CO Adaptive

CO Adaptive is an architecture and design-build practice based in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City. Ruth Mandl and Bobby Johnston founded the firm in 2011 after meeting while studying for master's degrees in architecture at Columbia University. Mandl was born and raised in Vienna, Austria, studied interior architecture at Kingston University in London, and later pursued graduate architectural studies in New York. Johnston is from California and studied architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, before completing graduate study at Columbia. The practice began as an architecture studio and expanded into construction services in 2021. This evolution made CO Adaptive responsible for a broader portion of the project process, from design through construction. Its integrated model is intended to give the firm greater control over material choices, energy performance, reuse strategies, and construction waste. The firm's work is particularly associated with passive-house principles, which seek to reduce operational energy consumption and improve building performance through measures such as insulation, airtightness, and carefully managed ventilation and heating requirements. CO Adaptive's environmental approach extends beyond energy efficiency. The firm has described efforts to deconstruct and reuse existing construction materials on site where possible, and to work with appraisers, donation centers, and recycling companies to divert usable or recyclable material from construction and demolition waste streams. Since 2019, it has committed not to use foam insulation in its building projects because of concerns about the material's environmental effects. This emphasis positions the practice within a broader movement toward low-carbon renovation, material reuse, and circular construction. The firm's first published project was a winning entry in the 2011 Architects for Animals competition, organized by the Mayor's Alliance for New York City's Animals. Working with architect Kathryn Walton and The American Street Cat, Inc., CO Adaptive developed a shelter made from recycled and donated materials. The project also included a monitoring system capable of transmitting information such as a cat's length of stay and weight to a base station in real time. Among the firm's notable later works are projects for arts and cultural organizations. In 2013, it designed an experimental dance space for Triskelion in a former industrial building in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The project supported the nonprofit venue's effort to expand affordable performance and rehearsal space for emerging artists. In 2021, CO Adaptive designed the Mercury Store in Gowanus, Brooklyn, an adaptive reuse of a historic metal foundry dating from 1902. The project combined cross-laminated timber with original timber beams and was described as one of New York City's early commercial adaptive-reuse projects to use cross-laminated timber. CO Adaptive has also received attention for passive-house renovations, including the design and renovation of the founders' own home in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and a renovation in Astoria, Queens. These projects, along with the Mercury Store, were covered by The New York Times. The Mercury Store was subsequently included in the Museum of Modern Art's 2023 exhibition "Architecture Now: New York, New Publics." CO Adaptive's public profile therefore rests on a combination of architecture, construction, adaptive reuse, building-performance goals, and practical experimentation with reclaimed materials.

CO Adaptive was established in 2011 by architects Ruth Mandl and Bobby Johnston. The founders met during master's-level architecture studies at Columbia University in New York. Mandl brought an international background, having grown up in Vienna and studied interior architecture at Kingston University in London, while Johnston came from California and had studied architecture at the University of California, Berkeley. Their shared architectural training became the foundation for a practice centered on environmentally responsive design and renovation. The firm's first published work was produced for the 2011 Architects for Animals competition, an initiative organized by the Mayor's Alliance for New York City's Animals. In collaboration with architect Kathryn Walton and The American Street Cat, Inc., the team created an animal shelter from recycled and donated materials. The proposal incorporated a data-monitoring system that could send information, including a cat's weight and the length of its stay, to a remote base station. The project established themes that continued through the firm's later work: reuse of existing or donated resources, experimentation with building systems, and attention to the practical operation of designed environments. In 2013, CO Adaptive designed an experimental dance space for Triskelion in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The client was a nonprofit dance venue and rehearsal space seeking to expand affordable facilities for emerging artists. The conversion of a former industrial building demonstrated the firm's interest in giving older urban structures new cultural uses rather than replacing them. CO Adaptive's practice developed around passive-house principles and renovation. Its projects aim to reduce environmental impact through improved energy performance and lower-carbon material decisions. The firm has also emphasized deconstruction and reuse, designing existing construction materials into new work when feasible and collaborating with appraisers, donation centers, and recycling firms to reduce landfill disposal. Since 2019, it has maintained a commitment not to use foam insulation in its building projects because of its environmental concerns. A major organizational shift occurred in 2021, when the architecture studio expanded into construction services. The design-build model allowed CO Adaptive to manage more of the relationship between architectural intent and construction execution. It also supported the firm's stated interest in controlling material reuse, waste reduction, and building-performance outcomes throughout the project lifecycle. One of the firm's best-known cultural projects is the Mercury Store in Gowanus, Brooklyn, completed as a community theater space in a historic metal foundry originally built in 1902. The adaptive-reuse design combined cross-laminated timber with timber elements retained from the older structure. The project was identified as an early example of a commercial adaptive-reuse building in New York City using cross-laminated timber. In 2023, the Mercury Store was included in the Museum of Modern Art exhibition Architecture Now: New York, New Publics. Residential work has also helped define the firm's public identity. CO Adaptive designed and renovated the founders' own passive-house-oriented home in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and undertook a renovation in Astoria, Queens. Both projects were featured in The New York Times. Together with its cultural and community projects, these renovations illustrate the firm's focus on upgrading existing buildings, improving energy performance, and reducing the environmental cost of construction. CO Adaptive is therefore best understood as a New York architecture and design-build practice rather than a conventional consumer brand. Its work combines architectural design, construction management, passive-house strategies, adaptive reuse, and material-diversion practices, with a geographic emphasis on Brooklyn and other parts of New York City.

