Urban Design

In the words of former NYS Parks Commissioner Rose Harvey, “every community is a combination of its parts, a streetscape, a park, a farm- and our perception of the totality of them creates our sense of place.”

Parks are the place! The great role of parks and public spaces in advancing health, wellness and inclusion in our communities has become even more vital today. The design of our public spaces and inclusion of sustainable infrastructure have a lasting impact on how we connect with our environment and one another.

From revitalized urban waterfronts to New York State’s highest peaks, we have collaborated in numerous ways to preserve and enhance the wonderful parks and historic sites throughout our region.

With each project, we engage stakeholders in deep collaboration and we listen! We believe that inspired programming and resourceful design ideas begin with an appreciation for the unique attributes of each locale to create truly inspiring parks and people-friendly places.

Here are some of our recent open space and park design projects:

Design Technology

A|r was one of the first firms in the country to integrate full scale Building Information Modeling (BIM) project execution into our practice. Our team leverages BIM capabilities to create highly intelligent models, providing sophisticated visualizations which inform and optimize design, budget and schedules.

Flex Classrooms

We know that a learning experience has as much to do with our environment as it does the teachers and students that create those experiences. After the past year, we have all gained a profound appreciation of how important these are to foster development and ignite a love for learning.