about:

KURV ARCHITECTURE D.P.C. was co-founded by Alex Loyer Hughes A.I.A. and Karim Rashid at Karim‘’s Studio on 428 West 54th street in New York, New York in September of 2015.

Its original concept was to be an in-house design / development firm.

Karim sold his shares to Alex in 2018, dissolving the partnership, but KURV Architecture D.P.C. continues on today through the work of Alex and his team of Architects.

Karim and Alex remain friendly, and always look forward to collaboration when given the opportunity. They naturally work well together as Alex served as Director and Vice President of Interior Design from 2012 to 2018 for the famous industrial designer.

To date, since 2018, the firm KURV Architecture D.P.C. under Alex Loyer Hughes AIA as Architect, has successfully competed three all electric ground up high rise buildings in Manhattan, and is currently designing two high performance ground up mixed use high rise affordable housing projects in Brooklyn and the Bronx. KURV Architecture has designed and built dozens of high performance mid rise mixed use and multi family buildings across the Tri-State Area as well as Washington D.C.. In addition, Alex and his Interior Design team have designed and completed several high-end International and New York City Retail, Hospitality, Office and Apartment Renovations.

KURV Architecture is currenty upgrading a Landmarked Townhouse built in 1844 that is on the U.S. National Historic Register of Historic Places on MacDougal Street in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood to Passive House Standards. Alex and his team are also designing another high performance full gut renovation of a Historic Townhouse on East 95th Street on the Upper East Side. The team is also adding a one story Building Enlargement to create a Passive House Roof Extension that includes a Penthouse Duplex with three level Green Rooftop Terraces on the Lower East Side.

Alex and his team have established a reputation for solving tough architectural design challenges with a unique mix of building science, technology, know-how and high quality design which produces results that make KURV’s clients extremely happy.

KURV Architecture’s Design Services are listed below:

why we are different:

KURV ARCHITECTURE D.P.C. is an international architecture, urban planning, design and development firm based on the island of MANHATTAN in New York City.. We are a unique international multidisciplinary DESIGN team that combines award winning METHODOLOGY and state of the art ARCHITECTURAL design technology in order to improve upon the projects and products of BUILDINGS, SITES, STRUCTURES, SPACES, ENVELOPES and INTERIORS. Whether erected ground up as new buildings, rehabilitated, gut renovated, retrofitted, re-cycled and/or made into sustainable, high performance, PASSIVHAUS, net zero or otherwise re-imagined or re-developed with a new purpose, we practice the ART and CRAFT of adding intrinsic value by adding better DESIGN to all building projects types.

In DESIGN, we are ultimately concerned with the DETAIL and attention to the QUALITY that our spaces create and in turn, the quality of life that they gives back to their HUMAN inhabitants, the ENVIRONMENT and the end PRODUCT of any building or renovation project.

We are foremost an ARCHITECTURE and INTERIOR DESIGN firm, specializing in knowing where to add tangible, intrinsic VALUE to a project through the implementation of unique award winning DESIGN methodology. The word DESIGN is used in the broadest sense to describe the full scope of a project’s potential development process. Therefore, we work at all scales and all stages of the professional design process to ensure that crafted quality of space and increased value of a building or interiors project is always returned as a direct result of our involvement as ARCHITECTS and CONSULTANTS. 

Our architectural SERVICES include feasibility studies, zoning and land use analysis, bulk envelope massing calculations and visualizations, landmarks + preservation committee applications, board of standards and appeals (bsa) variance proposals, planning and zoning board presentations, ULURP applications, parametric modeling of building pro forma, energy modeling and design, computational design, advanced architecture and interior design, full project design development, construction documents, construction administration and project coordination. We also provide general consulting services, owner’s side project management representation, and technical consulting as well as nyc dob special project progress inspections.

Whether we have skin in the game as partners or are acting solely as consultants, or just creating and building for ourselves, we work hard to make sure that added VALUE of our CREATIVE design experience shows through to the end result in every detail of a project.

Our company's role and mission is to apply our collective knowledge and experience of the worlds of real property, buildings, ARCHITECTURE, structures, interiors, building systems, and construction in addition to the world of industrial DESIGN, industrial manufacturing, production, and digital technology onto NEW ideas and experiences for better buildings, better development projects and ultimately a better built world. Simply put, we provide a smarter built world by leveraging our unique DESIGN knowledge, our industry contacts and accumulated first hand experience. 

We are unique in our multidisciplinary approach because we design, model and oversee the production of the entirety of a building's integrated components, from the foundations and superstructure to the art that hangs on the wall, integrating everything else in-between; kitchens, lighting, plumbing, flooring, textiles, ceramics, electronics, millwork, materials and HVAC. No other design - development studio in the world can bring this broad spectrum of approach to detail into the world of buildings in such an wholistic way. 

We've all heard that a good BUILDING or SPACE is more than a sum of its individual parts. WE are what happens when everything from the development process itself down to the door handles you touch are individually well designed parts collectively working together for bigger picture results. KURV Architecture’s built projects have established a reputation for increased intrinsic value with better SPACES, BUILDINGS and PROJECT RESULTS that positively affect everyone involved, from the clients, developers and partners who initiate the projects, the tradesmen, contractors and vendors who build and construct, to the new owners, tenants, end users and the surrounding communities who DWELL within and where these projects are BUILT.

We add value by applying better DESIGN for the benefit of everyone involved in a building’s lifecycle.

Alexander Loyer Hughes, A.I.A.
Architect R.A., M.s.A.A.D, NCARB, LEED, PHI CPHD

Licensed: CA, NY, NJ, CT, DC, VA, FL, Chile

KURV ARCHITECTURE D.P.C.
575 FIFTH AVENUE FLOOR 14
New York, N.Y. 10017
www.kurvarchitecture.com

instagram: @kurv_architecture

ALEXANDER HUGHES ARCHITECT PLLC
575 FIFTH AVENUE FLOOR 14
New York, N.Y. 10017
www.alexhughesarchitect.com

instagram: @kurv_architecture