Shakespeare Gordon Vlado Architects is an award-winning New York City-based, women-owned business that pursues inventive and thoughtful solutions to architectural design challenges at all scales, for a wide variety of clients and project types.
Amy began her practice in 1994 as a project designer, first at large firms in Washington DC, and then New York City, where she worked on a number of educational, institutional, and cultural projects for clients including universities, public school systems, and the federal government. Amy was hired by Mitchell/Giurgola Architects in 1998 to bring her experience with planning and design of institutional projects to the firm. As an associate there, Amy was project architect and project manager for several award-winning and large-scale projects at institutions throughout the NYC area. Amy was a founding partner of Redtop Architects in 2003 where she was the partner in charge of some of the firm’s largest and most complex projects. Amy has a particular interest in energy efficient design, and she became a certified passive house consultant in 2012, subsequently completing the first EnerPhit certified passive house renovation in New York City. Amy also has a great interest in providing design excellence in affordable housing projects. Amy has served as an architectural critic at Cornell University and Pratt University, and has also lectured at the University of Maine and Cornell University. Additionally, she serves on the Board of Directors of Rebuilding Together NYC, a non-profit organization which provides housing and accessibility repairs, free-of-charge, to low-income homeowners throughout the five boroughs.
Mark’s career has been focused on the design of residential and academic projects that also contribute to the city and the civic realm. The son of a teacher and an architect, he believes in the positive impact that considered, thoughtful design can make—whether for the purpose of providing housing, workspaces, or learning environments—to the individual occupants and to the city beyond. Mark began his post graduate career in 1995 as a project architect at Mitchell/Giurgola Architects, and then as a managing partner with Garrison Architects, working on numerous university, residential and institutional projects. More recently he served as the Director for Design at New York University, where for ten years he provided design leadership and planning assistance. He also led a team of project managers with responsibility for all faculty housing renovations, as well as various academic projects. As an architect prior to NYU he managed projects for Syracuse University, Columbia University and NYU, The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, the United States General Services Administration, and the State Department Office of Overseas Buildings Operations. In 2017 Mark was pleased to help launch Shakespeare Gordon Vlado Architects, the successor to Redtop Architects founded by Amy Shakespeare in 2003.
Nicole has always been passionate about her commitment to enhancing the quality and experience of public space and the built environment and has received numerous awards for her research and design in the field. She believes that collaboration and community engagement are critical to the successful execution of projects and has enjoyed working closely with clients and creative teams on architectural and site-specific public arts works. Nicole began working with Amy Shakespeare at Redtop Architects in 2006. During her tenure as an Associate at Redtop she led some of the firm’s most large and challenging projects through design and construction, including their housing, institutional, and educational works. After starting her own Brooklyn-based residential practice, Nicole returned to a partnership with Amy and Mark in 2017, devoting special focus to the firm’s substantial body of work in affordable housing. She has also served as a critic at universities such as MIT, the University of Texas at Austin, NJIT, Pratt Institute, and Temple University. She also continues her design research through architectural art projects, including a recent site-specific commission for the 33rd Sao Paulo Bienal set within and designed in response to Oscar Niemeyer’s iconic Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion.
