Lorraine Bonaventura Architect

Lorraine Bonaventura Architect is an architecture, interior design, and preservation practice established in New York City in 2004. Bonaventura has designed a wide variety of award-winning residential projects throughout New York City, the Hudson River Valley, and the East end of Long Island. She received Outstanding Design Awards from the AIA, NY Cottages & Gardens, and Remodelista. Her design work appears in numerous publications: the New York Times, Wall St. Journal, Interior Design, Interiors, Remodelista, Brownstoner, Cottages & Gardens, At Home, Ct., Design Bureau, and Houzz.

Bonaventura’s projects combine a thoughtful, modernist sensibility with an emphasis on comfort, livability, sustainability and practicality. Known for highlighting each project’s original and often historic elements, merging the historic and the unexpected. Bonaventura believes that an essential element in any successful project is listening closely to her clients, who are leaders in art, technology, and publishing. Through collaboration and discussion, they influence the project with their knowledge and interest in design. She numbers artists, writers, attorneys, technology leaders, and entrepreneurs among her clients.

Bonaventura began her career as an architect at Milton Glaser, Inc, designing restaurants, hospitality, and retail projects. Before establishing her architectural and design practice, she was an Associate at Kohn, Pederson, Fox Architects, focusing on large-scale institutional, commercial, and hospitality projects. Among these were IBM Headquarters, Armonk, New York; Columbia Broadcasting HQ, New York; Neuberger Berman HQ, New York; an Art Deco Federal Post Office restoration at 90 Church Street, New York; and numerous other corporate offices.

Bonaventura studied architecture and design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and the Institute of Housing, Technology University, Vienna, Austria. She received a Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture from the College of Design at NCSU in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In addition to practicing architecture, Bonaventura has taught design and architecture and served as a juror through the NYC AIA Center for Architecture Foundation. She served as a past Chair of the Committee on Design in the New York City Chapter of the AIA. Bonaventura served on the Contemporary Arts Advisory Council, BRIC Arts Media, a leading cultural arts organization in Brooklyn, and is a current Board member of the Brooklyn Heights Association, NYC’s oldest neighborhood advocacy organization, serving on the Landmarks Committee. She also served on the Community Advisory Committee of the Brooklyn Public Library, and is an alumni member of the Baldwin Design Council. She served as a Board member of the Heights Casino and past President of Grace Chorale of Brooklyn.

Bonaventura’s design process responds to the project context and our client’s goals. Beyond design, we manage the complex process of building and furnishing a project: analyzing codes and navigating cooperative boards and public agencies, coordinating with consultants and delivering well-documented plans, sketching custom furniture and fixtures, and inspecting them at the workroom — a process that begins at the first conversation until moving day. Our collaborations are an honest expression of who our clients are and how they live. Bonaventura aims to create beautiful, well-crafted designs that improve with time.

Bonaventura is a Registered Architect in New York State and is a member of the American Institute of Architects.