Karl A. Lehrke, AIA

Karl A. Lehrke became a Principal with the specific responsibility of firm-wide design excellence in 2014, two years after he joined the firm. He carries the corporate title of Vice President for Design.

Karl leads projects from pre-schematic design through the construction phase, which is the comprehensive, stewardship-focused approach characteristic of Helpern Architects. His current work includes a new 271,000-sf service center in Upper Manhattan for Con Ed and a natatorium renovation at CUNY/John Jay College’s Haaren Hall. He recently completed the very successful AC Hotel New York Times Square for Marriott.

Part of the firm’s real estate advisory team, Karl regularly prepares both high-rise residential and commercial feasibility studies.

With 25 years of experience in both rehabilitation and new building design, Karl previously served as co-designer and project architect on such award-winning judicial projects as the historic Conrad B. Duberstein, Jr. US Courthouse and Post Office in Brooklyn and the new Daniel M. Russell US Courthouse in Gulfport, Mississippi. Among this early work are projects for Princeton University, Franklin & Marshall College, Dartmouth College, and the General Theological Seminary.

A member of the American Institute of Architects, Karl often serves as a design award juror and has been a guest design critic at the University of Cincinnati, University of California Berkeley, University of Illinois, Ball State University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Parsons The New School for Design.

Recognized during his student years with scholarships and travel fellowships, Karl holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Fine Arts. He is LEED-accredited by the US Green Building Council.