Hello, I’m Jorge Fontan, a registered architect in New York and owner of Fontan Architecture & Vinculum Architecture. Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working on a vast spectrum of projects—from crafting intimate, luxurious apartment interiors to leading the design of multifamily developments with hundreds of apartments.
Over the years, it became clear that the needs, challenges, and regulatory landscapes for homeowners undertaking a renovation or building a new home are fundamentally different from those of large-scale or even mid to small real estate developers or institutional clients. The personalized touch required for a dream home renovation is vastly different from the high-efficiency, ROI-focused approach required for a commercial conversions or developments.
To serve each client base with dedicated expertise and maximum efficiency, I strategically established two distinct, yet complementary, Manhattan-based architecture firms: Fontan Architecture and Vinculum Architecture. Both firms operate under my full ownership and direction, but their scopes are finely tuned to their specific market niches.
This post will outline the clear separation of focus, services, and expertise for each firm, helping potential clients understand which team is best suited to bring their specific vision to life.
Fontan Architecture: The Homeowner’s Choice
Fontan Architecture is the original firm, deeply rooted in a personalized, high-touch approach to residential design. Our sole focus is working directly with homeowners to design high-quality new homes, luxury interiors, and thoughtful alterations to existing residences. We translate your personal vision into a tangible, and beautiful reality.
We specialize in navigating the granular details of homeowner projects within New York City’s unique, often complex, regulatory environment. This involves more than just architectural design; it requires a deep understanding of Condominium and Cooperative Board approvals, stringent building codes, and historical preservation requirements. Additionally we excel at providing a truly bespoke and personalized to design with a district uniqueness to each owner and each individual project.
- New Home Design: We design bespoke, single-family private houses, ensuring every detail aligns with the homeowner’s lifestyle and aesthetic preferences.
- Residential Additions & Enlargements: We expertly integrate seamless expansions onto existing homes, whether adding a new story, a rear extension, or building a new roof deck.
- Renovations & Alterations: We manage all aspects of gut renovations and alterations to existing houses and apartments. This includes complex projects like moving plumbing fixtures or gas lines for new kitchen and bathroom layouts, which nearly always require a permit from the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB).
- Townhouse & Brownstone Renovations: A core area of expertise involves the sensitive renovation, addition, and restoration of historic townhouses and brownstones, often requiring specialized approvals and a great understanding of their historic construction and details.
- Apartment & Loft Renovations: We provide high-end interior design and architectural services for apartment and loft spaces across the city, handling everything from initial design to final permit sign-offs.
- Personalized Design and Luxury Interiors: All of our projects begin with understanding our clients needs, preferences, lifestyle, and aesthetics taste. We meticulously design homes to be a representation of their owner and oversee the entire project ensuring the highest level of quality for our high end clientele.
Navigating NYC Regulations with Ease:
Working in New York City means every project, even a minor alteration, must comply with New York specific rules. Most construction requires approval and permits from the DOB. Our team at Fontan simplifies this process:
- Hiring a Licensed Professional: As registered architects, we prepare all required construction plans and filing in house and handle every aspect of design through approval and project closeout.
- The Co-op/Condo Factor: For apartment owners, the DOB is only half the battle. We handle the often stringent approval processes required by your building’s managing agent and board, preparing detailed “alteration agreement” packages.
- Landmark Building Alterations: For owners of properties in one of NYC’s many historic districts, we manage the application process for the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). This ensures all sensitive alterations, additions, and restorations respect the building’s architectural significance. We assist owners in obtaining all necessary LPC permits.
Vinculum Architecture: The B2B Partner for Development & Scale
Vinculum Architecture operates as a dedicated business-to-business (B2B) firm, channeling our expertise into small to large-scale projects, real estate development, and institutional clients. Our focus is on maximizing efficiency, return on investment (ROI), and navigating complex zoning incentives for commercial enterprises and developers, while creating buildings and spaces that compliment their locations and enhance the user experience through aesthetics and function.
Our primary clientele so far has been for multifamily residential developments but we are expanding to commercial, educational, religious, and not for profit clients and community facility projects.
- New Building Design: Comprehensive design services optimized for multifamily residential buildings (new apartment complexes), commercial ventures, religious institutions, and educational facilities.
- Building Conversions & Adaptive Reuse: We possess deep expertise in strategic adaptive reuse, such as commercial-to-residential conversions. This is a significant national trend, with office-to-apartment conversions gaining traction in NYC. We balance navigating Building Codes, The Zoning Resolution, client needs, and building conditions to bring these complex projects to life.
- Building Additions & Enlargements: We handle the expansion of existing buildings to meet evolving market demands or programmatic needs.
- Zoning & Feasibility Studies: This is a critical service for developers. We perform in-depth analysis, pre-design planning, and feasibility studies to assess a property’s maximum development potential within NYC’s intricate zoning framework.
- Discretionary Actions: We manage complex municipal approvals required for development, including rezonings, variances from the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA), special permits, and authorizations.
- Rehabilitation & Modernization: We focus on modernizing and rehabilitating existing buildings to enhance functionality, aesthetics, compliance, and asset value.
- Facade Restorations & Local Law Compliance: Specialized services ensuring existing buildings meet all Local Law requirements for exterior maintenance and restoration are properly maintained.
Shared Expertise, Dedicated Service
While the target projects and daily operations differ, both Fontan Architecture and Vinculum Architecture benefit from a shared knowledge base, a commitment to design excellence, and my leadership as the principal architect.
Fontan Architecture remains your trusted, personal guide for creating a luxury home custom designed just for you.
Vinculum Architecture stands as the strategic partner for developers and institutions looking to build, convert, or enlarge significant assets within the New York market.
No matter the scale of your vision, we have the right team tailored to your needs. Learn more about our homeowner services at FontanArchitecture.com or explore our development portfolio here at the VinculumArchitecture.com.
Thank You for Reading Our Article on The Differences Between Vinculum Architecture and Fontan Architecture
I hope this was helpful. If you would like to speak with an architect about a potential project, please get in touch with us directly at Vinculum Architecture.
Request a Consultation With Vinculum Architecture
This post was written by Jorge Fontan AIA a Registered Architect and owner of New York City based architecture firm Vinculum Architecture. Jorge Fontan has earned 3 degrees in the study of architecture including two degrees from the City University of New York and a Masters Degree in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University. Jorge has a background in construction and has been practicing architecture for 20 years where he has designed renovations and new developments of various building types.
