J.C. Calderón, AIA, LEED AP
I trained at Yale and spent the years afterward at firms like Kohn Pedersen Fox before starting this studio, and the lesson that stayed with me from both places is the same: a building has to respond to where it sits, not perform a style regardless of context. Every project here starts with the site and the client's actual life in it, not a signature we're trying to repeat. Good architecture is a collaboration, and I still think the best test of a room is whether it feels inevitable once it's built, as if it couldn't have been arranged any other way.
Williams College and Yale School of Architecture. Previously at Kohn Pedersen Fox, Tesoro Architects, Calvin Klein and Simmons Architects.
Credentials
AIA
LEED AP
Licensed Architect, New York, #026455
Licensed Architect, New Jersey, #21AI01705200
MBE & DBE Certified, NYC / NYS / Port Authority
Special Inspection Agency License #003856
Manhattan & Beacon
The studio works from two places: an office on Third Avenue in Manhattan, close to the co-ops and townhouses that make up much of our residential work, and a second office in Beacon, an hour up the Hudson, near the weekend houses and larger properties that bring clients north. Most projects touch both offices before they're finished.
What Clients Say
“During construction, the seller's real estate broker came by and could not believe the transformation. She said the apartment was worth over $300,000 more than I paid (about 25%) based on J.C.'s new layout alone, and she had not even seen the finishes.”
Co-op combination, Upper West Side
“His understanding of light, space, and color opened up the apartment both physically and visually, and the ingenious hallway cutout allowed sunlight from the corner of the bedroom to reach all the way into the kitchen.”
Apartment renovation, Upper East Side
“Working with J.C. enabled us to develop a clearer picture of exactly what it was that we wanted. He kept honing that picture and gave us a result that still gives us satisfaction and utility.”
Private residence
“J.C. Calderón did a fantastic job with our extension. His attention to detail was amazing. The end result was spectacular.”
Residential extension
Press & Community
- New York Times coverage of the Bretton Hall facade restoration, by architecture critic Christopher Gray.
- AIA Westchester + Hudson Valley: board member since 2018, President in 2022.
- ACE Mentor Program: led a Beacon high school urban planning initiative in 2018.
- Beacon Film Center proposal, with Deegan-Day Design: a plan to reimagine a former correctional facility as a community film center.
Collaborators
Current
Elizabeth Casasnovas
Wil Chabrier
Chelsea Chaug
Dexter Douglass
Clare Fentress
Guillermo M. Montalbán
Dominiq Oti
Nelson Segovia
Corinna Siu
Ken Stuts
Matthew Tether, AIA
Jacinto Velazco
Past
Oscar Allonso
William Allured
Manuel Arevalo
Luz F. Arevalo
Kosuke Bando
Fabian Becerra
Francisco Bisono
Janezee Bond
Hayley Brooks
Ana Cardenas
David Castro
Richard J. Dallas
Glenn DeRoche
Julia Drooff
Elvis Duran
Anthony Ferraiolo
David S. Flecha
Elizabeth Franco
Ramses Gonzalez
Tony Grullon
Melanie Idler
Amanda Iglesias
Santiago Iglesias
Shan Jayakumar
Christine Jones
Gelila Kassa
Beatriz L. Kehdy
Robert Kim
Eugene Korsunskiy
Martin Linnane
Madeline Locurto
Edgar Londoño
Brandon Lucien
Carlos Malagon
Meredith McClatchy
Logan McCracken
Jose Medina
Eugene Murphy
Santiago Nieves
Kristin Nottebohm
Jennifer O'Conner
Oswaldo Ortega
Jorge Plazas
Amina Pookrum
Sara Ramirez
Manuel Rivera
Sharmiette Robinson
Alvaro Romero
Allison Rottkamp
Aldo Salazar Lopez
Christopher Siemer
Sofia Torres
Maria P. Torres
Carol Tsoi
Diqiang Wang
Adriana M. Zollo
Interns
