Tinkelman Architecture is preparing to break ground on a five-story building, located at the Van Wagner Place mixed-use campus in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., that will have 28 luxury apartments, commercial space on the first floor with an indoor pool that will be used by the British Swim School franchise, and a top-floor community space that opens onto a roof deck.
Tinkelman Companies, the firm’s development and property management arm, has been involved with Van Wagner Place for a decade, starting with the renovation and repurposing of four derelict buildings. The campus is now home to offices, shops, and other businesses, as well as the firm’s headquarters inside a former warehouse in Poughkeepsie’s Arlington business district.
In fact, over the 30 years it has been serving New York’s Hudson Valley, Tinkelman Architecture has been the designer on more than 100 projects within that market. Its fingerprints can be found on local banks, wineries, restaurants, retail stores, historic structures and parks, to say nothing of the numerous residential projects it has engaged.
“We like doing a lot of housing,” says Steven Tinkelman, a Poughkeepsie native and life-long Hudson Valley resident, who founded Tinkelman Architecture in 1993. Over the years, his work has contributed to this market becoming, in his words, “more sophisticated, regional, cosmopolitan.”
Tinkelman Architecture generates between $1 million and $2 million per year in revenue from its design work, and double that when development and property management are included.
Wide-ranging projects
A graduate of Cooper Union and a modernist by training, Tinkelman also acknowledges the aesthetic influence of rustic summer camping as a child. “So there’s a blending of modern tradition with sticks and twigs,” he quips.
His 14-person firm has no signature architectural style, and he is fine with that agnostic approach because he believes it opens portals to pursue a diversity of projects in a market where, he says, other small design firms have come and gone. (While the market’s growth has attracted more civil engineering and construction firms, Tinkelman observes that there’s still a need for structural and mechanical engineers.)
One of Tinkelman Architecture’s better-known infrastructure projects was the design for the Upper Landing Park in Poughkeepsie, which sits under a 1.28-mile walkway across the Hudson River, which opened in 2009. The park includes an elevator to the walkway, which is the longest elevated pedestrian bridge in the world.
![Upper Landing Park in Poughkeepsie, with walkway in the background](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Upper%20Landing%203_20221027.jpg)
Among the projects Tinkelman Architecture is currently working on are a 56-unit residential building in Fishkill, N.Y., with 5,000 sf of commercial space; and a 40- to 45-unit residential building in the urban part of Poughkeepsie that will overlook its train station. The latter project, says Tinkelman, includes the restoration of an 1860s-era building that will be used by an arts organization.
The firm has also designed a four-story, 20-unit building called The Westerly, and was recently retained by New York’s Dutchess County to design a campus for homeless housing.
Seeking expansion opportunities
Among Tinkleman’s ongoing clients is the retailer Adams Fairacre Farms, whose stores mingle a country feeling with contemporary design. Tinkelman designed this retailer’s outlets in Newburgh and Wappinger, N.Y., and the expansion of its Poughkeepsie location. The firm is currently working on Adams Faircare Farms’ 56,643-sf store in Middletown, N.Y., which is under construction, and when completed next year will include a 2,905-sf tropical greenhouse and 6,048-sf seasonal greenhouse.
![Adams Fairacre Farms' newest store in Middletown, N.Y.](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Adams%20Middletown%201.jpeg)
Tinkleman Architecture is looking to expand beyond the region with which it has become synonymous. It currently has active projects in Ulster and Orange counties (the latter is where the Middletown store will be located), and has been looking for opportunities in Westchester County and nearby Connecticut. But Tinkelman, who lives with his wife Rachel in Pleasant Valley, N.Y., says he still gets a kick from seeing local residents course through buildings and spaces in the mid-Hudson Valley his firm helped create.
Related Stories
| Nov 17, 2014
A new BSL-3 public-safety lab debuts in Vermont
The laboratory will be used to perform a wide range of analyses to detect biological, toxicological, chemical, and radiological threats to the health of the population, from testing for rabies, West Nile, pertussis and salmonella to water and food contaminants.
| Nov 17, 2014
'Folded facade' proposal wins cultural arts center competition in South Korea
The winning scheme by Seoul-based Designcamp Moonpark features a dramatic folded facade that takes visual cues from the landscape.
| Nov 17, 2014
Workplace pilot programs: A new tool for creating workspaces employees love
In a recent article for Fast Company, CannonDesign's Meg Osman details how insurance giant Zurich used a workplace pilot program to empower its employees in the creation of its new North American headquarters.
| Nov 17, 2014
Mastering natural ventilation: 5 crucial lessons from design experts
By harnessing natural ventilation, Building Teams can achieve a tremendous reduction in energy use and increase in occupant comfort. Engineers from SOM offer lessons from the firm’s recent work.
| Nov 14, 2014
Bjarke Ingels unveils master plan for Smithsonian's south mall campus
The centerpiece of the proposed plan is the revitalization of the iconic Smithsonian castle.
| Nov 14, 2014
Haskell acquires FreemanWhite, strengthens healthcare design-build business
The combination expands Haskell’s geographic presence by adding FreemanWhite’s offices in Chicago, Charlotte, Nashville, and San Diego. FreemanWhite will retain its name and brand.
| Nov 14, 2014
What college students want in their living spaces
In a recent workshop with 62 college students, architects from Little explored the changing habits and preferences of today's students, and how those changes affect their living spaces.
| Nov 14, 2014
JetBlue opens Gensler-designed International Concourse at JFK
The 175,000-sf extension includes the conversion of three existing gates to international swing gates, and the addition of three new international swing gates.
Sponsored | | Nov 12, 2014
Eye-popping façade highlights renovation, addition at Chaffin Junior High School
The new distinctive main entrance accentuates the public face of the school with an aluminum tube “baguette” system.
| Nov 12, 2014
Collaboration as competitive advantage
A collaborative planning and design process may seem like a common-sense goal, but the concept can be a challenge to achieve in the fragmented AEC industry. SPONSORED BLOG