Davis Hecht Architecture+Construction

Davis Hecht Architecture+Construction is a partnership between an architect and a builder. We create spaces of beauty and elegance to meet users' needs and enhance their everyday experience. Our architecture takes its cues from the environment to create backdrops for the play of light and the activity of people. As a design-build firm, we consider construction and architecture to be inseparable.

We focus on green renovation projects in New York City.

David Hecht is a licensed and registered architect (R.A.) and a LEED Accredited Professional.

A.B. Davis is a builder, carpenter and construction manager with over 12 years of experience.

Click here for more about our philosophy:

http://davidhechtarchitecture.blogspot.com/2009/08/david-ab.html

Click here to see more of A.B.'s work:

http://www.abm-d.blogspot.com/

Carroll Street Condominium

This condominium stresses elegance and a connection to its environment. Setting the building to one side of its site creates space for a private garden and provides all units with unique views and expansive sunlight. Built with a simple material palette of concrete, wood and glass, the project will contain 17 refined and contemporary apartments.

Designed by TEN Arquitectos, David Hecht works for TEN and oversees this building's construction.

Chelsea Hotel

This boutique hotel is currently under construction on the west side of Manhattan. When complete, a glass enclosed elevator will rise behind a metal screen facade and deliver guests directly to the rooftop pool.

Designed by TEN Arquitectos, David Hecht works for TEN and oversees this building's construction.

David & A.B.

David Hecht Architecture announces its partnership with A.B. Davis Design-Build to form a collaborative architecture and construction practice. Our work is rooted in five architectural and construction principles:

Design-Build: It all starts here. Architecture and construction are conceived together, priced together, and executed together. We provide clients with one point of accountability. By eliminating the adversarial relationship between builder and architect, our clients get honest information, efficient decision making and a higher quality product, all at a typical savings of 33% over conventional project delivery.

Environment / Green Design: We all share a moral imperative to steward the earth. As architects and builders, we shoulder a disproportionate burden - building operation and construction constitutes 51% of America's energy consumption. Starting with the simple premise that a loved building is a building that lasts, we believe that sustainability is not only reducing a building's carbon footprint, it is also increasing the quality of a building's experience. For us, green design redefines the old modernist axiom “less is more” as “less and more” - less consumption, more quality.

Renovations: We like renovations for two reasons: 1) it's better for the environment - it takes fewer resources to refurbish and re-use an existing building than it does to build from scratch, and 2) Buildings embody our shared cultural and historical continuum. By refurbishing and re-using existing architecture, we maintain a connection with the past while still looking boldly forward.

Humanist Modernist: Humanist Modernist architecture is clean contemporary design for the way we really live. Good architecture is about people and the ways people occupy and enliven space. We put people first in a contemporary architecture that employs the elegance and clarity of modernism to ennoble the everyday experience of its users.

BIM: Building Information Modeling is a working method that seamlessly integrates information across disciplines and throughout the design of a building. BIM encourages coordination, reduces errors and helps deliver projects more efficiently. As a design-build firm, we work with a virtual model of the building from the early stages of the design process to continuously update and assess a project’s architecture, constructablity and cost - all in a coordinated manner.

West 26th Street Loft

This one has good bones. Blessed with a large open loft, we set out to order the space and add 2 bedrooms and a home office without detracting from its openness. By placing the bedrooms on opposite sides of the apartment, we maintained the large corner space as the living area. At the rear of the apartment, a series of closets and the kitchen provide order and mask an unsightly angled wall.

David Hecht Architecture served as architect and project manager.

Brooklyn Loft

"Oh no! A baby's coming and we have a loft apartment?!" Hired by a young Brooklyn couple expecting their first child, DHA took on the challenge of retrofitting an urban loft for a new family.

Conceived as a piece of furniture, a series of storage elements combine to create a secluded child's bedroom. A carved, wood box contains the trappings of parenthood (including the baby) but still maintains the open feel and suitability for entertaining that the client's love about their loft.

This project is a prototype of bedroom infill construction to adapt loft living for a wider range of users. Cities across the countries have loft-style apartments occupied by young people transitioning into parenthood. Making lofts more flexible makes them more urban: residents stay in their lofts, invest in their communities and demand betters services. This creates vibrant and resilient urban neighborhoods that support different lifestyles. This is version 2.0 of the post-industrial urban neighborhood.

Orange Beach Tower

Everyone gets their own view. For this ocean front condominium, balconies curve around the building, creating a dynamic and shifting form. This form resulted from a study of the limits of conventional concrete construction: the primary strucutre is continuous throughout the building, only the balconies shift. This creates an iconic tower for a minimal cost increase over a conventional building.

This project was led by David Hecht Architecture in collaboration with FORUM design.