Newman Architects is an award winning architectural and planning firm with offices in New Haven, Connecticut and Washington, DC. The firm has a national reputation for the quality of its work, with projects ranging from private houses to the scale of campus and urban neighborhoods, and including urban housing, residence halls, academic buildings, libraries, and schools.
Founded in 1964 by Herbert S. Newman, FAIA, Newman Architects has received over 150 awards for design excellence.
What we create should improve the lives of the people, society at large and the environment. We want to realize the idea of a better, richer place made palpable through the shaping of space, place, form, and climate. People need to feel that they belong to something larger. They seek connection to others and to make sense of the world. So, the architecture they inhabit should represent and respond to something larger than either the individual or the group, and provide places where people find that they can both be themselves and recognize the physical, social and cultural structures that surround them.
Brooks leads the business operations of the firm including financial management, accounting, Human Resources and Information Technology. He is responsible for planning and executing the strategic business initiatives of the firm which are collectively developed by the Principal group.
Brooks’ business development responsibilities include government relations and the commercial development market sector. Through his ability to develop relationships, Brooks has been instrumental in establishing Newman Architects as a respected partner among the clients and communities we serve. An excellent communicator, Brooks believes effective communication optimizes the project development and architectural design process. His commitment to innovation through technology in all aspects of a project and deep experience with complex projects involving multiple layers of constituency participation have made him a key contributor to the consensus-building process of Newman’s most significant projects.
Brooks’ professional expertise is focused on large-scale commercial development projects, He is the Managing Principal for the new Ideanomics Corporate Headquarters campus in West Hartford, CT, the Coliseum Site Redevelopment in New Haven, CT, a mixed-use residential tower in New Rochelle, NY and a large-scale site redevelopment in Morristown, NJ among others.
Brooks holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Roger Williams University, is a licensed architect in the state of Connecticut, is a member of the American Institute of Architects and is NCARB certified.
José brings more than 30 years of experience, passion and dedication to environmental design and the revitalization of urban areas. Known for guiding the design process to evolve in a thoughtful manner that integrates the design with the overlapping goals of the CM, owner and end user, José is present every step of the way managing the evolution of the design to a timely and budget-sensible conclusion.
José’s approach to master planning is inventive and collaborative. He enjoys the insights achieved through close collaborations with clients, consultants and contractors to create strong designs that reinforce community. He rethinks and translates conceptual ideas into thoughtful architectural realities and thrives on finding new solutions to design problems. As a member of the Lean Institute, stakeholder satisfaction and project delivery value is a key part of José’s project management, and he has applied Lean processes to Newman’s internal project management.
An accomplished architect, José has been a leader in the profession for decades. He has expressed his passion for mentoring through his role as an advisor and Board member of the ACE Foundation of Connecticut, on the AIA Connecticut task force for licensure, and the implementation of Newman’s internal mentoring practice. He is a member of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA).
Richard takes a knowledge‐driven approach to design and practice, with longstanding interests in architecture for learning and research, the arts, and the public realm.
Richard came to the United States from Victoria, Australia,to study architectural theory and criticism at Yale University. After graduating with a Masters of Environmental Design, he stayed in New Haven as an editor of the Yale architecture journal, Perspecta, before joining Newman. He previously worked in private practice in Melbourne and was a founding editor and publisher of the Australian architecture journal, Transition.
He has taught at the Rhode Island School of Design and the school of architecture at RMIT University, Melbourne. He iscurrently an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Adelaide in South Australia, his alma mater.
Before studying architecture at Boston College, Peter ran a set design practice, specializing in television commercials, music videos and industrial films. After receiving a Master of Architecture at Yale University and a certificate in Architectural History from the University of Florence, Italy, he was Project Architect at Yale University before joining Newman Architects.
Peter’s portfolio includes design and master planning for higher education projects including the new Residence Hall at Yale University and the Lynn University Library in Boca Raton, Florida, and institutional projects such as the Pocantico Conference Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk.
Peter is a leader in design education, serving as an Advisory Board member and State Board member of the ACE Mentoring Program. He has also been a facilitator and instructor for the Architectural Resource Center, educating elementary school children in cognitive development and problem-solving through design. He currently serves on the Board of the Connecticut Architecture Foundation, and is a Fellow of Jonathan Edwards College at Yale University and of the Eder Leadership Institute. He has served in Board roles with Tower One Tower East Elderly Housing in New Haven, Habitat for Humanity and the Arts Council of Greater New Haven.
Steven is the director of Newman’s Mid-Atlantic office in Washington, DC, serving education, government, religious, and diplomatic clients in and around the Mid-Atlantic region.
A graduate of Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture, Steven’s professional focus is on architecture for K-12 and higher education. His portfolio includes significant projects at Princeton University, Rutgers, UMBC and Yale University, and public school districts in Connecticut, Maryland, and Washington, DC.
