EXPERIENCE
Chris Alker is a New York State Registered Architect with a focus on New York City architecture. He studied urban design and theory while attending the University of Texas at Austin, and immediately followed his studies with an apprenticeship to a master carpenter in the San Francisco Bay Area. He moved to New York City in 2004 to work for Handel Architects on large scale ground up residential and hospitality projects. He subsequently worked with 2plus3 Architects, Delson or Sherman, Atema Architecture, and Marmol Radziner on east and west coasts commercial office and retail projects before joining Akam in 2020 as their first resident architect.
His experience includes the co-design and execution of several luxury single-family apartment and townhouse gut renovation/additions, The Nature Conservancy’s New York City’s headquarters, Lucid Motors’ Miami and West Palm Beach showrooms, countless zoning feasibility studies, code compliance & landmarks preservation
consulting, senior project management, client relations, and construction administration.
His interest in architecture includes design, branding, detailing, construction, programming, maintenance, life-cycle assessment, adaptive reuse, and post-occupancy evaluations. He is committed to both the art and science of buildings from cradle to grave.
WORK HISTORY
Akam Associates, Inc.
New York, NY
Director of Building Operations & Compliance (2020 - Present)
Marmol Radziner
New York, NY
Senior Project Manager (1 year)
Atema Architecture, PLLC
New York, NY
Senior Architect (2 years)
Delson or Sherman Architects, PC
Brooklyn, New York
Project Architect (5 years)
2plus3 Architects p.c.
Brooklyn, New York
Intermediate Architect (3 years)
Handel Architects, LLP
New York, New York
Junior Architect (3 years)
Stott Contracting Services
San Francisco, California
Apprentice Carpenter (1 year)
SKILLS & CERTIFICATIONS
High-end residential design, commercial office design, property research, business strategy, construction documentation, contract administration, zoning/code/accessibility compliance, LPC filing, Community Board presenter, construction documentation, building department audits & SWO's.
SOFTWARE
Revit
Bluebeam
AutoCAD
Microstation
Vectorworks
SketchUp
Adobe Creative Suite
Microsoft Office
EDUCATION & REGISTRATION
NY State #037581
2015 - Present
1997-2002
Bachelor of Architecture, University of Texas at Austin
1993-1997
St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Houston, TX