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Computational Design

Innovative Architecture for a Better Future

Architecture isn’t just about building structures.
It is a way to shape how people live, work, heal, connect, and experience the world.
This isn’t merely a belief at Urban A&O; rather, it actively shapes every step we take.
Awarded the Most Innovative, Sustainable Design Firm in the USA for 4 years consecutively, we specialize in developing unique concepts through research, computational design, and architectural engineering to help organizations get ahead of the curve and make a difference.

As an innovative architecture company, we take great care and interest in all projects we tackle. Our approach is based on the idea that every location, client, and community is different, so we seek a comprehensive understanding of the site’s needs and characteristics. We apply relevant factors to affect the architectural design process positively and develop creative concepts that fulfill specific requirements while interacting with the environment in a harmonious manner.

At our innovative architecture firm, we combine inspiration, innovation, and computational design to conceptualize extraordinary buildings and structures. Computer technologies, digital tools, and future-forward design thinking allow us to consider many variables while optimizing and evaluating the design’s performance potential. This approach helps us to transform the built environment through smart technologies and create stunning buildings that satisfy the client and the target audience while being innovative, efficient, and functional.

Sustainable Architecture That Inspires and Performs

When it comes to sustainable architecture design, we think about sustainability in terms of the environment and how design impacts the well-being of the people in the space. At our architecture design firm, we consider all aspects of sustainability, including natural systems, materials, landscape, and construction. We incorporate them into the architectural design to ensure that structures are cost-effective and have a minimal environmental footprint. We also think about building adaptation and flexibility to be able to provide clients with sustainable buildings that enrich life and inspire.

Our architecture firm has extensive experience in executing a wide range of architecture projects. We offer a complete spectrum of services to such business spheres as hotels, hospitals, offices, housing, industry, wellness centers, data centers, and large mixed-use developments. We apply a multidisciplinary approach to each project, employing a team of construction and landscape architects together with specialists in related fields to address all facets of the design. This allows us to deliver extraordinary projects where cutting-edge innovations meet traditional architectural engineering with a sustainable mindset.

We are a modern architecture firm, always eager to embrace new opportunities and engage in disruptive innovations. We specialize in developing concepts and approaches that shape the future built environment and impact the world from an architectural perspective. Our work in the fields of wellness, eco-resorts, business, and leisure concepts demonstrates our ability to deliver stunning architectural design and engineering projects that incorporate unique ideas and state-of-the-art technologies. For us, architecture is about designing the environment that inspires the people in it and making a positive change in the world.

Industries We Serve

We deliver innovative, sustainable, and future-ready architectural solutions across a wide range of industries.

Healthcare

Healthcare

Healing environments designed to improve patient care, operational efficiency, and long-term sustainability.

Data Centers

Data Centers

We integrate these most carbon-intensive buildings with green hydrogen, advanced cooling strategies, and renewable sourcing to achieve verified carbon neutrality at scale.

Hospitality

Hospitality

Where carbon performance, material authenticity, and site ecology need to hold together within a coherent design. Greenwashing is visible here. Genuine carbon neutral architecture is not.

Commercial

Headquarters, campuses, and mixed-use developments with ESG reporting requirements and long asset lifespans.

Residential and Multi-Family

Including large-scale developments where carbon reduction building design is embedded at the master planning level, not applied unit by unit.

Residential

Residential and Multi-Family

Including large-scale developments where carbon reduction building design is embedded at the master planning level, not applied unit by unit.

Industrial

Industrial

Efficient industrial and manufacturing facilities designed for performance, safety, and sustainable operations.

Why Urban A&O?

Focused on the Built Environment at the nexus of design and carbon performance since 2008, Urban A&O earned double platinum LEED credentials for the California Academy of Sciences and LEED Gold for Johnson & Johnson’s Olympic Pavilion in Beijing that same year. This early work began a decade-plus long trajectory of research and design focused on decarbonization.

Recognized by BUILD as the Most Innovative Sustainable Design Firm in the USA for four consecutive years – 20′22, 20′23, 20′24 and 20′25 – founder Joe MacDonald has spoken at the podium on decarbonization strategy in Bangkok, Dubai, London, and Copenhagen. Joe actively participates on working groups at the international level related to carbon performance, greenhouse gas accounting, and supply chain emissions.

Our carbon neutral building design work is currently underway across North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia – from a Triple Net Zero Eco-Resort development on Mykonos to The Hudson Valley Climate Cluster, a groundbreaking 2,000 unit zero emission residential development in New York.

2.5MW Data Center Design

Frequently Asked Questions

1- What is carbon neutral building design?
Carbon neutral building design refers to an architectural approach to achieve a neutral carbon output through design decisions throughout its entire life cycle.
Sustainable building design refers to a broad, holistic framework of environmental performance criteria, including energy, water, material, occupant health, etc., whereas carbon neutral building design refers to a specialised subset solely focused on achieving a carbon neutral footprint across the full building lifecycle.
Embodied carbon refers to the carbon emitted in producing, transporting, and installing every material in a building. Also known as embedded carbon, it is the initial carbon footprint locked in the early stage of the construction. Operation carbon, on the other hand, refers to the carbon emissions by the building daily throughout its life cycle.
Yes. We at Urban A&O provide decarbonized building design services for existing buildings as well.
Climate positive building design goes a step further than carbon neutral building design. It means to create structures that actively remove more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits across its lifecycle.

You can book a free consultation directly through our website or reach out to us via email at office@urbanao.com.