We help you move from an idea to a funded project. We partner with you early to shape your vision and build alignment, providing the feasibility studies, analysis, and visual tools that help build consensus and unlock funding.

Discover Oxford

Mission: Transform a vacant gas station into a flexible community hub that supports local organizations, public programs, and everyday gathering.

We bring creativity, rigor, and curiosity to every project, finding smart solutions within real constraints and approaching each step with optimism and care. Through collaboration and technical expertise, we help you make informed decisions and arrive at spaces that work for you and the people you serve.

Level Up

Mission: Design a welcoming third space that functions as both a neighborhood coffee shop and a hub for youth mentorship.

We design with you, not just for you. Through participatory design workshops with community members, staff, and stakeholders, we align our work with lived experience. Every project begins with a shared goal: understanding how an investment in the built environment can improve lives. By building diverse, aligned teams, we create spaces that are functional and meaningful while building the consensus necessary to move projects forward.

A Library Free to All

Mission: Expand library resources into nine underserved neighborhoods by transforming underutilized outdoor areas into accessible community hubs.

We bring initial concepts through design development, permitting, and construction, navigating the complexities of design and delivery while remaining focused on your impact. We test and iterate to find simple, innovative solutions to difficult problems, balancing your aspirations with the practicalities of building codes, life safety, and budget alignment.

The Designery

Mission: To provide a necessary makerspace and gallery for a nonprofit assisting underserved youth with vocational, academic, and design skills.

The built-environment has the power to shape how we feel, behave, and learn. The emerging field of trauma-informed design is developing the language and tools to create spaces that are healthy, restorative, and responsive to users’ needs. This project shares deep knowledge while remaining grounded in practical, actionable tools for thoughtful design.

Trauma-Informed Design: A Framework for Designers, Architects, and Other Practitioners

Mission: Develop an accessible toolkit that helps organizations integrate trauma-informed principles into the design of spaces.

Danyson Tavares
Executive Director of Boston Society for Architects

Tiffany Cogell
Founder of Design4Equity

Our clients are the most important members of our design team. We specialize in meaningful engagement that prioritizes the lived experience of those who use a space every day.  In our first meeting, you’re likely to hear us say that while we are the design professionals, you are the experts of your community, your organization, and your current space. Here are some of our partners:

Public & Civic Institutions
City of Boston
Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics
City of Chicago
Department of Planning and Development
Chicago Architecture Center
Boston Public Library

Community & Youth Development
YouthBuild Boston
Music Box Foundation
CitySprouts
Design4Equity
Lawndale Christian Community Church
Mishkan Chicago

Housing & Social Services
Bridges Homeward
Just A Start
Asian Taskforce Against Domestic Violence
Lawndale Christian Legal Center
Trauma Informed Design Society
Justice 4 Housing

We are a group of architects, dreamers, strategists, problem solvers, and optimists who believe in the power of design to shape a better, more collaborative, and caring future. As a certified WBE and a Benefit Corporation, we’re committed to doing good—but we’re also just really fun to grab a coffee with.

Registered Benefit Corporation

We are founded as a Benefit Corporation, a legal structure that commits us to operate with purpose, prioritizing social and community impact alongside financial performance.

100% Social Impact Architecture

We are a Professional Design Firm with a portfolio dedicated to supporting organizations working in the public interest.

Certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE)

We are a woman-led, diverse, and passionate team focused on equity in the built environment.

Architecture for Public Benefit specializes in creative solutions for mission-driven organizations and offers a full range of architecture services.

Visioning and Fundraising

Organizations grow and evolve, and the spaces that support them must evolve too. If you’re thinking about expanding your reach, we can help you envision what’s next and build support to make it happen. Through clear visual storytelling and targeted fundraising materials, we help you articulate your vision, align stakeholders, and generate momentum around your plans for growth.

Site Feasibility

Considering a property and wondering if it will support your goals? We evaluate sites through a comprehensive lens: reviewing zoning and code requirements, developable area and FAR, environmental factors such as solar orientation, access and parking, neighborhood context, transportation, and market considerations. This early analysis helps you understand opportunities and constraints so you can move forward with confidence.

Project Programming

Programming studies help identify and prioritize the values and goals that shape design decisions. We work with you to clarify your purpose, growth objectives, and the spatial needs that support your activities, events, and mission. These studies outline room types and sizes, adjacencies, privacy and acoustics, security and access, natural light, equipment, furnishings, and other key considerations, providing a clear foundation to guide the project forward.

Complete Design Services

In addition to pre-design and post-construction services, we offer complete design services that will transform an idea into a built project. This includes new construction, expansion, or renovations. Our design process is supported by drawings, physical models, renderings and BIM modeling software. Throughout the process, we collaborate closely to ensure the design aligns with your goals, needs, and budget.

Post-Occupancy Evaluation

We believe in learning from buildings once they are in use. Through post-occupancy evaluation, we gather feedback and data to understand how a space is performing and how it’s experienced over time. This process provides valuable insight to support informed decision-making, strengthen building operations, and guide ongoing maintenance and future improvements.

Existing Space Optimization

Looking to make the most of what you already have? We study your existing space and day-to-day operations to identify opportunities for improvement. Through an existing conditions assessment and close collaboration with your team, we propose spatial and strategic solutions that support efficiency, productivity, and wellbeing, aligned with your goals and how you work.

Whether you are in the earliest stages of a capital campaign or ready to begin design, we’re here to help you shape spaces that support your mission. Every project begins with a conversation about your goals, your community, and your future. We’d love to hear how we can support you.

Architecture For Public Benefit is a Chicago and Boston based practice on a mission to make exceptional design accessible to all.

Sign up to our newsletter for monthly updates, design resources and architecture advice to amplify your impact. 

Call   857-919-9950
Email   hello@apbdesign.org