CO Adaptive was founded by Ruth Mandl and Bobby Johnston in 2011. Within an industry highly predicated on the finished image of architecture, we seek to turn focus to the means of making and maintaining it. We believe that design and building is a process rather than an end result; it should be a collaborative practice that works to solve today’s biggest challenges—and does this by building upon the past rather than reinventing it.
All our work addresses a creative tension whose resolution is central to a sustainable future: the balance between reducing operational energy while also minimizing embodied energy. We tackle this challenge by working with existing buildings, retrofitting them for resilience and durability using healthy, equitably sourced, local and renewable materials. Reuse is paramount—it stores carbon and obviates the need for the extraction, manufacture, and transport of new materials.
Most of our projects are designed to meet the exacting Passive House sustainability standard that aims to reduce active heating and cooling loads by 80-90%, which – alongside the deployment of solar energy capture – achieves net positive operational energy.
In order to retrofit an old building for energy efficiency and to fulfill new uses, material is generally removed, and it is along this boundary that we find our main mission and role to innovate. To have a greater impact on this process of taking old buildings apart— focusing on deconstruction, shaping attitudes about “waste” and ensuring careful sustainable product specifications—we launched our construction arm, CO Adaptive Building, in 2021, on the eve of CO Adaptive Architecture celebrating 10 years in business.
Our practice does its best to reuse carbon found in the buildings we renovate. Alongside our clients and partners, we carefully assess and analyze what must go and what can be reused. It is in these careful acts of maintenance, repair, and reuse where we feel the building industry has room for growth and discovery; a necessary process to take our cities into the next century.
Based in Brooklyn, New York at the historic Navy Yard, we consider our office an experimental testing ground for new technologies, material assemblies, and solutions to our clients’ challenges. With a growing team of 16 professionals supporting our efforts to improve the built environment through smart and sustainable processes, CO Adaptive has a range of projects across a variety of types. To us, each is a unique opportunity to create something beautiful and functional while having a lighter impact on our planet.
Our work has won numerous awards, including the Municipal Arts Society’s MASterworks Design Award for Best Adaptive Reuse project. CO Adaptive has been recognized as part of Architectural Record’s Design Vanguard, featured as a Next Progressive by ARCHITECT Magazine, and showcased in the inaugural exhibition Architecture Now: New York, New Publics at The Museum of Modern Art.
Coadaptive def: | adjective biology |
mutually adapted; mutually accommodating.
mutually adapted; mutually accommodating.
Team
Bobby Johnston, AIA, CPHD, Principal
Bobby loves connecting disparate concepts into functional systems; developing technical workflows and assemblies that streamline the way buildings and businesses can improve. He is a licensed architect in New York and holds a Master of Architecture from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Architecture from UC Berkeley. Bobby is a Certified Passive House Designer as of 2016 and has been practicing architecture since 1998.
Email // Linkedin Profile
Ruth Mandl, AIA, Principal
Ruth wants to create architecture that respects and ties in with the planet’s natural cycles, to find a new equilibrium with them. Ruth is licensed in New York and Massachusetts; she completed her Master of Architecture at Columbia University and a BA in Interior Architecture at Kingston University in London. Ruth’s Grandfather was an Architect in Vienna, Austria and she grew up amongst drawing tables and set squares. She has practicing architecture since 2002.
Email // Linkedin Profile
Dave Sidick, AIA
Senior Associate
Construction Director
Dave thinks that architecture should tell a story, and what better place to start than with objects and buildings that already have so much to say? He graduated with a Master of Architecture from Kent State University in 2017 and is now an active member of the Brooklyn chapter of the AIA. Dave joined the COA team in the fall of 2019.
Senior Associate
Construction Director
Dave thinks that architecture should tell a story, and what better place to start than with objects and buildings that already have so much to say? He graduated with a Master of Architecture from Kent State University in 2017 and is now an active member of the Brooklyn chapter of the AIA. Dave joined the COA team in the fall of 2019.
Julie is is passionate about well-built structures and objects; and the thoughtful use and re-use of materials. She has a BA in American Studies from Brown University, a Certificate in Horticulture from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and is a Certified Passive House Tradesperson. Her past work includes carpentry, Japanese style timber framing, furniture making and art fabrication for 30 years.
Joanne Yau, Senior Designer
Joanne is moved by a sense of place - situating ourselves in land, stories, and the cosmos by through the materials in our midst. She graduated with a Master of Architecture from the University of Waterloo in 2019 and joined COA in the spring of 2022.
Will Jarrott, Lead Carpenter
Will has a passion for enduring structures in a world necessitating change, and working toward finding new, equitable processes to provide sustainable, safe, and healthy shelter to all. Will completed a B.A. in Environmental Studies at Loyola University Chicago and has worked in construction for 9 years. He joined the COA team in early 2023.
