arts
Cooke School & Institute
Moise Safra Center
COOKE SCHOOL & INSTITUTE
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Thoughtful Equitable Design for Dense Educational Spaces
In the vibrant heart of East Harlem, Cooke School serves K-12 students with special needs from all five boroughs of New York City and administrative offices in a centralized, cohesive environment.
Against the towering backdrop of public housing, the school’s presence had to be both striking and inviting. The design team faced the complex task of crafting a façade that would reflect the energy and diversity of the student body while ensuring functionality, enhancing acoustics, and maintaining a human scale. The aim was to provide an uplifting place of learning for a unique student population, that was inspiring yet space and cost efficient.
A Sculptural Façade: Interplay of Light and Colors - A Bright and Vibrant
The vision for Cooke School’s façade was to create a dynamic interplay of textures and colors, achieved using various cladding systems, including terra cotta rain screen, insulated metal panels, channel glass, and curtain wall. These materials not only add visual interest but also speak to the vibrant spirit of the community and its people. The evocative bay windows, sculpted in multiple directions, were designed to break down the façade into a more relatable scale while color playfully articulates each classroom and joyfully enlivens the facade. The customized design was built with standard systems and components, to keep it in line with the school’s tight budget.
From the inside, the large floor-to-ceiling windows are reading alcoves where students can perch, read, and gaze out over the bustling street below. They ensure that classrooms are flooded with natural light, creating open, airy spaces that feel expansive despite their compact footprints. Cooke School is more than just a building; it is a vital part of the community, actively contributing to its neighborhood. As evening falls, the channel glass at the street level begins to glow softly, casting a welcoming light across the sidewalk and providing privacy for the spaces within. This thoughtful use of lighting not only enhances the building’s aesthetic appeal but also contributes to the safety and security of the neighborhood.
Awards
The Chicago Athenaeum, American Architecture Award, 2022 Architizer A+Awards, Architecture + Color category, Special Mention, 2022 Vanceva World of Color Awards, Honorable Mention, 2022
MOISE SAFRA COMMUNITY CENTER
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
A Place of Worship: Home Away from Home
Located on the Upper East Side, the Moise Safra Center was envisioned as a second home for its young Jewish community. Despite the tight site, the building achieves an ambitious program by rising vertically across 14 floors.
Glass, Stone, and Spirit: A Vertical Journey of Tradition
The modern design reflects the sensibilities of its members—young and forwardthinking—while honoring the traditions of their community. This is evident in the building’s façade, which uses materials, texture, light, and color that deeply relate to their heritage while also enhancing the user experience.
The transition from the lower levels, marked by the heavier use of stone, to the lighter, glass-dominated upper levels, symbolizes a journey towards light and openness. To root the building in its spiritual heritage, Jerusalem limestone was sourced directly from Israel and is prominently used on the religious spaces. The monumental limestone-clad fins on the exterior hint at the sacred spaces within, adding a layer of authenticity and connection for the community to see at first glance. An interesting detail of the glass façade is the custom frit pattern on the narrow vertical windows, which adds depth and maintains the design language while enhancing the aesthetic and functionality of the façade. Capitalizing on north and east-facing exposures, the main program spaces are bathed in natural light through a thermally-broken curtain wall system.
Despite its larger scale and more glassy design compared to the surrounding buildings, the use of limestone at the entry and on the religious floors, along with warm Buff terracotta panels at the back and sides, helps contextualize the building within its largely masonry neighborhood. Renowned French artist Daniel Buren’s reinterpretation of stained glass for the synagogue windows adds a vibrant touch, creating a dynamic interplay of light and shadow throughout the day from both inside and outside. The design of the Center has helped create a community around its members, providing a place for them to learn, play, and worship together for the first time.
Awards
The PLAN Award, 2022
Architizer A+ Finalist: Architecture + Stone Category, 2021
The Chicago Athenaeum, American Architecture Award: Religious Buildings Category, 2021
POWERHOUSE ARTS
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
From Industrial Relic to an Artistic Hub
Built in 1903 as the Central Power Station for the Brooklyn Rapid Transit System in the heart of Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood, this iconic structure had become a shadow of its former self. In the 2000s, the building became a destination for graffiti artists and locally known as the “Batcave.” In 2012 the site was acquired by a not-for-profit organization created to redevelop the property and manage operations as Powerhouse Arts. PBDW and Herzog & de Meuron were retained to restore and revitalize the existing Turbine Hall building and design an addition to accommodate the needs of the new arts institution, including workshop facilities for artists in five mediums – metal, wood, ceramic, textiles, and printmaking.
Mastering
Historical Integration to Create Transformational Spaces
The restoration of Powerhouse Arts’ façade is a masterclass in adaptive reuse. Historic brick and steel were meticulously preserved, each crack and blemish telling a story of resilience. The new Boiler House addition, with its hand-selected red pigmented concrete, mirrors the original masonry of the Turbine Hall, seamlessly blending old and new. Punched window openings recall the building’s industrial origins, while the interplay of light and texture breathes new life into its hallowed halls, creating a unified building enclosure.
The Turbine Hall was approached as a first-class restoration, with great lengths taken to match in-kind the bluestone trim, mortar, and multiple historical brick types, many of which had unusual shapes and finishes. Innovative testing ensured stability of the masonry while being minimally invasive, such as a freeze-thaw test, metering cracks, and a modified pull test.
Amidst the rapid gentrification of Gowanus, with luxury high-rises rising around it, Powerhouse Arts remains one of the last historic structures on the canal, fostering ongoing manufacturing and artistic activity, making it possible for local artist to stay local.
Awards
Lucy G. Moses Preservation Awards, The New York Landmarks Conservancy, 2024 Merit Award, AIA New York Chapter, 2024 Honor Award, AIA New York State, 2023 MASterworks Awards, New Urban Amenity, 2023 Open City Award, Open House New York, 2023
