Award-winning architect looks back on 25 years.

For more than 25 years, Robert Scarano has been a major influence in the architectural landscape of New York City. As founder and principal of the award-winning firm Scarano & Associates Architects, he has been responsible for, literally, thousands of residential, commercial, institutional and adaptive reuse projects in all five boroughs, but especially Brooklyn and Manhattan. Knowing no boundaries, however, Mr. Scarano is also responsible for the highly acclaimed convention center in Medellin, Columbia.

Over the years, Scarano & Associates has designed a broad range of residential properties, from luxury condominiums, such as the Smith-Grey condominium in Williamsburg and The Toy Factory Lofts in Downtown Brooklyn to moderate and middle-income condominiums and rental apartments. With an amazing body of work to his credit, Robert Scarano is respected as a uniquely creative and sensitive architect. He is a professional who understands his diverse client base and knows how to address their needs without compromising style, function or aesthetics.

A native of Brooklyn, Mr. Scarano graduated from City College of New York with a B. Arch, BS in Architecture and Environmental Design and engineering certificates. In addition, he holds certificates in Construction Management, Building Construction, Real Estate Development and Real Estate Finance from New York University.

Armed with an impressive array of academic credentials, Mr. Scarano also brings an extensive professional background to his work. His earliest positions as an architect were for such prestigious architectural firms as HLW, SLCE, Liebman & Liebman and Philip Birnbaum/Costas Kondylis Architects.

In 1985, Mr. Scarano established a solo practice in Staten Island. But within four years the practice began its first expansion and he returned to Brooklyn with a group of ten young, talented architects. Today's Scarano & Associates is a multi-award winning team comprising more than 55 professionals and averaging approximately 200 projects per year. His work has won myriad awards and, in recent years, has become synonymous with the revitalization and reclamation of many of Brooklyn's most distressed areas, including Vinegar Hill, Williamsburg, East Williamsburg, Cobble Hill and Red Hook.

In 2003, Mr. Scarano completed the design of several benchmark projects, including: Downtown Brooklyn's first luxury condominium; an adaptive re-use of an abandoned church in Cobble Hill into 60 luxury condominium units; and an eight-story glass and steel building in the trendy Williamsburg area. These projects, along with many others, have already won much acclaim--and awards--for their innovative use of materials and aesthetic qualities, combining modern design with contextual environmental sensitivity.

But in addition to the luxury condominiums for which Scarano & Associates is best known, Mr. Scarano has a deep rooted understanding about the need for quality design and a humanistic approach to affordable housing, even in the current luxury oriented economy. Brooklyn projects, such as Ingersoll Whitman Housing Projects and 229 Parkville Avenue are helping a formerly overlooked population to live comfortably and affordably. His work is instrumental in allowing people reclaim their quality of life and raise their families with dignity.

This year alone, Scarano & Associates has already won six awards, five of which are the prestigious SARA awards from the New York Council Society of American Registered Architects: Design Award of Merit for The Arches at Cobble Hill; Special Recognition Award for 2908 Emmons Avenue; Design Award of Merit 171 North 7th Street; Special Recognition Award for the Greenpoint Redevelopment Masterplan; and the Design Award of Honor for The Toy Factory at 176 Johnson Street. In addition, Scarano & Associates' design for a penthouse addition at 234 West 20th Street in Manhattan was chosen out of hundreds of entries from all over the Northeast and awarded the Housing Award of Honor from the Boston Society of Architects (BSA) AIA division.

Among Scarano & Associates' most innovative work, to date, is a three floor glass-clad rooftop extension that is being added to its own offices at 110 York Street. A true paradigm of "the cobbler's kids have no shoes," the firm's staff had expanded at a pace that sorely stretched the boundaries of its current fifth floor office. Rather than seeking new offices for a fifth time, Robert Scarano found a solution that could showcase his firm's ingenuity and provide much needed office space.

Composed of glass and steel in soaring angles that have been designed to bring views of the Manhattan Bridge practically to the architects' windows, the addition is set for completion in September 2004. And not only does the Scarano office benefit from the views, people traveling on the bridge will have the opportunity to see a pristine glass structure lit up and sparkling as they pass by.

The actual genesis of the project was borne out of disaster: a fire that wiped out the firm's first Brooklyn office. Mr. Scarano and his team immediately embarked upon a search for a new location and quickly found a sizable 3,400 s/f space on the top floor of a 100-year-old former factory building in Vinegar Hill.

After relocating to 110 York Street, the firm began growing at an unprecedented rate and Robert Scarano had an architectural epiphany. He would build a "sheltering roof" that would improve the property for the landlord, expand the space to accommodate the firm's growth and create a design that would generate notice from the design community, his staff, the neighborhood and the real estate industry.

The impact of this revelation changed the typical owner-architect relationship. Scarano & Associates became its own client. Many of the firm's talented staff participated in the design. They were committed to creating an extraordinary structure, one that would illustrate new architectural techniques and sustainable design features, including elevated shading roof panels, low-E multiple glazing and reflective membranes. New technologies such as LED lighting, emergency A/C remote control were incorporated and a solar-powered system is also under consideration.

Highlighting an illustrious career, Scarano & Associates' glass and steel roof extension is a reflection of unwavering professional standards that consistently encompass exciting, accessible designs.