Sonya Lee Architect llc

Great Professional with a strong aesthetic sense of space and design. We had the pleasure to collaborate producing some great images for an interior renovation. Really easy to work with. Highly recommended

Of the architects I've had the pleasure to collaborate with, Sonya stands out as one of the best as far as meticulous execution and uncompromising design sensibility. Her focus is always on serving the client's best long-term interest, and her knowledge of architectural principles is vast. Together with her easy-going demeanor Sonya is a rare, delightful architect showing great promise in years to come. Having seen the quality of her work in design phases as well as in realized form, I would wholeheartedly recommend Sonya without hesitation to any of her prospective clients.

Sonya is an exceptionally talented architect who knows how to push all the right buttons to get your project over the finish line. My husband and I reached out to Sonya in January 2015 when we were scouting around for an architect to design, plan and execute the overhaul of our Brownstone in Brooklyn. All the architects we met with were pre-selected off the back of their portfolios and recommendations, but out of all the professionals interviewed Sonya was the only one who truly listened to what our needs were – in terms of budget, look, feel and the need to preserve the integrity of our home as much as possible. We felt that she was able to gauge the areas of work we were confident in and the areas we would need more advice and assistance with; that she comprehended the challenges of undertaking major works on an old home with a toddler in tow; and also the pressures of managing the varying needs of stakeholders (unreasonable neighbours, the DoB, expeditors, engineers, contractors, etc etc). Sonya managed nearly every aspect of our project – design, drafting, approvals, contractor selection, payments, issue resolution – the whole kit and caboodle. When we ran into issues with our contractor she confidently stepped in and micro managed them to get the work done. We have no doubt that without her intervention and expertise we could have been left high and dry, with a half complete house. Sonya dedicated considerable extra time and energy to ensuring we achieved the home that we desired, navigating obstacles and challenges with ease. We consider ourselves very lucky to have met such a dedicated and gifted person.

Sonya is an outstanding architect. I recommend her to anyone looking to get work done. She is a great listener and put together plans that fit my ideas, way of life, city regulations etc. She stayed on the project from the first discussion to the final walk through, addressed challenges encountered by the general contractor (pipe unexpected location) and also pushed the general contractor to deliver the best possible output for her client. I can't say anything negative about her because she did a fantastic work with my home.

Sonya was the primary architect for our apartment buildout (2013, Battery Park City) and was more recently the primary architect for our office buildout (2015, Financial District). Both spaces stayed true to the initial design, while also adhering to building requirements and city codes. This was a massive undertaking, as we were working from raw basebuilding, and creating the entire space from scratch. We attribute these successes in large part to Sonya’s design and direction. We have trusted Sonya fully with these two spaces that are extremely important to our lives, both personally and professionally- people live here, and we couldn’t be happier with the job she’s done. She is reliable and overall great to work with. We would happily recommend her skills and talents to anyone looking. Sonya did a particularly great job at incorporating our design suggestions into the space. Especially with regard to finding creative solutions, Sonya excels. She is easy to communicate with and quick to respond with suggestions. Furthermore, she did a great job managing both of these projects, whether it was keeping contractors on task or negotiating discounts for us, all while meeting very tight deadlines. Sonya is also great to work with on a personal level. She listened to our needs and shared her visions, but always deferred to what we wanted.

Sonya was our architect for two home renovations. The first was a finishing of a basement in a nice 1920's cape code home in Ann Arbor, MI. Her meticulous attention to detail allowed us to maximize the space to create a great family entertaining space, an additional bedroom with full bath and walk in closet, and an office space. She is a great outside of the box thinker and helped us stay under budget. Our second renovation was a complete gutting and conversion of a previously converted duplex in the historic fan district of Richmond, VA. she did an amazing job of rethinking the space to provide a modern touch to an historic row house. We were able to stay around our budget and she held our contractor and his subs to a higher standard. Her work ethic, integrity, and flexibility made her great to work with.

We hired Sonya Lee as architect to design and manage a complete gut renovation of a pre-war apartment in Forest Hills Gardens, NY. I can't even imagine another architect doing a better job than what she did for us. She has our absolutely highest recommendation possible. Process & Knowledge -- Sonya managed the contractors, the architectural drawings, the electrical and plumbing drawings, the Dept of Buildings approval, and helped us deal with the building's board process. She coordinated the entire renovation with an incredible handle on every detail and turned a giant project into manageable pieces and kept it all transparent enough that we knew where we were on status and what the next steps were. She verified all the bills and invoices presented from the contractors and helped us negotiate costs with them. She picked out furniture pieces and fixtures for us. Her expertise was such that we could ask her any question at any time about materials and she could quote price ranges to us, explain the pros and cons of different choices, and she knew everything that the contractors were doing and when they were doing it. There was never a missed deadline from her and she rigorously talked through budget choices and kept us in our desired range. The peace of mind from having someone like her in charge was without question worth the cost of hiring her. Design -- Sonya has an elegant modern sensibility about design, but she doesn't impose anything on you. She reviewed sample picture designs we liked, asked thoughtful questions about our intended use and worked to create a beautiful, airy design for our apartment that maximized a modern, timeless aesthetic with our needs for a durable and functional family life with small children. Put it this way, everything she created was beautiful, could withstand a beating from our kids and will not be dated years and years from now. Experience -- I think I've said this already, but if it's not clear, Sonya Lee knows just about everything there is to know for modern renovations. Here's a sampling of some stuff we asked about: light bulb choices and lighting and environmental impact, the hardness of different counters, how to clean wood finishes, "what is that thing behind the wall?", how many internet data jacks should we have, will the Dept of Buildings ask questions about xyz, is there a cheaper option for cabinet handles, what do we do if we want to install a heated toilet later, how is the sound dampening quality of this rug, etc. She knew everything. Attitude -- Sonya Lee is sweet and kind, but tough on slow contractors. Seriously, she is a very easy person to get along with and has an honestly positive attitude.