Renovate for the Way You Want to Feel at Home.
Comfortable bedrooms. Better daylight. Thoughtfully selected materials. Spaces that make cooking, gathering, working, and resting easier.
Tong Dong Architects designs substantial residential renovations that bring these priorities into the architecture from the beginning.
We consider how layout, ventilation, moisture, windows, materials, and building systems work together—so your renovation addresses more than the finishes you see.
Based in Queens, serving homeowners across New York City.
What Would Make Your Home Feel Better?
Perhaps your bedroom feels stuffy by morning. Your living room overheats in the afternoon. Cooking odors linger, outside noise interrupts quiet time, or the layout makes everyday routines harder than they need to be.
You may already know what you want to change. Understanding which architectural decisions could help is the next step.
A renovation creates an opportunity to connect those concerns to the design—before layouts, equipment, and materials are finalized.
We help you establish priorities, explore appropriate responses, and understand where building constraints or specialist input affect your options.
See How These Priorities Shape a Home
Upper West Side Townhouse
This Manhattan townhouse project brought together daylight, outdoor connections, ventilation, and enclosure improvements within a landmark-district setting.
A skylight and connections to a rear garden formed part of an architectural approach that also considered windows, insulation, and ventilation.
Explore how individual design decisions contributed to a more connected approach to the home.
Architectural Services for a Wellness-Focused Renovation
Healthy-home priorities are integrated into your architectural scope. The proposal defines the services, deliverables, and consultant coordination included in your engagement.
Priorities & Existing Conditions
Discuss what currently feels uncomfortable, what matters to your household, and what you hope the renovation will change.
Review available property information and relevant existing conditions. Identify questions that require testing, investigation, or specialist advice before design decisions are made.
Layout & Everyday Function
Develop spaces around your routines, privacy, storage, movement, work, and rest.
Consider how room relationships and circulation can reduce conflicts between activities and make the home easier to use.
Daylight, Privacy & Glare
Explore how room placement, windows, interior openings, and shading affect the light available throughout the home.
Balance the desire for brightness with privacy, glare control, and seasonal comfort.
Ventilation & Indoor-Air Priorities
Consider fresh-air strategies, kitchen and bathroom exhaust, equipment locations, and material emissions as relevant to the project.
Coordinate architectural provisions with appropriately qualified consultants where required and commissioned.
Moisture & Thermal Comfort
Consider the relationships between windows, insulation, air leakage, water exposure, ventilation, and heating or cooling systems.
The design response depends on the building and the information available. Specialist investigation may be needed to establish causes or evaluate technical options.
Materials & Acoustic Comfort
Review material options in relation to emissions information, durability, maintenance, moisture exposure, and intended use.
Consider noise through room arrangements, separation between activities, assemblies, and equipment locations within the agreed scope.
Documentation & Construction Support
Translate the agreed architectural approach into drawings and specifications appropriate to your engagement.
Approval submissions, contractor-pricing support, submittal reviews, and construction administration are included where identified in your proposal.
7 Wellness Renovation Decisions to Make Before Construction Starts
A home’s comfort is shaped by decisions made well before the finishes are installed.
Ventilation routes, cooking appliances, wall locations, flooring assemblies, and cabinetry specifications can affect other parts of the design. Once materials are ordered or construction is underway, changes can require redesign, added cost, or delays.
We help you identify your healthy-home priorities early, check them against your building’s constraints, and incorporate the agreed decisions into the documents used for detailed contractor pricing and construction.
These seven questions help establish what deserves attention in your renovation.
1. How Will Your Home Manage Fresh Air and Cooking Exhaust?
A beautiful kitchen should also work comfortably when you cook.
We consider ventilation arrangements, cooking exhaust, appliance choices, and available information about filtration. Building restrictions, electrical capacity, and specialist requirements help determine which options are practical.
2. Which Materials Deserve Closer Attention?
Paint, flooring, cabinetry, adhesives, and other materials differ in their emissions information, durability, maintenance needs, and suitability for the space.
We help you evaluate relevant selections within your scope and budget, looking beyond broad labels such as “natural” or “non-toxic.”
3. Where Do You Need Better Daylight?
More glass is not always the most useful answer.
We study how room placement, partitions, openings, and finishes affect the light available in the spaces you use. Privacy, glare, and seasonal comfort also inform the design.
4. How Will the Renovation Address Moisture and Uneven Temperatures?
Recurring condensation, drafts, or uncomfortable rooms deserve attention before new finishes conceal existing conditions.
