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Vinegar Hill is a historic Brooklyn neighborhood adjacent to D.U.M.B.O (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). It is the only neighborhood in northwest Brooklyn that maintains its early 1900’s old world style in a charming five block square, just east of the Manhattan Bridge anchorage. 99Gold is a renewal pioneer in the area’s industrial landscape. The upscale 88-unit loft conversion offers the latest trend in stylish city living, redefining the 19th-century concrete and block building, originally designed to house and supply New York’s souvenir market. The floor plan for this rectangular concrete structure was rotated on a carefully calculated angle, which allows for Manhattan views from each and every apartment, without creating awkward unusable spaces within. All apartments, ranging from 600 square foot studios to 2,000 square foot penthouses, enjoy high ceilings, floor to ceiling and wall-to-wall windows and balconies. When viewed from across the East River, the building seems like a cruise ship floating on the water. A penthouse addition and recreational roof deck, along with extensive glazing and bright white exteriors, complete the building’s nautical atmosphere. As a result of this project and others that are following in its footsteps, the district has been transformed into the ideal neighborhood for successful artists and professionals with a taste for sophisticated urban living; it provides another link in connecting Brooklyn’s downtown neighborhoods. The total budget for this building was $12,600,000.00. The average cost per square foot was $165.00.

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56-60 Maspeth Avenue is a modern loft building designed to allow a greater feeling of vertical space. Most apartments have over 14 feet of clear ceiling height on the main levels. Large expanses of glass cause light to flood the interior spaces. The third building to be constructed along this block front, the emphasis was to set it apart from its equally contemporary neighbors. Brick masonry and metal panels make up the exterior material palette. Glass railings make the exterior "Juliet balconies" fade away. The entries are marked by deep recesses, which help to signify arrival. The interiors are finished with exotic hand wood floors and simple cut moldings. The bathrooms have stone tile and European fixtures and finishes. The kitchen floors are a continuation of the living spaces with frosted glass cabinetry doors and stainless steel appliances and trim. A computerized video doorman secures the tenants and computer, phone and date wiring allow for modern apartment living in this small urban oasis.

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The new 8000 square foot residential development at the corner of Franklin and Lexington avenues in Brooklyn, is an opportunity to further develop a series of programmatic explorations. The intention is a reductive design scheme for this building type that maximizes, in the most efficient way possible, the relationship between what is required in the building and the desire for grand uninterrupted spaces with maximum light, air and views. The design concept, functional distribution and aesthetic for the building can be reduced into four basic elements, ideally expressed as "blocks": A "connector block" includes entries and circulation, the "dry block" represents living rooms and bedrooms, the "wet block" contains kitchens and bathrooms, and the "base block" anchors the building with utility rooms and a parking garage. Serving a clear function in the building, each of these elements can be identified in the design or visually extruded from it, maintaining its integrity both inside and out. The façade is true to the design concept, and is a mere expression of the location of floor slabs, enclosed and open spaces that are continued outward, and the relationship between the four basic elements that constitute a universal "kit of parts" in a very individual custom design.