Richard earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. A native of Baltimore, MD, after graduation in 1979, Richard moved to New York City where he worked for Giorgio Cavaglieri Architect concentrating on historic restoration and adaptive reuse projects. Under Mr. Cavaglieri’s direction, Richard participated in the design of the Joseph Papp Public Theatre on Lafayette Street, the Pratt Institute Library in Brooklyn, and was associate-in-charge of design and construction for the New York Public Library Wallace Periodicals Room which was the first phase of the overall restoration of the Fifth Avenue NYPL. He next worked for Revkin-Weisman Architects where he participated in the design of numerous corporate office projects, residential projects (both apartments and houses), and contributed to other work including exhibition and furniture design. He then worked with Robert Kahn Architect for a period of two years.

Richard joined Bond Street Architecture & Design as a principal from 1992-2009. Richard was the lead designer working on high-end residential projects, restaurants, hotels, retail space, interiors, and furniture and lighting design.

In the fall of 2009 Richard joined Amy S. Libit to form a new design firm, L+L Design Studio, LLC.

Some of the publications Richard’s work has appeared in are House & Garden, Architectural Record, Interior Design, and The New York Times, as well as several books including ‘The Essential House Book’ and ‘Studio Apartments’. As a writer, Richard has contributed to architectural and literary journals and books including H&G, Parnassus, The Bennington Review, and the guidebook series City Secrets. For the year 1990-1991 Richard was a regular contributor to the National Lampoon.

Amy, originally from the Northshore of Chicago, earned a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia and a Masters of Architecture from Columbia University in 2001. Prior to enrolling in graduate studies and relocating to NYC, Amy worked for Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects in Baltimore, MD. During her tenure there she participated in the design of several large-scale educational and religious facility projects included Sparks Elementary School for Baltimore County, a new student lounge for Towson University, the synagogue designs for Har Sinai in Owings Mills, MD, the expansion and renovations to the JCC of Reading, PA and York, PA, as well as multiple competitions.

While attending the GSAPP at Columbia, Amy was introduced to Bond Street Architecture & Design by one of Richard’s clients and she joined the firm in 1999. She worked on high-end residential project in and around New York City, hotels, restaurants, and interiors as well as contributing to competition entries and master plans for several private sports & tennis facilities and universities.

In the fall of 2009 Amy joined Richard S. Lavenstein to form their new design firm, L+L Design Studio, LLC.

Amy is a registered architect in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and is NCARB certified. Her work has been published in The New York Times and NY Living magazine.