# ALAO > Official ALAO business agent. ALAO is an architecture and interior design practice with offices in Brooklyn and Upstate New York, working on residential… ## Ask it a question ALAO answers for itself at https://api.hailera.com/mcp/al-ao. A client that speaks MCP can connect to that address; the tool is ask_al_ao and the protocol is 2026-07-28. Where this file and the agent disagree, the agent is current. ## What ALAO does ALAO is an architecture and interior design practice. Its website describes it as "an award-winning architecture and interior design practice working at the intersection of Design and Social Advocacy". The services are grouped on the site under three headings: architecture and interiors, urban design, and advocacy. The portfolio is sorted into four categories: architecture and interiors, urban design, residential, and commercial. The office page states that since its founding the practice "has crafted bespoke residences, affordable art studios, retail environments, and community spaces". The philosophy page names residential design, commercial spaces, public architecture including cultural institutions and community spaces, and urban planning among the kinds of work the studio takes on. On how it works, the philosophy page says: "Our process is rooted in storytelling, sketching, physical models, and an iterative design approach", and "Our design approach synthesizes the urban scale and the intimate scale of the human body". The practice says it approaches every project "with a focus on human scale". The website does not publish prices, rates, fees, or cost estimates for any of these services, and there is no published fee schedule or price list. Anyone who wants a quote or an estimate is asked to make contact directly. The contact section reads "Get in touch with a one-on-one consultation" and invites visitors to set up an appointment. The studio is located at 132 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11201; the published phone number is 347.578.5994 and the email address is info@alao.design. Source: https://www.alao.design/ ## Where ALAO works ALAO is located at 132 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11201. That Brooklyn address is the one published on the site as the studio address. The office page states that the practice "has offices in Brooklyn and Upstate New York and works globally". The exact address of the Upstate New York office is not published, and no other branch locations are listed. The published contact details are the phone number 347.578.5994 and the email address info@alao.design. Both appear in the contact block at the foot of the site. On booking, the contact section says "Get in touch with a one-on-one consultation" and offers to "Set up an appointment with us". That one-on-one consultation is the route the website gives for starting a conversation about a project; there is no online booking form, no self-service scheduling calendar, and no published intake questionnaire on the site. The website does not publish office hours. It does not say what days or times the studio is open, whether it takes walk-ins, or how quickly it replies to an enquiry. It also does not state the areas served as a defined service area or radius, although the portfolio shows completed work in New York City, upstate New York, Connecticut, Louisiana, California, the Philippines, and Australia. Anyone who needs the hours, a specific appointment time, or confirmation that the practice covers a particular location should ask the studio by phone or email. The ALAO portfolio page lists named projects with the location of each. In New York City and the surrounding area these are: Dumbo Penthouse (Brooklyn, NY), Central Park Apartment (Manhattan, NY), Bed Stuy Townhouse (NY), ArtBuilt (Brooklyn Army Terminal, NY), Syosset House (Long Island, NY), Public Record Studio (Gowanus, Brooklyn, NY), Manhattan Pied-a-terre (New York City, NY), Small Lots (New York, NY), Brooklyn Loft (Brooklyn, NY), Clinton Hill Brownstone (Brooklyn, NY), Spice Up Your Kitchen (Queens, NY), Washington Heights Townhouse (New York, NY), and Prospect Heights Loft (NY). Elsewhere in the United States the listed projects are Callicoon House (Sullivan County, NY), Carriage House (Sharon, CT), POP! House (New Orleans, LA), Carver Theater District Plan (New Orleans, LA), and RM Williams Flagship (Los Angeles, CA). International projects on the same list are Pasig Riverfront Park (Pasig City, Philippines), The Strand (Cebu, Philippines), CICAD Museum (Cebu, Philippines), Siama Hotel (Sorsogon, Philippines), Courtyard House (Makati, Metro Manila), Resort and Cultural Center (Queensland, Australia), and Sydney Penthouse (Sydney, Australia). The site describes Callicoon House as "a small single pitched live-work home" that "maximizes a 710sqft footprint consisting of mostly shared spaces and 3 sleeping rooms and a bonus 270 sqft loft". Pasig Riverfront Park is described as "a park system network for leisure, recreation, and play for the city of Pasig". The portfolio does not publish completion dates, budgets, construction cost, or the price of any project, and it does not state which service areas the practice will or will not travel to beyond the places already listed. Lists Central, New Orleans, Arnold, Clinton, Columbia, Urbandale, Prospect Heights, and Brooklyn Park as a location. Names California, Connecticut, Louisiana, New York, United States, and New York City as a service area. Areas beyond these are not