Steven is an active contributor to industry organizations promoting the adoption of evidence-based design and Building Information Modeling (BIM) best practices for the design of educational buildings. In support of this goal, he participated with the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) of MD/DC to assist with the BIM Resource Guide, a guide for implementing BIM in Maryland and Washington DC public school construction projects.
Known as a consensus-builder and problem-finder/solver, Amy infuses her professional relationshipswith the philosophy that working together to identify the right problems to solve creates strong and effective design solutions.
Amythrives on working together with clients, stakeholders and colleagues at all levels of the planning and design process, and prioritizes ongoing communication and organized project and team management. Based in Newman’s Mid-Atlantic office, her portfolio includes significant projects at the University of Mary Washington, the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford, CT, and K-12 schools in Connecticut and Washington, DC. She is currently involved in AIA|DC’s Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program, an initiative to nurture and train next-generation leaders.
A lifelong learner who is passionate about education, design and mentoring, Amy volunteers with City Vision, a children’s design program at the National Building Museum, and is a mentor and group leader with the ACE Mentoring Program. She has also been an invited critic at Boston Architectural College, Mississippi State University, Washington Alexandria Architecture Center and Rhode Island School of Design. Amy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Mississippi State University and a Masters in Interior Architecture and Adaptive Reuse from the Rhode Island School of Design.
As associate principal of interior design, Michelle is a tireless advocate for design excellence, highly functional spaces and interior environments that enhance the well-being and daily experience of the end users. She has been programming and designing interior environments for more than 25 years.
Working hand-in-hand with architects across Newman’s range of projects, Michelle has extensive experience in the planning and design of academic facilities and classrooms, student life buildings, libraries, housing and community projects. She is particularly passionate about creating harmonious, accessible spaces that measurably improve people’s lives, productivity and happiness. A natural collaborator, Michelle is known as a listener and relationship-builder who actively involves her clients in both the vision and the details, eliciting and connecting multiple perspectives throughout the program and design process.
Throughout her career, Michelle has contributed to a number of professional organizations including IDA New England, the Connecticut Coalition for Interior Designers and as an ACE mentor and team leader. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Interior Design from Post University.
As Director of Marketing and Business Development, Amy’s leads Newman’s market and positioning strategy, brand development and communications efforts –a role that is influenced by her background in fine arts, her experience as a creative director and a lifelong love of architecture. From the day she discovered Frank Lloyd Wright in an eighth grade math class, Amy was attracted to the profession and studied architecture before meeting another love in graphic design at the University of Hartford. She has built her career at the intersection of these two passions.
An award-winning professional services marketer and designer with more than 20 years of industry experience, Amy blends design expertise with a deep understanding of marketing, storytelling and brand strategy. She is a connector who enjoys building and developing internal and external relationships, teams and partnerships to achieve common goals.
Amy believes in community outreach and champions a community outreach culture at Newman. She serves in several community and industry roles, including as vice president of communications for the Wolcott Elementary School PTO, as a member of the West Hartford Newcomers Club and an active member of the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS).
Founder of Newman Architects, Herb has guided a collaborative process of innovative inquiry and design in master planning, urban design, and architecture within the firm and the profession for more than 50 years. His contributions and dedication to the city of New Haven helped to redefine the city in a post-industrial era, and he remains active with selective projects in the New Haven office.
He began his career as an architectural designer with I.M. Pei and Partners in New York, working on international projects including Place Ville Marie in Montreal, Canada. He established the firm in New Haven in 1964, and began teaching at the Yale School of Architecture as a design critic. With Charles Moore and Kent Bloomer, he initiated the Yale School of Architecture Building Project, a cornerstone of the graduate architecture program, and continues to serve as a design critic and project coordinator.
Herb’s leadership and design accomplishments have been widely acknowledged as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, with the AIA’s Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture, 5 national AIA awards and more than 20 Connecticut AIA awards. Heis also a recipient of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven's Newton Schenk III Award for Lifetime Achievement in and Contribution to the Arts, recognizing his broad achievements in architecture. He has authored numerous articles and has served as a Visiting Critic, Juror, and Lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University, Harvard University, Columbia University, and the University of Tennessee.
A former principal who first joined Newman Architects in the 1970s, Joe remains active in Newman’s commercial development and housing work. Through his career, Joe has led the firm’s work with the Stamford Housing Authority and has collaborated in the planning and design of many of the firm's most notable projects. His portfolio includes Duracell World Headquarters; the Pocantico Conference Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund; Yale University Art Gallery, Center for American Art; the Performing Arts Center at Greenwich Academy; Yale University School of Organization and Management, Donaldson Commons; and Wesleyan University's Freeman Athletic Center.
Formerly an Assistant Professor of architectural design at the Paier College of Art, Joe is a frequent architectural jury critic at Columbia University, Yale University, and his alma mater, Cooper Union. His lectures and published works cover topics ranging from planning community and student centers to implementing sustainable design and construction techniques in new buildings.