Summary: Brooklyn's small condo buildings, from brownstone conversions to 30-unit walk-ups, are designed by a surprisingly small group of local firms. Here's who they are, where they work, and how to look up the architect behind any building you're considering.
The 15 most-named firms appear on 36% of the boutique Brooklyn condos where the architect is named. REFORM Architecture is the most frequent name since 2020, on 54 plans, ahead of ARC Architecture (30).
REFORM Architecture: the busiest firm in recent years, with 54 boutique plans, most often in Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick.
Bricolage Designs: one of the longest-running names, on plans since 2014 (33 in all), especially in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Carroll Gardens, Brighton Beach.
Brooklyn plans of 3 to 30 apartments accepted 2012 or later. Asking $/sf: each building's Schedule A prices over its interior square feet, the median building; the borough's boutique median is $1,210 across 813 buildings. Developers' offering prices, not sale prices.
See every firm in our architects directory, where each profile lists the buildings it has worked on.
Architects Follow the Neighborhood
Each firm tends to stick to a part of the borough, and that often lines up with price. Prices here are developers' offering prices from the plans, not sale prices.
Park Slope, Carroll Gardens and Brooklyn Heights: Paul Christakos and HPL Engineering. These are some of the priciest boutique buildings: the typical one asks $1,640 and $1,470 a square foot.
Williamsburg and Greenpoint: STUDIOSC ($1,690 a square foot) and Paul Lombardi ($1,610).
Bed-Stuy, Bushwick and Crown Heights: ARC, Infocus and Zarina Kindo, typically a little below the borough's boutique median of about $1,210 a square foot ($1,130, $1,110 and $1,090).
Borough Park and Sunset Park: firms like Asher Hershkowitz and S M Tam, where prices are lowest ($650 and $850 a square foot).
Where Brooklyn's Boutique Condos Are Going Up
Bed-Stuy has the most small condo buildings, and its share has edged up, from 15% of boutique plans before 2018 to 17% since. Building has spread east and south, with more boutique condos in Bushwick, Crown Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens and Gowanus, while Borough Park's share has shrunk from 13% to 7%.
Share of Brooklyn's boutique condo plans, before 2018 and since
Bed-Stuy
15% → 17%
Bushwick
4% → 9%
Crown Heights
4% → 6%
Prospect Lefferts Gardens
0% → 2%
Gowanus
0% → 1%
Borough Park
13% → 7%
Change in each neighborhood's share of boutique plans (3 to 30 apartments), in percentage points; the figure shows the share before 2018 and from 2018 on. 1,950 plans accepted 2012 or later.
Where Brooklyn's boutique condos are going up Boutique condo plans since 2018
Plans of 3 to 30 apartments accepted from 2018 on, in the neighborhoods named above. Outlines from locality.nyc.
"Architect" Can Mean Different Things
The architect named in an offering plan is usually the architect of record: the licensed professional who files the plans with the city and certifies the building. In a new building, that's often the designer. But some plans split the role, naming a separate design architect, as at 41 Wyckoff Street in Boerum Hill.
You'll also see engineering firms like HPL Engineering (25 plans) and Infocus (21) on small buildings. For a small project, one licensed engineer or architect often handles everything.
The catch: the architect named in a plan isn't always the designer. In a conversion or renovation, the named professional may simply have inspected and certified an existing building.
Why the Architect Matters to You
Track record: a firm with many buildings gives you finished examples to visit or look up.
Who are the most common architects for small Brooklyn condos?
REFORM Architecture, Bricolage Designs, ARC Architecture, Paul Lombardi, HPL Engineering, Brent M. Porter and Infocus are among the most frequently named firms in recent boutique Brooklyn condo plans.
What's the difference between an architect of record and a design architect?
The architect of record files and certifies the building's plans with the city. A design architect, when there is one, is responsible for the look and layout. Many small Brooklyn plans name just one firm for both.
Do pricier Brooklyn condos use different architects?
Often. Firms working mostly in Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Williamsburg and Greenpoint tend to be on higher-priced buildings than firms working mainly in Borough Park and Sunset Park.
Is the architect in an offering plan always the designer?
Not always. In conversions and renovations, the plan may name the professional who inspected and certified the existing building.
Where does this come from?
From the architects named in 1,950 Brooklyn condo offering plans for buildings of 3 to 30 apartments, accepted from 2012 on, grouped into firms as in our architects directory. We could match the architect in 896 of them. Every condo offering plan names the architect behind the building.
How are the prices measured?
Prices are the median building's asking price per square foot in its Schedule A, the developer's price list in the offering plan, not sale prices. Updated October 2026.