MdeAS Architects

MdeAS Architects works out of the Maritime Exchange Building at 80 Broad Street in Manhattan and has built its practice almost entirely on repositioning existing commercial towers. The firm was founded in 1991 by former Skidmore, Owings & Merrill partners Leon Moed and Raul de Armas, and the name is a contraction of Moed de Armas & Shannon. Its work runs to curtain wall replacement, lobby and base reconstruction, and the kind of full-building reskin that keeps a frame in service. MdeAS designed the PENN 2 repositioning for Vornado Realty Trust, a roughly $750 million over-clad of a 1968 tower above Penn Station, and earlier led the repositioning of 280 Park Avenue. The firm publishes no headcount.

Architizer named MdeAS Best Adaptive Reuse and Renovation Firm at the 2026 A+ Awards, which is a fair summary of where the practice has ended up. The office organises its portfolio under commercial, residential, hospitality and interiors, public and institutional, and master planning, but the through-line is buildings that already exist.

The Black Rock project is the clearest illustration. 51W52 is the only skyscraper Eero Saarinen ever designed and was home to CBS for more than fifty-five years, a dark granite tower rising straight out of its plaza. Managing partner Dan Shannon has spoken publicly about revitalising it, and the approach was restoration rather than replacement: working with Vocon, MdeAS restored the original plaza and lobby, then added a light installation, a floating stair, a reflecting pool and a lower-level lounge. Preserving Saarinen’s intent while making the building work for a current tenant is a narrow line to walk, and it is the same line the practice walks on most of its commercial jobs.

Other current work runs across scales. AVE Hamilton Green in White Plains completed recently. 11 East 26th Street is a historic commercial repositioning. One Wall Street is a residential conversion. The firm announced a revitalisation of 59 Maiden Lane with AmTrustRE. Parc Beaufort was covered in The New York Times.

Recognition for the PENN 2 work has come from more than one direction: PENN 2 and Plaza 33 took a MASterworks Award from the Municipal Art Society of New York, PENN 2 won a Best of Year award from Interior Design Magazine, and it appeared on the cover of Retrofit Magazine for January and February 2026. Clinton Park won an AIA Westchester Hudson Valley design award. Shannon has also presented on postwar Park Avenue at The Skyscraper Museum.

The office is at 80 Broad Street, Suite 1501, New York, NY 10004, on 212-809-0100, with separate contacts for new business and for media enquiries.