JOURNAL

15 years ago was another beautiful and snowy day in the Hudson River Valley, where SPAN designed this single family home to take advantage of expansive mountain views.

Fast forward to last month, when we were able to visit our most recent project on the site, a studio overlooking the pond, wrapped in warm cedar and referencing the form of the original building.

Check out the full post on our IG to see all the pictures: @spanarchitecture

Business of Home features Senior Interior Design Associate Emily Caron’s gift idea, the Bugia Candlestick, in a roundup of designer-approved gifts. We were able to highlight the work of Amsterdam-based Italian designers @formafantasma and their ‘delicate, yet sculptural, this … timeless accent piece that complements an array of interior styles’.

This season of gratitude reminds us of how fortunate we are to spend our days creating the bespoke spaces where people spend their most meaningful moments. It’s a privilege made possible by those who place their trust in us.

As noted by Miami Living, SPAN is collaborating with the marketing firm, Hello PR, an award winning PR and marketing firm specializing in design, architecture, lifestyle, and luxury brands. SPAN looks forward to exciting developments in the coming year.

At 2025 A&D Market Day, partner Karen Marie Stonely was honored to be invited to give a talk on biophilia with Ornare, makers of beautiful cabinetry. We explored how our mutual investment in biophilia allowed us to not only enhance the creative process, but, through the alignment of priorities, elevate the end result. Thank you to all who joined us for this inspiring conversation, exploring the intersection of design, collaboration, and biophilia.

The publication, ‘Homes For Our Time 3’ was released, an extensive volume for any extra large coffee table. The 59 homes curated by editor Philip Jodidio speak to the innovation in both process and content of homes around the world, and what they might have to say about the future. We were beyond honored to have August Moon featured, and to be able to spotlight its site specificity and connection to nature.

Partners Karen Stonely and Peter Pelsinski had an amazing time at the 9th annual Ralph Pucci jazz set. Jazz House Kids turns Ralph Pucci’s luxury furniture design gallery into a world-class jazz club for an exclusive evening of music and conversation.

We had the chance earlier this year to go see Martin Puryear’s permanent installation Lookout at the Storm King Art Center. It embeds a constellation of viewpoints which focus to a single in a brick structure of enigmatic form. The centeredness of perspective is reinforced, questioning whether you are the viewer or the object.

It’s an honor to create an artwork with J.M. Bonet-Vitralls, artisans for the Sagrada Familia, to learn about their process for making stained glass artwork. While architects may be predisposed to finding artistry in the process, there is something especially entrancing in the use and representation of light and texture, the subtleties of the hand seen in the handmade.

Congratulations to all finalists in this year's NYCxDesign Awards for Interior Design Magazine, Beyond the Boroughs! We are honoured to be included in the City Residence Transformation category.

Harper House, built in 1849 and transformed in 2024, is a historical monument in New York City and the music industry.

Read how, in a featured Architectural Digest article by David Sokol, “Tour a Glimmering Historic Home on Gramercy Park,” the owners of a Greek Revival structure become stewards of the SPAN-restored historical home.

Moderators Matthew Bremer (Architecture in Formation), Karen Stonely (SPAN Architecture), and Peter Zuspan (Bureau V Architecture), gather together for a second round of discussions on a series of topics, from firm challenges and available resources, to strategies for facing professional issues.

“Our clients are all intelligent people who welcome research, particularly when it comes to their home and the places they chose to reside in when traveling. They prioritize their concerns and passions for their domestic environments and we match up appropriate design responses with a regard towards biophilia. It could be as simple as maximizing natural daylight to prioritizing interior air quality.“ - SPAN Partners Karen Stonely and Peter Pelsinski in Interior Design Yearbook.

Partner Karen Stonely participated in the AIANY Women in Architecture Committee Student Winter Mentoring Session and worked with local students alongside other accomplished women practitioners to give advice to young women as they start their paths to becoming architects after they graduate.

Mansion Global discusses how to beautify any room with floor-to-ceiling art pieces in “The Magic of Wall Murals” by Jennifer Tzeses.

"The vantage point is crucial... Murals on walls, ceilings and even floors, have a boundless quality... Murals are wall art, so treat them the way you would art." — Karen Stonely, co-founder of SPAN Architecture in New York. Depicted is a mural installed by SPAN Architecture at The Ashland Residences in Brooklyn, New York, inspired by a flowered cornice pattern from the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

“When American socialite, philanthropist, and writer Brooke Astor needed a reprieve from the pace and prying eyes of city life, she retreated to her Maine estate, August Moon. Now, 15 years after her death, new life has been brought to the 200-acre property by SPAN Architecture, which renovated the pool house and tea pavilion and added a guest house and six-bedroom family home.” - Elia Essen, NUVO Magazine in “Home of the Week: August Moon House by SPAN Architecture”.

Partner Karen Stonely participated in the AIANY Women in Architecture Committee's 14th Annual Speed Mentoring event to offer guidance and advice to the mentees and to support this core WIA program to promote, elevate, and advance more women in our profession.

In episode 25 of Hotel Design, DESIGN POD, sponsored by Minotti London, Editor Hamish Kilburn, host of the podcast for design and architecture enthusiasts, meets Karen Stonely, Co-Founder of SPAN Architecture, to understand how she and her team capture wellness and wellbeing in design and architecture.

We're joined by Karen Stonely and Peter Pelsinski, co-founders and the creative force behind SPAN Architecture LLC, the internationally renowned, New York-based, architecture and design studio, to find out how they embed design for wellness at the core of their spectacular projects.

“Architecture and design are no longer leaving nature to the great outdoors,” Joann Plockova begins in her Worth article, 4 Ways Architecture And Design Are Turning To Nature. “Instead, it’s being welcomed into our homes with elements such as living walls, natural light and organic materials, colors and textures.”

Plockova sites SPAN project, August Moon, as an example of taking a harmonious approach with nature in its design. “The symbiotic relationship between nature and the built environment—biophilia—is at the very heart of August Moon’s design,” says co-founder, Karen Stonely. “Appreciating the surroundings and allowing their magic to flow through the home’s spaces was at the heart of what we wanted to achieve. Ensuring a sense of calm and the ability to enjoy the simple things was a pivotal inspiration.”