USA is a quiet force on the architecture scene. Headquartered in Somerville, New Jersey, we’re located amid the growing communities and near the urban centers we serve best, including New York, Philadelphia, and Camden.
Since our founding in 1985, we’ve maintained a laser focus on delivering exemplary designs—not just waxing poetic about them. This eyes-on-the prize strategy has paid off: After three decades, we’re a trusted go-to design and development partner for some of the country’s most prestigious businesses, academic institutions, and municipal governments. (See our work and find out why.)
We’re Powered by Purpose
In a crowded architecture field, what draws clients to USA, time and time again? While other firms may be motivated by continued expansion, USA is powered by design with forward-thinking purpose. “We’re creating meaningful places for working, living, or learning,” says founder Paul Swartz. “And though we create them in a specific context of time, place, and space, they deliver lasting value.”
“We’ve cultivated a tremendous depth of relationships,” explains partner Armand Christopher, Director of Technical Services. “We connect with construction management firms, developers, and even other architects.”
Committed to Achieving Balance
Enduring value calls for rigorous and interrogative creative exploration, powerful partnerships, and a Zen-like ability to achieve balance between a client’s ultimate vision for its project–its legacy–and essential ground-level goals that address cost, compliance, and efficiency.
We ask many questions–it’s a must for making design a great client experience. By developing a set of guiding principles, we create a benchmark by which the client can gauge success, each step of the way. As a result, they keep their minds focused on visualizing the final structure; we manage the rest. It’s how we maintain the integrity of the client’s original idea.
Always True
Our experience, curiosity, and passion for architecture drives our determination to remain true to our clients, and the projects they entrust us with. Because each project is different, we put our intuition and enthusiasm to work to uncover a special design opportunity or solution that ignites our client’s imagination. This is what inspires us – deeply investing in the people, the process and always doing the right thing.
Fueling Connectivity
To create living, breathing buildings–places that inspire people and organizations to be their best–we take time out to share spirited moments and to be our best selves, too. Maybe we’re playing softball, tubing down the Delaware on a Saturday afternoon, or throwing a last-minute pizza and ice cream lunch in the conference room to talk about work, our families, or the latest headlines. Whatever the event, we’re having a great time as we forge bonds and foster a positive energy that you can see and feel in every building we design.