We consider the architectural relationships between windows, insulation, moisture management, ventilation, and heating or cooling arrangements. Where causes remain uncertain, we identify questions for further investigation.
5. Where Does Quiet Matter Most?
Bedrooms, home offices, and gathering spaces have different acoustic needs.
We consider room relationships, doors, partitions, flooring assemblies, and equipment locations within the agreed scope. Existing construction and sound paths influence what improvements are achievable.
6. What Would Make Daily Routines Easier?
Storage works best when it is planned around what happens in each space.
We look at arrivals, cooking, laundry, work, play, and rest—then consider where belongings belong and how people move through the home. The aim is useful storage and clearer circulation, rather than simply adding more cabinetry.
7. How Will You Prepare for Life During Construction?
Temporary relocation, working from home, children’s routines, and pets can influence how you prepare for a renovation.
We help identify occupancy and disruption questions to discuss early with your contractor, including access, temporary facilities, and construction sequencing.
The contractor develops and implements construction logistics, dust-control measures, and site-safety procedures.
The right priorities depend on your property, household, budget, and renovation scope. We establish them together before developing the design.
Wellness Renovation Within the Realities of Your NYC Home
Your building shapes what your renovation can achieve.
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Existing construction, shared systems, building rules, and approval requirements can influence changes to ventilation, windows, plumbing, appliances, and room arrangements.
We help you understand these constraints early and develop an approach suited to your property, budget, and everyday life.
Apartments, Co-ops & Condos
In an apartment, opportunities may involve improving layout, storage, daylight distribution, material selections, and acoustic comfort within the existing space.
Changes to kitchen exhaust, plumbing, windows, or building systems require closer review. For co-ops and condos, we consider the alteration agreement and applicable building requirements as the design develops.
The aim is to identify which improvements are practical within your apartment and which require additional investigation or coordination.
Townhouses
A townhouse renovation creates opportunities to consider the home as a whole—from room arrangements and garden connections to windows, insulation, ventilation, and heating or cooling systems.
It also requires understanding how the existing building works. Roof conditions, lower-level moisture, structural questions, and any applicable landmark restrictions may influence the scope and design.
We help connect these considerations so individual improvements support a coordinated approach to the home.
Designed Around Your Everyday Life
Across every property type, we consider how you cook, work, gather, and rest. For households with children, that may also mean easier morning routines, useful storage, and separation between active and quiet spaces.
Your priorities guide the design; the property’s conditions and your budget help determine how they can be achieved.
A Process Built Around Your Home and Priorities
Every project is different. We begin by defining our engagement, then follow a clear sequence to connect your everyday needs with the architectural decisions ahead.
1. Understand How You Live
We learn about your routines, what currently feels uncomfortable or difficult, and what you want your home to do better.
Whether your priorities involve family life, working from home, cooking, privacy, or rest, we establish what matters most before developing solutions.
2. Which Materials Deserve Closer Attention?
Material choices can feel overwhelming when labels such as “low-VOC,” “natural,” and “non-toxic” seem to promise similar benefits.
We help you evaluate paints, flooring, cabinetry, finishes, adhesives, and other selections within your architectural scope—considering emissions information, durability, moisture exposure, maintenance, and intended use.
For kitchens and custom millwork, this means considering the components and installation products alongside the visible finish.
For apartment flooring, acoustic requirements and building rules also inform the selection.
The aim is a considered set of choices suited to your home, budget, and priorities.
We consider materials together with ventilation and installation requirements, so the strategy extends beyond choosing a low-VOC paint.
3. Set Your Wellness Priorities
We translate your concerns into practical design priorities.
These might include improving kitchen exhaust, bringing daylight deeper into the home, separating quiet and active spaces, or considering material emissions and moisture exposure.
Together, we identify which priorities belong in the renovation and where more information is needed.
4. Align the Renovation Scope and Budget
We discuss what to include, what to prioritize, and what could be simplified, phased, or omitted.
The goal is an agreed direction that reflects your priorities, budget expectations, and the realities of the property.
5. Develop the Design
We explore options and refine the design with you, balancing everyday function, wellness priorities, aesthetics, and construction considerations.
Building requirements and consultant input inform the design as it develops.
6. Document and Coordinate
We develop the architectural drawings and specifications included in your engagement and coordinate relevant consultant information.
Where commissioned, we prepare submissions and respond to building-review and approval comments.
7. Prepare for Contractor Pricing
Where included, we help contractors understand the documented scope and respond to architectural questions during pricing.
We discuss proposed substitutions or scope adjustments in relation to your design priorities before construction begins.
