A large share of Manhattan apartments are co-ops, where a private board — not just the Department of Buildings — has to approve renovation plans, sometimes rejecting alterations for reasons that have nothing to do with code. Buildings inside historic districts also fall under landmarks preservation review, which restricts what can be changed on facades and sometimes interiors. New York's zoning rules and local building-code requirements add another layer that has little in common with permitting a private villa on an open plot in Bali, where there's no board, no historic district, and far fewer stakeholders in a single approval.
Given that context, the most realistic first role for a Bali-based studio in New York is interior architecture and design direction — material selection, spatial planning, custom joinery and finishes — rather than leading a ground-up project through city and board approvals. The studio has no completed New York project, and navigating co-op board packages, landmark approvals or building department filings would go to a New York-licensed architect and expediter engaged for that purpose.
Condominiums, which generally have fewer board restrictions on interior alterations than co-ops, are usually a more practical entry point for this kind of collaboration than a prewar co-op building.
Has the studio completed a New York project? No — built work to date is in Bali, Indonesia and a small number of Caribbean and Latin American projects.
Can the studio file with the city's building department or handle a co-op board package? No, that requires a New York-licensed architect, typically paired with an expediter, engaged specifically for that purpose.
New York's board and landmark constraints are a sharper version of the ownership-structure issues that also come up in Hong Kong's strata-titled buildings, and its dense apartment stock overlaps with Singapore's. Get in touch through the contact page to discuss an interior project.