FE is a Brooklyn, NY based architecture and design office.

We provide design and consulting services for architectural and urban projects, including housing, public space, commercial, and master planning efforts. The office works both independently and collaboratively, with partnerships in and outside of the profession, and always with the goal of broadening our projects’ value and positive impact.

FE is a registered WBE.

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We work with creative and ambitious clients across a range of project types, from homes to cultural projects to workplaces, retail, public spaces, and multi-family housing. We partner with passionate clients who want to do good work collaboratively, openly, and generously.

We believe that a successful project is the result of a successful process and a successful process requires a good team. At the center of the team, providing leadership and structure, is where we’re comfortable. To get to success, we work for a combination of outcomes: the work should be beautiful, it should respond to the needs of its particular situation, and it should create value for the client and everyone who interacts with it.

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We work with material and form to design spaces that engage context, culture, and the needs of a world experiencing ever-present change.

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Context

We believe in always learning from and working within the context. Context is physical, social, historical, and personal.

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Culture

We believe that good architecture expresses ideas and therefore engages with culture in broad and exciting ways.

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Change

We believe the world changes no matter what and that our engagements should make a positive contribution to the version of the world that’s currently in formation.

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FE was founded by Deirdre and Nicholas McDermott. The office works on cultural, residential, public space, and multi-family housing projects in New York and beyond.

PARTNERS

Deirdre McDermott (AIA) received her B.Arch from the Cornell University School of Architecture. She has worked in the offices of SOM, CCS and, most recently, as a Director at Moed de Armas & Shannon (MdeAS). At MdeAS, she led projects for major developers in New York working on commercial properties and privately owned public spaces throughout the city. Deirdre is a registered architect in New York State and serves on the housing committee of the New York AIA.

Nicholas McDermott (RA, LEED AP) received his BA in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania, and his M.Arch from the Yale University School of Architecture. At Yale he was awarded the James Gamble Rogers Fellowship and the David Taylor Memorial Prize. He was also a Student Fellow at the Yale Urban Design Workshop, where he worked on public and non-profit design projects with communities in and around New Haven. In New York he worked for RMA and, earlier, SOM. He currently teaches graduate level design studios at Yale. He has previously taught at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute. Nicholas has been a guest critic at Columbia, Cooper Union, Harvard GSD, MIT, Parsons, Pratt, RISD, and Wesleyan. Nicholas is a registered architect in New York State and is a LEED Accredited Professional.

TEAM

Henri Decrausaz, Senior Designer

Gerald Rubia, Designer

Pa Ramyarupa, Designer

Jessica Chen, Junior Designer

Trevor Dineen, Intern

HIRING

FE is accepting applications for a full time Junior Designer position. This is an in-person role requiring a professional degree (B.Arch or M.Arch degree preferred) and up to 2 years of relevant experience in an architecture office. Exceptional applicants should send portfolios and resumes to this address.

FE is accepting applications for our rolling 6-month internship position. We will be interviewing interns for an opening starting in mid-summer 2026, ideally the end of June or early July. This paid position is intended for current students who are enrolled in a professional B.Arch or M.Arch program. Applicants should send portfolios and resumes to this address with the subject line ‘6-month Internship’.

FE is accepting summer internship applications for 2026. Positions are for up to 3 months (approximately). Exceptional applicants should send portfolios and resumes to this address with the subject line ‘summer internship’.