8. Support the Construction Phase
Where commissioned, we provide construction administration through agreed site visits, relevant submittal reviews, and responses to architectural questions.
When changes arise, we help you understand their implications for the design and the priorities established at the beginning.
Your proposal defines the services, deliverables, and level of involvement included at each stage.
Is TDA the Right Fit for Your Project?
We are a good starting point if you are:
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Planning a substantial apartment, co-op, condo, townhouse, or house renovation.
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Looking to address comfort and everyday function alongside appearance.
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Bringing ventilation, daylight, moisture, or material priorities into a broader architectural project.
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Seeking an architect to connect individual design decisions into a coordinated whole.
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Prepared to discuss the scope, investigations, and specialist input your goals may require.
If you want focused advice before committing to a full renovation—or already have plans and want a second opinion—start with our Healthy Home Review.
Scope & Fees, Defined Around Your Project
Architectural fees depend on the property, renovation complexity, design detail, approval requirements, consultant coordination, and construction-phase involvement.
After reviewing your project information, we prepare a proposal defining the services, deliverables, fees, and payment schedule.
Environmental testing, engineering, specialist assessments, filing fees, and other project expenses are identified as included or separate, as applicable.
You do not need every answer before getting in touch. Share your priorities and current budget expectations so we can discuss an appropriate starting point.
Why Families Work With Tong Dong Architects
Led by Queenie Tong, RA, NCARB, Tong Dong Architects brings more than 18 years of architectural experience to the design of New York City homes.
We connect thoughtful residential design with healthy-home priorities and the practical needs of family life.
Design Around Your Daily Life
We begin with how you live—morning routines, cooking, working from home, children’s activities, storage, and rest. These details help shape the layout and priorities of your renovation.
Comfort Considered From the Beginning
We consider light, ventilation, materials, and acoustic comfort as the design develops, when these priorities can inform the layout, specifications, and coordination with building systems.
An Approach Grounded in NYC Buildings
We bring building requirements and existing conditions into the design conversation early, helping you understand which possibilities deserve exploration and which need further investigation.
Clear Guidance Through Decisions
We explain options, tradeoffs, and next steps so you understand what needs your attention and when. Your proposal defines our services and involvement throughout the project.
Our aim is a thoughtfully designed home that feels comfortable, supports your routines, and works for the way your family lives.
Wellness Home Renovation FAQ
What is a wellness-focused home renovation?
It is a residential renovation that considers comfort, indoor environmental priorities, and daily function as part of the architectural design.
At TDA, this may involve layout, daylight, ventilation, moisture, materials, acoustics, and building-system coordination, depending on your project.
Is this different from your apartment or townhouse renovation service?
It is the same architectural approach applied through a particular set of priorities.
Our apartment and townhouse pages explain the property-specific considerations. This page explains how comfort and healthy-home goals can inform the renovation.
Can you make my home completely non-toxic?
A completely non-toxic home is not a promise we make. Materials and indoor conditions involve multiple sources, exposures, and operating factors.
We help you evaluate available information and make considered design and material decisions within the agreed scope.
Do you provide air-quality or mold testing?
Environmental sampling and laboratory testing are separate specialist services. If your concerns suggest that testing or investigation is needed, we discuss that requirement before relying on assumptions.
Can this approach work in an NYC co-op or condo?
Yes, but the options depend on your building’s requirements, existing construction, and shared systems.
Some changes can be made within the apartment; others may require building approval or may not be available within the project scope.
Do wellness-focused renovations always cost more?
Not necessarily. Some priorities can be addressed through thoughtful layout, useful storage, and early coordination. Others involve additional equipment, materials, investigation, or construction.
We help you weigh the options against your budget and everyday needs, so you can decide where additional investment is worthwhile and where a simpler approach is appropriate.
Can I keep my existing architect?
Yes. If you want independent feedback on an existing design, our Healthy Home Review may be more appropriate than a full architectural engagement.
Can you guarantee improvements in health or indoor-air quality?
Architectural services do not guarantee individual health outcomes or future indoor conditions.
Where specific performance targets matter, appropriate specialist design, testing, and verification need to be considered as part of the project.
What should I share when I inquire?
Tell us the property location, approximate size, what you hope to renovate, and the concerns you want the design to address.
Include any available plans, budget expectations, and preferred timing.
Design a Home That Supports Your Everyday Life.
What would you like your renovation to change beyond appearance?
Tell us about your property, what currently feels difficult, and what matters most to your household.
We’ll review your inquiry and explain whether TDA is a suitable fit and what the next step would be.