Reflecting its growth across a wide range of sectors and its commitment to design excellence, the award-winning firm MBB (Murphy Burnham & Buttrick Architects) has announced promotions for two key team members. According to firm leaders, these professionals embody MBB’s longstanding reputation for sophisticated design solutions, technical knowledge, and a humanistic, usercentered approach to design.

The recently elevated professionals include Taylor Aikin, AIA, LEED GA, an experienced practitioner in cultural, educational, and residential work, who has been promoted to Associate Partner. A promotion has also been announced for Rebecca Arcaro, AIA, who has been elevated to Senior Associate.

The new leadership roles come on the heels of a number of significant milestones and project wins for MBB, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. Across a broad portfolio of educational, institutional, cultural, residential and civic projects ranging from planning and new construction to renovation and adaptive reuse, recent successes include the launch of restorations and renovations at Trinity Church Wall Street in Lower Manhattan; the start of a major, multi-phased project to expand and transform Manhattan’s Park Avenue Synagogue Campus; the winning of an international competition to design a housing tower in Sofia, Bulgaria; and the completion of expansions and renovations at Grace Church Schools in Manhattan and P.S.19Q in Queens. Aikin and Arcaro have both played key roles in these works.

“Taylor Aikin and Rebecca Arcaro represent an emerging generation of leadership for MBB,” said Jeffrey Murphy, FAIA, founding partner at MBB. “Their passionate dedication to design excellence, continued engagement in team building, active mentorship of others, and effective collaboration with clients epitomize the core values we hold as a firm. We are proud to recognize the significant roles they play at MBB, and the contributions they make to our culture of humanistic design.” MBB has also released detailed information about the promoted firm leaders:

Taylor Aikin, AIA, LEED GA, Associate Partner

A skillful practitioner in cultural, educational, and residential architecture, Taylor Aikin has been a core member of MBB’s design, management and leadership teams since joining the firm in 2015. Known for his technical acumen and design skills, and with experience on a broad range of project types and scales, and in all aspects of project development and execution, Aikin’s analytical perspective and willingness to share knowledge is valued within the firm and in the broader professional community.

As an Associate Partner and Senior Project Architect, his role includes spearheading efforts in design and digital technologies. His project portfolio extends across major new construction, renovation, and master planning initiatives. Notable recent works include PS19Q, a new fullbuilding addition to a public school in Queens, and the award-winning Glass Walls project, part of the restoration and renovation of iconic St. Patrick’s Cathedral. On the global design scene, Aikin is collaborating closely with MBB partner Jeffrey Murphy, FAIA, on the Garitage Park mixed-use residential development in Sofia, Bulgaria. With a 450,000-square-foot tower set in six acres of urban landscape, this breakout development sets a new precedent in scale for MBB’s civic and urban works.

A licensed architect in the state of New York, Aikin holds a Master of Architecture from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation, and a Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is the recipient of Columbia University’s Honors for Excellence in Design, and the AIA Colorado Young Architects Award for Graphic Technology. Aikin’s essays have been published in Faith and Form and The Construction Specifier magazine. He has served as a guest critic at Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, Parsons School of Design, and Pratt Institute, and currently serves as a Program Director on the AIANY Cultural Facilities Committee.

Rebecca Arcaro, AIA, Senior Associate

With over 11 years of experience in the field, Rebecca Arcaro is as an emerging leader and mentor at MBB. Recognized for her thoughtful design approach and ability to find innovative solutions to programmatic needs, Arcaro manages projects from inception through construction administration, working closely with clients and consultants to ensure successful delivery.

In her time at MBB, Arcaro has played a key role in major cultural projects, including the ongoing renovation and expansion of the Park Avenue Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side; a Master Plan for St. Paul’s Chapel; the first phase of renovations at Trinity Church Wall Street; and the renovation of the Mertz Gilmore meeting house for the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, an independent grant-making institution for the dance arts and social justice initiatives.

In addition to project work, Arcaro serves as an architectural licensure supervisor within MBB, drawing on her previous career as a Stanley Kaplan test prep counselor. In this mentorship and advisory role within the firm, she helps candidates organize their experience hours reporting, prepare for examinations, and continually develop professionally as licensed architects.

Arcaro holds a Master of Architecture from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation and graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy at Columbia College at Columbia University. She joined Murphy Burnham & Buttrick in August of 2013, and was appointed Associate in 2014 before being elevated to Senior Associate.