STARBUCKS
ROLE: STORE DESIGN MANAGER
NEWARK, NJ
3,500 SF

This store takes advantage of a challenging L-shaped floor plan to provide various seating types and moments of connection for the users throughout the space. It features a custom hand-painted mural and lenticular artwork by Brooklyn artist, Misha Tyutyunik, that highlight elements of the local community.

STARBUCKS
ROLE: STORE DESIGN MANAGER
PITTSBURGH, PA
2,200 SF

UPMC’s highest volume Starbucks store has expanded, doubling the size of its back of house, adding to its cafe/seating space, and opening up a second customer entry. The dual entry condition allowed us to design for customer choice: One journey offers the traditional cafe experience; and the other journey enhances the Mobile experience. The expanded space is tied together by an architectural soffit that flows through the space, creating niches for seating, food, merchandise and touching down at key points for signage.

STARBUCKS
ROLE: STORE DESIGN MANAGER
BOSTON, MA
1,150 SF

One of three Starbucks on Boston University’s urban campus, the 700 Commonwealth Cafe is a high volume store packed into a very narrow space. With over 50% of the sales coming through Mobile, this renovation was strongly focused on customer flow and channel clarity. A unique signage approach just inside the entry doors guides customers in one direction or the other, depending on the sales channel. Differentiation of the M.O.P. channel is further supported by material changes at the bar and a designated waiting area for customers, which is built to receive a Digital Order Status board in the future.

STARBUCKS
ROLE: STORE DESIGN MANAGER
UNIVERSAL CITY, CA
2,400 SF

An existing Starbucks cafe at Universal Studios Hollywood City Walk will expand to takeover the adjacent F&B outlet, nearly doubling its size and unifying the building. The design is inspired by the store’s adjacency to the City Walk Cinema, with the canopy resembling a traditional theater marquee, and the cafe interior acting as the pre-theater anteroom experience, with a beautiful long, brass and quartz bar, and a dramatic backdrop made up of stone backsplashes, brass shelving, and warm wood slats.

STARBUCKS
ROLE: STORE DESIGN MANAGER
ORLANDO, FL
1,400 SF

As one of two new Starbucks cafes planned for a future Universal Studios theme park, this 1400 SF grab n’ go location creates a fully immersive experience within a relatively small footprint. Inspiration is taken from the Park’s celestial theme and its turn-of-the-century aesthetic. The 360 degree mural celebrates the Starbucks origin story, rooted in nautical exploration, and navigation by a sea of stars. The central Siren figure on the rear wall guides customers along their journey, culminating in a gilded dome over the hand-off plane. The influence of nautical instrument design can be seen throughout the bar and merchandise metalwork

STARBUCKS
ROLE: STORE DESIGN MANAGER
NEW YORK, NY
900 SF

Located on the 16th floor of the Bank of NY Mellon headquarters in the heart of Tribeca, Starbucks is positioned in the middle of a multi-story atrium space with incredible views of the World Trade Center Plaza to the south and of midtown Manhattan to the north. The Starbucks bar sits back-to-back with an alcohol bar, and together they act as a central feature within the flexible and multi-functional space. The café offers table service to its guests, and provides the perfect location for impromptu meetings and conferences, large scale events, or simply a place to relax and take a break. It starts to blur the line between second place and third place, such that Starbucks becomes fully integrated into the workplace.

The bar itself combines Corian and walnut in one smooth gesture, starting with the heavier mass of the Corian and transitioning to reveal more of the warm wood as customers approach the hand off plane and the sit-here bar. The alcohol serving bar, on the opposite side, employs similar materials, but in different or opposing ways, to create and yin and yang relationship between the two back-to-back programs.

STARBUCKS
ROLE: STORE DESIGN MANAGER
NEW YORK, NY
1,000 SF

Located on the ground floor of the newly renovated Citigroup headquarters in lower Manhattan, Starbucks acts as a showpiece to staff and visitors entering the building’s highly trafficked lobby, aptly named Town Square. The goal was to create a unique and elevated design that simultaneously stands out in its context and blends seamlessly with its host. Inspiration is taken from the historic bank vault doors on the upper level of the building, which influence the pattern on the bar front and the rear screen panels, as well as the use of brass throughout. This, combined with dark/warm wood and gold-veined stone counters help to create a brand-forward experience that engages the many patrons of Town Square.

STARBUCKS
ROLE: STORE DESIGN MANAGER
NEW YORK, NY
200 SF

This 200 SF store is being developed as a small format, permanent solution to replace the temp cart currently located in the building lobby. Serving as a spoke to the full offerings hub store one level above, the unique form acts as an icon within the lobby, clearly recognizable from all angles. The first of its kind, the intention is that it can be looked to as a model for other small format stores moving forward.

STARBUCKS
ROLE: STORE DESIGN MANAGER
NEW YORK, NY
300 SF

This store takes inspiration from its location: a high traffic corner inside the headquarters of a prominent women’s retailer that doubles as a practice area for its runway models. The flooring and back-wall of the space use a very soft and even tone, setting a backdrop or ‘stage-set’ for the bar. The bar design is inspired by couture garments, which utilize a rigid structure but still evoke a lightness of movement when they are worn on the runway. The bar front cladding employs vertical walnut slats to create a rhythm as you move through the cafe, and gradually splay out around the curved hand-off plane to activate the space, offering a nod to the ‘turn’ made at the end of the runway. The back wall exhibits a custom, gold, hand painted siren flowing through the space, helping to integrate Starbucks into its setting by calling to the feminine qualities of the retail host’s brand.

