Conscious Environments

WHAT MATTERS MOST

The Philosophy

Architecture must help humanity respond to global climate change, declining human health and seismic cultural shifts. The pandemic has demanded we observe these carefully and embody a radical consciousness about our climate and our humanity. How can we design a future that prepares us for the monumental changes already being experienced? Increasingly, we acknowledge that the “Work-Life Balance” is out of balance. Technology has erased the physical boundaries between work and life and reinforces the tension between them. The physical environment must offer the opportunities we crave for joy and balance in return for allowing work to integrate deeper into a rich and meaningful life. Design that celebrates us as individuals and supports our humanity can help us establish and nourish a more integrated life.

The Mission

An acknowledgement of the human condition is my primary design imperative and has consistently driven my practice of architecture and their interiors. Through research, analysis and design innovation, I aspire to practice the deliberate creation of joyful and just places for all. My work reflects a distinctive and coherent synthesis of programmatic function, strategic rationale, intentional craft, ecological sustainability and occupant health and comfort. It strives to result in meaningful environments that we love to experience. I reinforce the role that thoughtful design plays in improving the experience of the spaces we create by concentrating on decisions that include occupant-focused criteria in addition to traditional performance parameters. Prioritizing criteria based on culture and climate, we can make informed decisions that navigate the inevitable conflicts between occupant comfort and reduction of carbon emissions.

who i am

Brian Kaplan

AIA, IIDA, LEED AP, WELL AP

I am a registered architect with 25 years of professional experience, concentrated primarily on the technical execution and management of architecture and interior design but with deep appreciation for and experience in concept and design. I am responsible for quality in design, documentation, process, performance, construction oversight and client engagement. Having run a practice across multiple offices, leading teams representing a variety of project types and global initiatives and managing individual teams of over 20 people on complex projects with multiple buildings, I am versatile, energetic and committed to the best architecture and the best that architecture can bring to people and their communities.

As an advocate of sustainability across and beyond the design community, I have directed architectural firms’ development of sustainable practices for projects and operations, integrating high performance into every project and encouraging innovative planning to my clients, consultants and staff. I reinforce the role we have in improving the health and wellbeing of the occupants of the buildings and spaces we create for our clients, focusing resources to educate our teams in making decisions that include occupants in addition to traditional performance criteria. As an adjunct professor, I educate young designers in the basics and trends of building technologies and systems and their impacts locally on design features and globally on energy and resource consumption.

Most recently, I have completed the fit-out of a hotel in Hudson Yards, a 475,000 sf corporate headquarters for an international retail group in Brookfield Place, a 65,000 sf campus hub including food service and alternative workspace for a historic financial client and a 15,000 sf developer home office in a modernist landmark. Work in progress includes leading 1.5m sf of tech workspace in New York, NY and Bellevue, WA, a university complex in the Middle East under construction - covering a variety of programs and building types for seventeen buildings, and a performing arts center in China incorporating an Opera House, Concert Hall and Multi-Function Theater.

My work has been published in the 2014 GlassCon Global Conference Proceedings, Metropolis, Elle Decor, Contract, Interior Design and in Architectural Record.