Lily Cretekos-Gross, Carpenter
Lily is curious about how and why a building can be responsive to its inhabitants, the environment, and the community. Lily received a Bachelor of Arts in Ecological Building and Landscape Design from Sterling College, Vermont, and has been working as a Carpenter for 5 years. She joined the CO Adaptive team in early 2023.
Liga Brammanis, Senior Designer
Liga is driven by architecture that is designed and constructed with care for communities and natural ecosystems, both locally and globally. Liga graduated with her Master of Architecture from the University of Waterloo in 2022 and joined COA in November 2022.
Paul Greenway, Designer
Paul's inspiration is found in architecture that can facilitate programmatic flexibility and maintain material usability during and after a building's lifecycle. Paul graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon in 2022. He interned with COA in the summer of 2021 and came to join the team more permanently upon graduating in the summer of 2022.
Paul's inspiration is found in architecture that can facilitate programmatic flexibility and maintain material usability during and after a building's lifecycle. Paul graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon in 2022. He interned with COA in the summer of 2021 and came to join the team more permanently upon graduating in the summer of 2022.
Liam Higgins, Apprentice Carpenter
Liam is interested in building spaces that cultivate a sense of community and a shared feeling of belonging and collaboration, whilst also promoting sustainability and connection to our natural environment. He has only recently begun to explore the world of carpentry and woodworking within the last two years and has a certificate of learning from Brooklyn Woods. Liam joined COA in the summer of 2023.
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Charles Ormsby, Carpenter
Charlie is inspired by carpentry that brings the historic character of a space back into focus; bringing the efficiencies of a modern space to life within the character of its history. Charlie’s building career began with a painstaking renovation of a hand hewn log cabin. He joined COA in the fall of 2023 and looks forward to using his skills to restore the beautiful details of Brooklyns historic brownstones with us.
Joshua Rosenthal, Office Manager
Joshua has always felt the interconnectivity of our existence. Informed by this feeling, his career has been spent trying to develop systems that are efficient and equitable. After graduating with a BFA in Visual Communication from the Brooks Institute of Photography he worked as an operations manager in some of America’s best restaurants. In late 2022 he decided to change it up and started with COA in early April of 2023.
All portraits by Donilee McGinnis
We are grateful for the contributions of previous team members:
Sam Bowstead, Graham Billings, Virginia Brown, Steve Dahlgren, Leon Frazier, Sarah Gunawan, Henry Black, Seneca Gray, Jeremy Cohen and Yashil Mudaliar.
We are grateful for the contributions of previous team members:
Sam Bowstead, Graham Billings, Virginia Brown, Steve Dahlgren, Leon Frazier, Sarah Gunawan, Henry Black, Seneca Gray, Jeremy Cohen and Yashil Mudaliar.
Contact Us
We would love to hear from you! Take a minute to complete the form to tell us more about your project and we’ll schedule a time to connect.
Newsletter
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Jobs + Mentorship
CO Adaptive is always looking to connect with enthusiastic individuals that are passionate about improving our built and natural environment through design and building. We welcome job applications and internship inquiries through the form below.
We are an equal opportunities employer and endeavor to support minorities within the profession. We strive to maintain a flat organization where all voices are heard from design problems through office organization. At all levels, we facilitate a wide lens of exposure to building practice, while encouraging individuals to pursue their own interests within the office and in the profession at large.
CO Adaptive strives to offer a fun and creative office culture that values and rewards collaboration and innovation. We believe in working smarter, not harder, and we close our doors at 6 PM to foster enjoying life outside of the office
Jobs + Mentorship
CO Adaptive is always looking to connect with enthusiastic individuals that are passionate about improving our built and natural environment through design and building. We welcome job applications and internship inquiries through the form below.
We are an equal opportunities employer and endeavor to support minorities within the profession. We strive to maintain a flat organization where all voices are heard from design problems through office organization. At all levels, we facilitate a wide lens of exposure to building practice, while encouraging individuals to pursue their own interests within the office and in the profession at large.
CO Adaptive strives to offer a fun and creative office culture that values and rewards collaboration and innovation. We believe in working smarter, not harder, and we close our doors at 6 PM to foster enjoying life outside of the office
CO Adaptive is always looking to connect with enthusiastic individuals that are passionate about improving our built and natural environment through design and building. We welcome job applications and internship inquiries through the form below.
We are an equal opportunities employer and endeavor to support minorities within the profession. We strive to maintain a flat organization where all voices are heard from design problems through office organization. At all levels, we facilitate a wide lens of exposure to building practice, while encouraging individuals to pursue their own interests within the office and in the profession at large.
CO Adaptive strives to offer a fun and creative office culture that values and rewards collaboration and innovation. We believe in working smarter, not harder, and we close our doors at 6 PM to foster enjoying life outside of the office