MNA
ROLE: PROJECT MANAGER
NEW YORK, NY
13,000 SF

Conceived of as an “urban resort,” Tommy Bahama’s Manhattan Island flagship in the landmarked Fred French Building on Fifth Avenue was developed as a new retail concept to give the brand its first New York City presence. Materials such as sand toned limestone floors, reclaimed driftwood oak, louvers of salvaged Coney Island boardwalk and whitewashed poplar millwork evoke an easy, tropical lifestyle. Campaign style display fixtures and furniture recall the transient nature of the brand.

The Marlin Bar features a row of specialty rum oak barrels set against a white metal, back lit custom screen inspired by palm tree bark patterns. A monumental blackened steel and Ipe spiral stair with formed bronze “rope” rail leads to the Restaurant above. The Restaurant, with wide plank board floors and weathered rafters, features a second bar and an open kitchen. A ribbed glass rail surrounds the opening to the atrium in which custom lanterns hang, drawing one's eye back to the retail space below.

MNA
ROLE: ASSOCIATE
NEW YORK, NY
15,000 SF

A New York landmark since 1901, Bergdorf Goodman represents the global pinnacle of style, service and modern luxury. The building was originally conceived as a series of commercial townhouses that were purchased one by one by the Goodman family and converted into retail space. The result of this expansion over many decades was an interior evolving as a series of rooms completed in different time periods and not visually cohesive in design.

The overall architectural goal in renovating the ground floor was to unify the interiors through the use of color and light, respecting the heritage of the store, while simultaneously introducing modern and contemporary design elements to create an environment that bridges the past with the present. The design combines a classical vocabulary with elements of the French Moderne. Reorganization of the plan led to a new Jewelry Salon with its own dedicated grand entry and facade on 57th Street.

LEHMAN SMITH MCLEISH
ROLE: DESIGNER
BOSTON, MA
300,000 SF

The Boston, Massachusetts office of former law firm Bingham McCutchen served as its national headquarters from its opening in 2008 until the company ceased operations in 2014. It was comprised of ten attorney floors, multi-level conference center, kitchen & servery, fitness center, and 2,500 SF Multipurpose Room.

The Multipurpose Room was a two-storey divisible space designed and developed through coordination with multiple consulting groups, including MEP, security, lighting and audio visual.

MNA
ROLE: PROJECT MANAGER
HONG KONG
16,000 SF

Ralph Lauren chose to display their distinctly American brand through a distinctly American style that is classic, luxurious and unique. The facade design, inspired by architectural and decorative elements found in New York City Art Deco skyscrapers, addresses complicated site challenges including a triangular site, imposing structural elements, exposed building mechanical systems and a future skywalk.

The alternating rhythm of tall limestone pilasters and glass and ironwork windows is intended to convey monumentality and order. The bas relief stonework flanking the entrance was initially hand-sketched from local inspiration, then modeled in clay and made into scale plaster molds by a Brooklyn artisan. The molds were shipped to China to be enlarged and hand-carved in limestone.

LEHMAN SMITH MCLEISH
ROLE: DESIGNER
WASHINGTON, DC
CONCEPT STUDY
500,000 SF

Purchased by Tishman Speyer Properties in 2006, International Square is a block wide mixed use space comprised of offices, lobby space and food court.

Schematic studies, in collaboration with restaurant and food service consultants, focused on the atrium/lobby space and food court. Design iterations ranged from development of a primary axis through the space to a central glass and water element cascading through the height of the atrium.

MNA
ROLE: PROJECT MANAGER
BANGKOK, THAILAND
11,000 SF

In its Thai debut, Ralph Lauren opened its first flagship store in Bangkok at Central Embassy, a new luxury shopping center. The organically shaped complex – drawing together high-end and innovative retail, a luxurious cinema, gourmet dining and a lavish “six-star” hotel – presented an opportunity to create a unique facade that not only embodies the Ralph Lauren brand, but also feels appropriate within its context. Taking inspiration from the forms of Richard Serra, the interior storefront is comprised of full height curving teak wood and glass panels that mimic the curvilinear character of the mall, so that the spaces flow seamlessly from one to the next.

The two levels are connected by a plaster and limestone spiral stair floating within a teak-lined box, offering a beautiful contrast, both in form and materiality.

MNA
ROLE: DESIGNER
SEOUL, KOREA
10,400 SF

This retrofit of an existing building transformed disparate components of the former facade into a distinct Ralph Lauren building. On the interior, each of the three floors reads as a series of cascading levels, an idea that is reinforced in the overlapping floating planes of limestone floors and iroko wood plank ceilings. The sculptural walls of the self-supporting stair anchor each floor and create an internal focus to the space.

MNA
ROLE: PROJECT MANAGER, DESIGNER
TOKYO, JAPAN
4,600 SF

In November 2012, Ralph Lauren announced that it would be dissolving its Rugby brand. Its Omotesando store was to be converted into an RRL store. Having been heavily involved in the design and construction administration of the Rugby store in 2009, the opportunity to recreate the facade proved to be both interesting and challenging.

Inspired by a 20th Century power station on the Hudson River, RRL's all brick masonry facade with blackened metal windows and door frames helps to emphasize the rugged character of the brand. In stark contrast to the preceding Rugby store, which blended seamlessly with the parent flagship store to which it connects, the RRL facade stands apart from its host. Although the pairing appears incongruous at first glance, the classical language, proportions and detailing are maintained within the industrial aesthetic, allowing the RRL facade to compliment the flagship store quite well.

TROY, NY
UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

The thesis was an investigation into the relationship between architecture and filth in an urban setting. Filth is understood on many different levels in society: dirt, bodily grime, domestic and industrial waste, smut, obscenity, indecency and more. All are considered the abject of society, that which we try to hide or suppress, so as to avoid violating a set system of order.

Through the program of car wash and use of a former industrial shipping zone turned brownfield as a site, the thesis poses the question:

Can architecture and filth coexist in an urban setting?