MaryEllen Kowalewski Architect

MaryEllen Kowalewski has been a pleasure to work with. She is creative and skilled at making projects functional and beautiful. To keep things moving smoothly, we work as a team to select the products that fit the project not only from the design aspect, but also the desired delivery time. I like working with MaryEllen because she listens and communicates well. She makes work fun. Kathleen Adams Hardware, Plumbing, Lighting Consultant Chown Hardware

Maryellen was very efficient as well as very creative in finding solutions to the situations presented to her in this small powder room. . She showed a great deal of intuative response in dealing with the cost of all options and presented many options for my consideration. Her patience and help in dealing with my slowness to make decisions was beyond the call and was very much appreciated. She was very easy to work with.

MaryEllen Kowalewski was the architect with whom I worked on a substantial renovation of my duplex cooperative apartment in Brooklyn Heights six years ago. The building was built in 1914 and my apartment still had the original fine moldings and herringbone floors. The challenge for MaryEllen was to preserve the beautiful bones – as well as the moldings and the floors – of the space while updating it with central air, a modern kitchen and bath and removing some of the awkward additions that compromised the fine dimensions of some of the rooms. One of the greatest challenges was to find space to hide two sizeable air conditioning units and the ducts. She was able to figure out a very clever way to drop two ceilings, which required replicating the molding for one ceiling, and hiding the other in the very beautiful new bathroom she designed. MaryEllen’s competence as an architect was so complete that I am not really sure exactly how she did this. I do know that I am the only resident in this building who has not had a problem with air conditioning. Her kitchen and bathroom designs were, and continue to be, delightful. Her innovative use of frosted glass added light and modern elements to the apartment. Her attention to detail was most impressive. She was as invested as I was in finding the perfect shades of white (we looked at dozens) but I really understood what was special about MaryEllen when she called me excitedly from a Banana Republic where she noticed grills over air vents that were the perfect transition between old and new – and then tracked the vendor down. MaryEllen also showed remarkable flexibility when the original kitchen designer didn’t work out. She and the contractor worked together to build a new kitchen on schedule. In short, MaryEllen is an excellent architect and a pleasure to work with.

MaryEllen was the lead architect of a significant and complex renovation that we undertook in 2002. The renovation involved connecting and reconfiguring two apartments in a Manhattan co-op that were across the hall from each other. A renovation in a New York co-op is complex, requiring many different approvals and complex paperwork. The project involved harmonizing the existing apartment, the acquired apartment and the hallway. For New York, this was a monumental and complex project. As the lead on this renovation, MaryEllen tackled this complex problem with complete poise, extreme focus, and great ideas. There is no question in my mind that the project was completed successfully largely because of her diligence and focus. And, all of this does not take into account the most important contribution from MaryEllen: Her design. She managed to take three distinct spaces and unify them into one that felt consistent and seamless. We only renovated the "additional spaces" and so she had the requirement to make them fit with the existing apartment, which she did brilliantly. The centerpiece was a new eat-in kitchen. She designed everything from the layout to the cabinetry. The result was a 4000 square foot apartment that was customized to our needs and designed to our tastes. Her attention to our project was consistent and exemplary. I recommend her highly for any project of any size. Ten years later, we still live in the apartment with the same design that MaryEllen created.

MaryEllen designed and supervised the complete renovation of our carriage house in Brooklyn, NY. Throughout the project she exhibited creativity in design, and worked flawlessly with our contractor and designer. Her proficiency made it possible for us to move in two weeks ahead of schedule. We would highly recommend MaryEllen as an architect.

Dear Sir or Madam, This is short letter of recommendation for Maryellen Kowalewski. While she was employed at Baxt-Ingui Architects here in the city we had the pleasure of working with Ms. Kowalewski for about three years over several projects. She is always collegial, competent, and pleasant to deal with. She is willing to accept suggestions for the improvement of the job. She is knowledgeable about design and the realities of construction. We were always able to find good solutions to problems that arose with her active participation. Her ability to clarify for the client’s the means and methods of contraction enabled all to understand the scope of the contracts, what upcharges were and why they were valid. She was responsive to requests for specifications and details when needed. Working with Maryellen as the Project Managing Architect was a truly enjoyable experience. Yours, Lafayette Compton, President D. L. Compton Ltd