Agencie was founded in 2007, with a vision of a design practice that truly integrates architecture and engineering. Over the past 15 years, we’ve combined these capabilities into a single solution, creating a unified design service that fosters innovation.

Our award-winning portfolio includes hundreds of buildings across sectors, including residential, retail, theatres, sports and aviation.  The quality of our work reflects our belief that great design arises not only from creativity. Rather, great design arises from creativity synthesized with a deep understanding of structural integrity and material performance. We’ve been fortunate collaborate with extraordinary clients who share our passion to shape the future.  Our approach is rooted in strategy and imagination. We help our clients imagine what’s possible, and navigate the shifting landscape of technology, materials and energy-efficiency.

Services

Architecture

Structural Engineering

Façade Engineering

MBE Partner

WBE Partner

 


Our Staff

  • Andrés Ulises Cortés, AIA
    Andrés Ulises Cortés, AIA
    Principal Architect

    Originally from Colombia, Andrés has 25+ years of experience as an Architect and Builder.  A founding partner, Andrés was the lead inventor of the widely adopted pedestrian protection system, Urban Umbrella, which launched in 2012 after winning the Urban Shed International Competition. Andrés is LEED accredited, a Licensed Architect and General Contractor in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Florida. Andrés holds diplomas in Architecture from the University of Michigan and Columbia University.

  • Sarrah Khan, PE
    Sarrah Khan, PE
    Principal Engineer

    A founding member of Agencie, Sarrah is the Technical Lead at Agencie.  She brings 22+ years of experience in structural engineering and enclosures.  Sarrah has worked across sectors, including museums, education, theatres, and petrochemical facilities.  Before founding Agencie, she worked at Bernard Tschumi Architects and Buro Happold on geometrically complex structures and facades.  She is a career-long educator and has taught at Yale, Georgia Tech, and Pratt and previously directed the Building Systems stream at Columbia University.

  • Ruying Lu
    Ruying Lu
    Technical Designer

    Ruying is a trained architect and BIM Specialist.  Her expertise is computational modeling and connection design for structural and façade engineering.  Having experience in aviation and residential sectors, she specializes in design, modeling, and detailing at the intersection of architecture, engineering, and computer science. Ruying earned a Master of Architecture from Pratt University, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Architecture, Magna Cum Laude from the University of Maryland.

  • Zarina Gran, EIT
    Zarina Gran, EIT
    Structural Engineer II

    Zarina is a highly skilled and dedicated structural engineer with an in-depth focus on multi-family residential projects.   Her expertise extends to performing meticulous  analysis and calculations for wood, steel, and concrete elements. Zarina has advanced expertise in SAP2000, RAM Elements, Enercalc, Revit & AutoCAD. She holds a Master of Science in Structural Engineering, and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Georgia Tech.

  • Ana Paola Rojas
    Ana Paola Rojas
    Architectural & Interior Designer

    Ana is an architectural and interior designer specializing in luxury residential home design.  Ana holds expertise in Rhino, Revit, and Sketchup and has a particular ability in research and application of material properties.  Ana holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Lima and brings a skillful sensibility about color, pattern, and material collections.

  • Tomás Abello
    Tomás Abello
    Project Manager

    Tomás is a Project Manager focusing on Agencie’s luxury residential construction projects. He handles pre-construction services, including bidding and vendor procurement, subcontractor vetting onboarding, on-site logistics and coordination tasks, and site safety enforcement.  Tomás has extensive construction experience in ground-up custom homes in Texas and New Jersey, where he attended New Jersey City University.

  • Nicholas Di Donato
    Nicholas Di Donato
    Architectural Designer

    Nick is a designer specializing in computational design, advanced modeling, and digital fabrication through expertise in Rhino, Grasshopper, and Unity, as well as having experience in AutoCAD, Revit, and the Adobe Suite. He holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Michigan, a Master of Science in Architecture in Computational Ecologies, and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of New Mexico.

  • Christian Abarca Lopéz
    Christian Abarca Lopéz
    Senior Project Manager

    Christian is a Project Manager with nine years of expertise in organizing construction operations, financial oversight, and resource management and planning. Christian leads procurement monitors project scheduling, budgeting, and coordination.  Christian excels at the human resources aspect of managing several trade teams, identifying problems, and fostering collaborative environments. Christian holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the  New Jersey Institute of Technology.

  • Wanjing Zhao
    Wanjing Zhao
    Architectural Intern

    Wanjing is presently working on her Masters in Architecture from Pratt Institute and is an intern working on residential and aviation work with Agencie. Her focus is computational design and technical drafting and detailing. During her undergraduate studies, she actively contributed to public-interest projects for Wall-Architecture and earned a nomination for the 2020 Brick Award. Additionally, she played a pivotal role as the founding member of the University society known as the Maker Club.

  • Zeynep Gorken
    Zeynep Gorken
    Architectural Intern

    Zeynep Gorken is a Summer Intern in her senior year at Pratt GAUD. Zeynep graduated with honors from Izmir University of Economics with a Bachelor of Architecture degree. Previously, she worked for well-known Turkish firms like Tabanlıoğlu Architects and Folkart as an intern during her undergraduate studies. During her graduate studies, she worked as a GAUD Office Assistant and Structures Class Assistant. She enjoys computational design and possesses excellent design and drawing skills.

  • Shelley Malin
    Shelley Malin
    Accounts Manager

    Shelley leads the accounting and business aspects of Agencie.  She has 30+ years of experience in the business and construction industries.  She was the Chief Operating Officer of a Manhattan-based company for many years.  Her responsibilities included managing human resources, administration, office management, purchasing, shipping and accounting for 100+ employees.  Shelley is passionate about making a difference for animals and proudly volunteers as the treasurer of Smoky Mountain Humane Society


Testimonials