NYC Residential Architect for Wellness-Focused Homes

Thoughtful architecture for custom homes, townhouses, and substantial residential renovations.

Tong Dong Architects is a Queens-based residential architecture studio designing homes around light, air, comfort, building performance, and the way families actually live.

We work with homeowners across New York City, Long Island, and select areas of Westchester on custom homes, townhouse renovations, whole-home renovations, apartments, co-ops, and condos.

Our approach brings architecture, wellness, and building science together from the beginning—so the decisions that are hardest to change later are considered before construction begins.

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Download the NYC Renovation Starter Kit

Planning a substantial residential project? Tell us about your property, priorities, and where you are in the process.

Bright NYC kitchen renovation with a waterfall-edge island, natural light, and a layout designed for cross-ventilation

Techbuilt house interior - Kitchen and waterfall edge kitchen island allowing cross ventilation

Architecture for Homes That Work Better and Feel Better

A beautiful home should also work well.

It should bring in natural light where you need it. Stay comfortable through changing seasons. Manage air and moisture intelligently. Give your family room to move, gather, work, rest, and grow.

At Tong Dong Architects, we look at the home as an interconnected system.

Layout affects daylight. Windows affect comfort. Insulation affects mechanical systems. Materials affect indoor air. Storage affects how a room functions every day.

Considering these relationships early helps create a home that feels calm, intuitive, durable, and distinctly yours.

See our approach

Portfolio

Selected Residential Projects

Architecture is best understood through the problems it solves.

Explore how we use space planning, daylight, material choices, building systems, and architectural interventions to transform existing homes and create better places to live.

NYC wellness home with solar tubes bringing natural light into the interior

A residential renovation shaped by openness, natural light, cross-ventilation, and the relationship between architecture and landscape.

A full UWS Manhattan townhouse renovation exploring how daylight, vertical circulation, building performance, and landscape can transform a narrow urban home.

Clients

What We Design

Custom Homes

Homes designed from the ground up around site, light, comfort, building performance, and the way your family lives.

Explore custom homes

NYC Townhouse Renovations

Whole-building transformations that connect layout, daylight, building systems, envelope performance, and contemporary family life.

Explore Townhouse Renovations

Apartment, Co-op + Condo Renovations

Thoughtful NYC renovations that coordinate design with building requirements, approvals, consultants, and construction realities.

Explore Apartment Renovations

Wellness-Focused Renovations

Residential architecture that considers indoor air, moisture, thermal comfort, daylight, acoustics, materials, and long-term building performance from the beginning

Explore wellness home renovations

The Decisions That Matter Most Happen Early

Some design decisions are easy to change later.

Paint can be repainted. Furniture can be replaced. Hardware can be changed.

Other decisions become embedded in the architecture: floor plans, windows, structure, waterproofing, insulation, ventilation, mechanical systems, and the building envelope.

Those decisions deserve attention before construction begins.

That idea is the foundation of Build Without Regrets, our planning framework for homeowners preparing to renovate or build.

It helps you understand which decisions matter most, how they affect one another, and where early thinking can prevent expensive compromises later.

Explore Build Without Regrets

Led by Queenie Tong, RA, NCARB

Tong Dong Architects was founded in Queens, New York, by architect Queenie Tong after more than 18 years of architectural experience, including work at SOM, OMA, Gensler, and residential architecture practices.

TDA brings that experience to residential architecture at a more personal scale—combining thoughtful design, building performance, and the realities of everyday family life.

For us, wellness is not an amenity added at the end of a project.

It is part of the architecture.

Meet Queenie + TDA

A Better Home Starts With Better Decisions

The most important decisions in a residential project often happen long before construction begins.

We help homeowners understand the relationships between space, light, building systems, materials, approvals, budget, and long-term performance so the project can develop as one coordinated whole.

Whether you are planning a custom home, a townhouse transformation, or a substantial renovation, the goal is the same:

to make the important decisions deliberately—before they become difficult or expensive to change.

See How We Work

Insights From TDA

Understand Your Home Before You Change It

Why is the top floor always hotter?
Why can an expensive renovation still feel dark?
What actually makes a wall perform well?
When should you hire an architect?

TDA Insights breaks down architecture, renovation, and building science in clear language so homeowners can make more informed decisions before they build.

Sunlit compact Manhattan apartment with built-in storage, calm neutral finishes, and smart family zoning

NYC Residential Architecture & Smart Space Planning: How to Transform Your Urban Home Into a Sanctuary

A New York City home does not need to be large to feel generous. It needs to support the way you move, rest, gather, work, and recharge. As a residential architect, I see space planning as more than arranging rooms or fitting in furniture. It is the quiet structure beneath your daily life. When the layout is thoughtful, your home begins to feel like a living organism: it supports you, adapts to your routines, and gives energy back instead of asking you to work around it. That

Sunlit high-end Manhattan apartment with borrowed daylight, pale finishes, and layered architectural lighting

Can a $2M Renovation Still Feel Dark? 5 Lighting Mistakes NYC Homeowners Make Before Hiring an Architect

A $2 million renovation can have beautiful millwork, rare stone, custom cabinetry, and still feel strangely dark. I have seen this happen in Manhattan apartments and Brooklyn townhouses more often than you might expect. The problem is rarely the budget. It is usually that light was treated as a finishing touch instead of as part of the architecture: a living system that shapes how your home feels, functions, and helps you recharge. In New York City, deep apartment floor plate

HEALTHY HOME

Sunlit living room in a modern NYC apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows and white oak floors

How Smart Space Planning Makes Your NYC Home Feel Bigger, Brighter, and Healthier

When you live in New York City, square footage is one of our most precious commodities. Whether you are raising a family in a classic Brooklyn townhouse or navigating the daily rhythms of a Manhattan apartment, every inch counts. I’ve found that when clients first come to me, they are often overwhelmed by the feeling of being boxed in. They assume that the only way to gain breathing room is to pack up and move to the suburbs. However, after years of designing residential sanc

NYC RENOVATION

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Planning a Substantial Residential Project?

You do not need to have everything figured out before speaking with an architect.

Tell us where the property is located, what type of home it is, what you hope to change, and where you are in the planning process.

We can determine whether TDA is the right fit and what the most useful next step should be.

Discuss Your Project

Still Researching?

Start with Build Without Regrets to understand the decisions that are hardest to change later, or take the Healthy Home Assessment to identify areas of your home that may deserve a closer look.

Explore Build Without Regrets

Take the Healthy Home Assessment

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FAQ

Start your NYC renovation with calm clarity.

Get the free Calm Renovation Starter Kit for Families, a 10-minute planning kit that helps you avoid the most common early mistakes before you hire, budget, or start paperwork.

Built for NYC families renovating a co-op, condo, or townhouse.

Get the Free Starter Kit

Calm Renovation Starter Kit for NYC families planning a co-op, condo, apartment, or townhouse renovation

Renovation planning guide for NYC families preparing to define their project scope and priorities

NYC renovation planning resources for families preparing to hire an architect or contractor