Urban A&O is a New York–based architecture, landscape architecture, and smart city master planning design firm. We work at the intersection of high performance design and environmental intelligence delivering buildings and urban environments that set a new standard for how the world gets built.
Trusted by Fortune 100 companies. Recognized globally. Rooted in Harvard research.
Urban A&O was founded in New York by Joe MacDonald architect, researcher, and Harvard Associate Professor whose work on advanced computational and environmental design earned four consecutive Dean’s Grants at Harvard Graduate School of Design.
What began as rigorous academic inquiry became a global practice. Today, Urban A&O designs for a world that demands more from architecture: buildings that perform, landscapes that restore, and cities that are built to last.
Our projects span the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Our clients include institutional leaders, global hospitality brands, and Fortune 100 companies who expect design to do more than look good.
Most Innovative Sustainable Design Firm, USA
Clients Served Across Three Continents
Research Foundation Four Consecutive Dean's Grants
Biophilic, sensory-rich environments designed around human performance, recovery, and longevity - for retreats, resorts, corporate campuses, and top tier medical destinations.
Clean-tech-forward facilities designed for the next generation of infrastructure integrating geothermal systems, hydro-pumped storage, green hydrogen fuel cells, and small modular reactors.
Award-winning resort design that balances guest experience with ecological integrity. From Southeast Asia to the Aegean coast.
Strategic urban design rooted in data, computation, and regenerative thinking. We plan for cities that work better, breathe better, and last longer.
Site-specific, ecology-first landscape design that integrates natural systems into the built environment from urban plazas, restorative parklands, to climate resilient resort grounds.
High-performance building envelopes engineered for climate resilience, energy efficiency, and long-term operational excellence.
Site-specific, ecology-first landscape design that integrates natural systems into the built environment from urban plazas, restorative parklands, to climate resilient resort grounds.
Urban A&O’s built ecologies approach goes beyond standard benchmarks. We apply advanced computational design refined through Harvard-sponsored research and real-world projects across four continents to create architecture that actively restores ecosystems, supports community resilience, and performs at the highest level for decades.
Our work draws on global partnerships with the Eden Project (Cornwall, UK), the Stockholm Resilience Centre, and leading practices in Copenhagen, Oslo, and Helsinki. We bring European ecological rigor to American projects and American innovation to the world stage.
Wellness is no longer an amenity it is the core program. Urban A&O’s Health & Wellness practice designs environments that connect occupants to light, air, nature, and intention.
From biophilic spa architecture and chromotherapy suites to longevity-tech integration and acoustic calm, we design spaces where the body and mind can genuinely recover.
Our wellness portfolio includes eco-resort master planning, corporate wellness campuses, and private retreat centers across Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean, and North America.
Urban A&O’s work has appeared in Time Magazine, The New York Times, Metropolis Magazine, The Architect’s Newspaper, Domus, Harvard Magazine, and Vanity Fair.
Joe MacDonald received Architecture Magazine’s Vanguard Award top ten emerging practices globally and the New York AIA’s New Practices Award in the same year. He is an Associate Professor at Harvard GSD and a Visiting Professor at the Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania.
Whether you’re developing a flagship resort, an urban campus, a data center, or a high-performance residential community Urban A&O brings the research, the relationships, finance, and the design intelligence to make it exceptional.
New York-based. Globally active. Currently accepting select new commissions.
