Kamala Choudhury
Principal architect
Leads the design team and signs the drawings. She draws every first plan herself, and spends the most time at the client's table.
About the studio
Architects and builders at one table
Choudhury Polanco began with a simple idea: the person who draws a house should be in the room when it is built.
Kamala Choudhury leads the design team, and Erwin Polanco leads construction. They share a studio on Lewis Street in Greenwich, and a drawing board. Every set of drawings is read by the builders before the client sees it, and every site question goes back to the person who drew the detail.
“A good drawing is one that a carpenter reads without having to phone anybody.”
The studio
The people you will meet
Each of them is part of the project from the first conversation.
Erwin Polanco
Principal, construction
Runs construction. He reads every set of drawings before it goes to price, and is the person who says what can be built, and in what order.
Marsha Burks
Director of interiors
Leads finishes, millwork and fixtures. She sets the sample table, and draws the cabinetry and built-ins.
Jing Cheung
Senior project manager
Your project lead through design and build. She holds the schedule, the permits and the weekly meeting.
Reza Hamdan
Site superintendent
In the house every working day. He protects the house while the crew is in it, and walks each stage with you before it is covered.
Christy Pratt
Studio manager
Keeps the agreements, the selections and the records, and answers the phone.
How we work
Three things we hold to on every project
We draw what we can build
Every detail is read by the people who will build it before it goes to you.
We write down what we decide
A change, a choice or a date has a page, signed before anything moves.
We protect the house
Floors covered, dust walls up and a clean route in and out, from the first morning to the last.
Next step
Come and meet us.
A first conversation is a chance to see whether we suit the house, and each other.