Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects LLP

Since its formation in 1955, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners has completed nearly 250 projects in more than 100 cities across North America and around the world. The firm’s clients have included major corporations, private developers and public authorities, as well as educational, cultural, and religious institutions.

The quality of the firm’s practice was recognized early on when, in 1968, the American Institute of Architects conferred on I. M. Pei & Partners (the firm’s name prior to 1989) its Architectural Firm Award, in recognition of the “eminently successful collaboration among the partners, associates and staff of this firm which has resulted in years of consistently distinguished design.” In 1985, the firm received the Chicago Architecture Award in recognition of “significant contributions to architecture and to the design of urban environments.” In 1992, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Society of Architects, and in 2009, the Firm Award from the New York State AIA in recognition of “notable achievements in design, community service, education and service to the profession.” In addition to these and other awards for the totality of its practice, individual projects designed by the firm have received more than 200 awards for design excellence, including 24 AIA National Honor Awards and two AIA Twenty-Five Year Awards, the highest recognition given to a built work of architecture.

Working from their studio in New York, the firm’s eight partners and approximately ninety colleagues approach each project on its own terms, drawing inspiration less from formal or theoretical preconceptions than from particularities of place and program. This approach stems from the conviction that successful environments of lasting value can be created only when individual building projects reflect a concern for the specific physical and cultural contexts in which they occur.

Across five decades of exceptionally diverse practice, two central themes are consistently evident in the firm’s built works. The first is the conception of architecture as an art of place making—embodying above all else a concern for the quality of public space and public life. The second is a commitment to the craft of building—emanating from a belief that thoughtful use of materials and careful attention to detail are indispensable to the creation of a meaningful and responsible built environment.

Sustainability, in its social and technical manifestations, is a key aspect of both themes, as is evidenced by the firm’s roster of LEED-accredited professionals and a portfolio of projects shaped by consideration of climate, energy efficiency, and environmental quality. The firm counts among its built works one of the earliest AIA COTE Top Ten Green Projects and the first LEED-EB Gold office building in Washington, D.C.

Detailed information about the firm and its work can be found on its web site at www.pcf-p.com.