David Prendergast

David Prendergast, principal in the firm of Prendergast Laurel Architects, is a 1972 graduate of the Cornell University College of Architecture. Licensed to practice Architecture in 1977, he has been the leader of Prendergast Laurel Architects since 1980. In 2002, Prendergast formed the partnership of Prendergast Laurel Architects with his long time associate Deborah Laurel.

The son of a foreign correspondent, Prendergast was born in Korea and grew up abroad, living in Paris, Tokyo, Johannesburg and London. After attending Cornell, Prendergast worked in Ithaca, Boston, Milwaukee and California. He worked in Milwaukee and Ithaca with Chrysalis East, a firm known for its avant-garde event structures. In Boston, he was a co-founder of Poor Willie Productions, an experimental architecture collective building lightweight structures and multi-media environments. The group’s work was shown at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York and at the Boston Center for the Arts. In 1975, he settled in New York. His first four years of professional practice in the city was with the firm of Skidmore Owings & Merrill.

Some of Prendergast’s major projects include the Kingsbridge Branch Library, the Staten Island Children’s Museum, PS1 Contemporary Art Center and the Sedgwick Branch Library. For four years he was a design critic at the Parsons School of Design. His awards include the award for Design Excellence for the Staten Island Children’s Museum from the New York City Arts Commission and the Staten Island Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

 

 

Deborah Laurel

Deborah Laurel, principal in the firm of Prendergast Laurel Architects, graduated with Honors from the Austin campus of the University of Texas School of Architecture in 1979. In 1991, she joined the firm of David W. Prendergast, Architects. Her first project with the firm was the Citibank Corporate Research Library. After many successful project collaborations she was made a partner of the firm in 2002.

She was born and raised primarily in San Antonio, Texas although spent the years 1969 to 1970 in the Philippines. After completing her Bachelor of Architecture, Laurel returned to San Antonio and began work at a small firm specializing in residential projects. In 1989 she moved to New York City. With the firm of R. M. Kliment & Halsband, she worked on the new Long Island Railroad Entrance at Pennsylvania Station, a National AIA Award project.

Some of Laurel’s major projects include the Sedgwick Branch Library, FDNY Engine Company 93, Betty Shabazz Health Center, and PS1 Contemporary Art Center. She has served as a design studio juror at the Pratt Institute Architecture Department. Her work has appeared in Architectural Record, Interior Design and in the New York Times. Her design for the Betty Shabazz Health Clinic was featured in Interior Design Magazine.