Architecture in service of the people inside it.

Our story

Eric Davenport founded LEAP Architecture on March 15, 2012 with a specific conviction: that architecture is a lever for social, environmental, and economic betterment — and that the profession sometimes forgets it. The name itself is the mission statement: LEAP stands for Living Environments, Appropriate Projects. Every commission since has been chosen and shaped around that idea, from lakefront custom homes in upstate New York to a nonprofit food hub in Troy to full-floor workplaces designed around how teams actually collaborate.

How we think

The research is unambiguous: the design of a space measurably affects health outcomes, cognitive performance, and even how much customers spend. Daylight changes how people sleep. Acoustics change how teams focus. Sightlines change how families connect. That is serious leverage, and we treat it seriously — starting every project with what the space needs to do for the people who will use it, and letting form follow that answer instead of imposing a signature style from above.

In practice, that means we listen before we sketch. Discovery conversations come before design concepts; budgets are engineered into the drawings rather than reconciled after the bids come in; and the interior architecture — light, finishes, fixtures, and flow — is designed by the same hand that shaped the building, so the finished product reads as one continuous idea.

Who we work with

Our best clients are mission-driven: families building the home they'll actually retire in, entrepreneurs building spaces where customers linger and employees do their best work, and nonprofits like Capital Roots whose buildings need to work as hard as their programs. Wherever your goals point, our drawings work backward from them — and if a project doesn't need an architect, we'll tell you that too.

Credentials

• · Registered Architect, State of New York
• · American Institute of Architects (AIA) member
• · NCARB Certified — reciprocal licensure across the U.S.
• · 14+ years of NY & NJ residential and commercial practice
• · Wheelchair-accessible studio — accessibility is a value, not a checkbox

Sustainability

High-performance envelopes, healthy interior materials, electrification, and daylight-first planning are default settings on every LEAP project. We'll take your project as far along the path to net-zero as budget allows — and be honest about the trade-offs when it can't go all the way.