• 2023

  Mercury Store shown at MoMA

  [1]CO Adaptiveen.wikipedia.org

  The Mercury Store was included in the Museum of Modern Art's Architecture Now: New York, New Publics exhibition.

• 2021

  Expansion into design-build services

  [1]CO Adaptiveen.wikipedia.org

  CO Adaptive expanded from an architecture studio to a practice offering construction services as well as design.

• 2021

  Mercury Store adaptive reuse

  [1]CO Adaptiveen.wikipedia.org

  The firm designed the Mercury Store community theater in a former 1902 metal foundry in Gowanus, combining cross-laminated timber with retained historic timber.

• 2019

  Foam-insulation commitment

  [1]CO Adaptiveen.wikipedia.org

  The firm began its stated commitment not to use foam insulation in its building projects because of the material's environmental impact.

• 2013

  Triskelion dance-space project

  [1]CO Adaptiveen.wikipedia.org

  CO Adaptive designed an experimental dance space in a former industrial building for the nonprofit Triskelion in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

• 2011

  CO Adaptive founded

  [1]CO Adaptiveen.wikipedia.org

  Ruth Mandl and Bobby Johnston established the architecture practice after meeting at Columbia University's architecture program.

• 2011

  Architects for Animals competition project

  [1]CO Adaptiveen.wikipedia.org

  The firm's first published project was a competition-winning shelter made from recycled and donated materials, developed with Kathryn Walton and The American Street Cat, Inc.

A sustainability-oriented architecture and design-build practice specializing in passive-house performance, adaptive reuse, material reuse, and community-oriented cultural projects.

• Residential architecture and renovation

  Passive-house residential renovations

  CO Adaptive designs and renovates homes using passive-house principles and related building-performance strategies. The work emphasizes lower operational energy use, improved enclosure performance, careful material selection, and the reuse of existing building components where practical. Examples include the founders' own home in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and a renovation in Astoria, Queens.

• Cultural and commercial architecture · 2013

  Adaptive reuse and cultural spaces

  The firm converts existing industrial and commercial structures into new community and cultural uses. Its work includes Triskelion's experimental dance space in Greenpoint and the Mercury Store community theater in Gowanus. These projects retain and reinterpret older structures while introducing new performance, rehearsal, and public-programming spaces.

• Professional services · 2021

  Integrated design-build services

  Since expanding into construction services in 2021, CO Adaptive has offered a more integrated route from architectural design through construction. The model is intended to connect design decisions with execution, material reuse, waste diversion, and energy-performance goals rather than treating construction as a separate phase managed entirely by another party.

• Sustainable construction practice · 2019

  Material reuse and low-waste construction

  CO Adaptive incorporates deconstruction, on-site reuse, donation, and recycling into its project approach where feasible. The firm works with appraisers, donation centers, and recycling companies to keep usable materials and recyclable construction components out of landfills. It has also stated that it avoids foam insulation in its building projects.

• 2021

  Move into design-build constructionStrategy

  Background

  CO Adaptive began as an architecture studio but sought greater control over project delivery, material choices, construction waste, and building-performance outcomes.

  Action taken

  The firm expanded its services to include construction, creating an integrated architecture and design-build practice.

  Aftermath

  The expanded model supported projects combining architectural design, adaptive reuse, passive-house goals, and construction-stage material management.

  Source

• 2019

  Adopt a no-foam-insulation commitmentStrategy

  Background

  The firm identified foam insulation as having environmental drawbacks that conflicted with its broader low-impact construction approach.

  Action taken

  CO Adaptive committed not to use foam insulation in its building projects.

  Aftermath

  The policy became part of the firm's stated material and sustainability approach.

  Source

1. 1CO Adaptiveen.wikipedia.org