published. Source: https://www.alao.design/office ## Prices ALAO does not publish pricing on its website. There is no price list, no fee schedule, no hourly rates, no percentage-of-construction-cost figure, no minimum project size, and no sample or starting cost for any type of work. Nothing on the site gives an estimate or a range for a residential renovation, an interior fit-out, a new build, a commercial project, or urban design work. The route the site gives instead is a direct conversation. The contact section reads "Get in touch with a one-on-one consultation" and invites visitors to "Set up an appointment with us". A quote, an estimate, or any discussion of fees would therefore come from the studio itself rather than from the website. The site does not say whether the initial consultation is free or paid, and it does not publish what the consultation covers. To ask about price, cost, or fees, or to book that consultation, the published contact points are the phone number 347.578.5994, the email address info@alao.design, and the office at 132 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11201. The website also does not publish project timelines, design or construction schedules, contract terms, or payment stages, and it makes no statement about permits, zoning, or landmark approvals for any project. Those details are not available from the published pages and should be confirmed with the practice directly. Source: https://www.alao.design/ ## ALAO advocacy work, awards and press coverage The advocacy page states that "ALAO engages in advocacy work to support artists' communities, provide design education for children, and offer design support to organizations and communities in need", and that it does this "through various initiatives - including research publications, teaching, workshops, and collaborative design partnerships". The office page adds that the practice "dedicates time to collaborating with communities who are unable to access architects, and it believes that quality design should be available to all". The named advocacy initiatives listed are Pasig River Parks, Small Lots, microMACRO, Spice Up Your Kitchen, Reading Hut, Himo Space, ArtBuilt, Cooper Hewitt Design Workshops, Active School, and Alimentary Design with OMA. The site does not publish an application process, eligibility rules, or a cost for advocacy support; enquiries go through the same contact details as the rest of the practice, at 132 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11201, phone 347.578.5994, email info@alao.design. The recognition page lists three awards, all from 2022: an AIA New Orleans Design Awards People's Choice Award for POP! House, an AIA Connecticut Design Awards Design Excellence Award for the Sharon Carriage House, and an AIA Brooklyn Design Awards Merit Award for Pasig Waterfront Park. Published press includes Dwell (2024 and 2021), The New York Times (2024 and 2020), T Magazine (2024), Vogue (2023) and PIN-UP Magazine (2021). The site's press strip also names Whitewall, Architectural Digest and Habitus. No further award years, prize amounts, or ranking claims are published. Source: https://www.alao.design/advocacy ## The ALAO team and the credentials the practice publishes ALAO is a collaborative studio led by partners Aya Maceda and James Carse. The office page lists six people. Aya Maceda is listed as "R.A. Architect, Interior Designer" and co-founding principal, described as a Filipino-Australian architect. The site states that she "is a registered architect in the US and Australia", that she holds a master's degree in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University GSAPP where she was a former faculty member, and that she is currently a professor at Parsons School of Design. It also states that in 2021 Architecture Digest named her one of the "5 Women in the design world you should know". James Carse is listed as "AIA, AICP, LEED AP. Architect, Urban Designer" and principal and co-founder. The site states that he holds a Master of Architecture in Urban Design with Distinction from Harvard's Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Architecture from Tulane University, and that he has taught at Catholic University of America, Columbia University, Cornell University, Parsons, and Tulane University. Emily Bult is a senior designer, associate and project coordinator with a Master of Architecture from Columbia University GSAPP; the site says she oversees the residential projects at ALAO. Kacy Co is a senior designer with a Master of Architecture from the University of Michigan TCAUP. Yuki Nakayama is a senior designer with a BFA in Interior Design from Parsons School of Design and a B.Arch from The Cooper Union. Kurt Arnold is listed as photographer and IT manager. No licence numbers, registration numbers, or states of registration beyond the wording above are published, and no insurance details are given. Source: https://www.alao.design/office ## What ALAO has not published yet These are things people ask ALAO that its published information does not yet cover. - prices - availability - fees, hourly rates or design cost estimates - project timelines or construction schedules - permit, zoning or landmark approval outcomes - professional licences or registrations not published - contract terms, scope or warranty commitments - insurance coverage Ask anyway — the agent will say plainly that it is not published rather than guess. ## Where this comes from https://www.al-ao.com