Tinkelman Architecture Celebrates 30 Years of Shaping the Look of the Mid-Hudson Valley

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (Oct. 14, 2022) – It’s difficult to drive around the mid-Hudson Valley without seeing a building or park designed by Tinkelman Architecture.

If you shop at Adams Fairacre Farms, enjoy summer movies at Poughkeepsie’s Upper Landing Park or enjoy fine dining at Heritage Food and Drink in Wappingers Falls, you’ve experienced a Tinkelman project. Those are just a few examples of the hundreds of projects that Tinkelman Architecture has created with a focus on sophistication, quality and functionality.

The regional institution, led by founder and managing member Steven Tinkelman, is now celebrating 30 years of high-quality design.

“It’s a good feeling to know that so many of our neighbors throughout the region are shopping, living, working and playing in buildings, parks and other spaces that we designed,” said Tinkelman, a Poughkeepsie native and lifelong Hudson Valley resident who has influenced each design in his company’s history. “We have always been dedicated to the betterment of the Hudson Valley, its communities and its built environment.”

Now living in Pleasant Valley with his wife Rachel, Tinkelman gets a thrill seeing people enjoying the Pleasant Valley Mill Site and Memorial Park, a quiet refuge his firm designed along Route 44 and the Wappinger Creek. The restored historic structure serves as a museum and the meeting place of the Pleasant Valley Historical Society.

“It’s always a treat to see people enjoying the park and fishing from the pier,” Tinkelman said. “Hopefully, they are catching fish!”

A full-service architecture and planning firm

Tinkelman-designed buildings around the region were created for a diverse roster of clients – residential developers, businesses, local governments and more. But the firm is also affiliated with Tinkelman Companies, which develops and manages its own properties. That keeps designers busy in any economic era. Tinkelman Companies development projects include the Van Wagner Place campus, which includes the Tinkelman office in a former warehouse, near the Arlington business district in the Town of Poughkeepsie. The complex is comprised of offices, shops, and other businesses and organizations. Similarly, the firm designed and developed Patriots Park, a very successful mid-county commercial center that is home to many national, regional and local retail and office businesses.

Since opening in 1992, Tinkelman Architecture has grown to a full-service architecture and planning firm with a current staff of 14.

“We have a wonderful staff of creative, thoughtful designers,” Tinkelman said. “Rob Turner has been with us the longest – 25 years – and he has been invaluable, developing deep, long-term relationships with our clients. Most recently, Don Petruncola joined our firm as Director of Architectural Services. He’s new here at Tinkelman, but he comes with 37 years of experience in the Hudson Valley, which serves us, and our clients, well.”

Touching all aspects of Hudson Valley life

Tinkelman projects touch a wide breadth of Hudson Valley life. That includes bankers at Rhinebeck Bank branches in Fishkill or East Fishkill, among others; residents of the luxury residential haven LaGrange Farms at Overlook in the Town of Poughkeepsie; and public employees at the Dutchess County Emergency Response Department and the Putnam County Emergency Operations Center. All were Tinkelman designs.

Another well-known Tinkelman project is the retail and dining destination at 35 Main St., home of Mahoney’s Irish Pub & Steakhouse and the Laugh it Up! Comedy Club, near the Poughkeepsie Train Station. More than a century old, the structure survived the 1960s when many other buildings from earlier decades were torn down for the public’s infatuation with the new rather than the classic. Elsewhere, Upper Landing Park is the result of Tinkelman’s vision in reclaiming a former industrial site along the Hudson River waterfront (with an elevator up to the Walkway Over the Hudson) and reimagining it as a welcoming public space.

Strong reputation, innovative work

“I have always been impressed with Steve’s strong reputation and innovative work,” said Mike Oates, President and CEO of the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp., which supports businesses relocating to or expanding within the region. Oates has known Tinkelman more than a decade and was thrilled to have him join the HVEDC Board of Directors several years ago.

“Steve approaches each project with careful attention to detail,” Oates said. “His passion is clear. He wants to design projects that make people comfortable while putting innovation into each element. His passion for well-rounded and enduring development helps him stand out in a crowded field.”

Tinkelman knows architecture involves much more than design. It includes extensive knowledge of zoning laws, construction requirements, sustainability concepts and other considerations. Once a building is designed and approved, Tinkelman’s team stays on board to help ensure quality control during construction. The firm also has completed designs of many kinds within historic structures.

Among the projects he views fondly is the Ransley Square retail development in Fishkill. It’s on the site of a former car dealership that had become a TV studio for a religion channel. Tinkelman ascribes the center’s success to the developer’s vision in choosing the Route 9 location, and in trusting his team’s sense of design. The development involved renovating and expanding a 12,000-square-foot building, creating 20,000 square feet of modern retail space.

“He gave us the freedom to design it as we thought best,” Tinkelman said. The result was a lively center replete with gables and slanted, shingled roofs and sections of stone surface. “It was a hugely successful small retail project, and its design has been imitated many times.”

Imagining new baseball stadiums

Tinkelman had not always planned to be an architect, but he created his first designs as a boy. A Yankees fan, he drew baseball stadiums from his imagination, favoring asymmetrical designs. He also drew imaginary shopping centers with equally fictitious “Big Steve’s” stores as anchors.

In his 20s, Tinkelman began his career as an artist, serving as an assistant to a sculptor, Ludvik Durchanek, a Czech native who had served as a gardener at the Palace of Versailles in France. The sculptor, Tinkelman’s elder by 50 years, encouraged his protégé to attend architecture school.

In the 1970s, Tinkelman attended Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in Manhattan, exposing him to internationally known architects such as Richard Meier, Peter Eisenman and John Hejdek. The prevailing style was Modernism in all its austerity, but Tinkelman brought a touch of the rustic from his Hudson Valley upbringing.

Modernist training, rustic upbringing

“My training was as a Modernist,” he said. “A lot of the influence at the time came from (Modernist pioneer) Le Corbusier. But I had spent my childhood in summer camp, so my experience as a kid was in that rustic environment. So there’s a blending of modern tradition with sticks and twigs.”

The result is an approach that draws upon a gamut of design solutions that fashion a client’s wishes into an attractive, efficient building that pops with originality while complementing its surroundings.

“His work, both on his own development projects or those of his clients, are always top notch,” Oates said. “He is known for coming up with solutions and unique designs that exceed his clients’ expectations.”

Tinkelman’s career began in 1978, immediately after his school years, when he partnered with another architect. They were hired to design a medical building in the Hudson Valley, then delved into historic renovations in downtown Poughkeepsie, which was reawakening from a slump. For his contributions to numerous historical renovation projects, including many in the Poughkeepsie and Newburgh historic districts, Tinkelman received a Certificate of Merit from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Versatility that endures

After almost 15 years, he opened Tinkelman Architecture, where his team continues to instill versatility to suit each client’s goals. Consider Adams Fairacre Farms, offering a country feel blended with contemporary architecture. Tinkelman Architecture partnered with Adams when only the Poughkeepsie and Kingston stores had been built. Tinkelman later designed the Newburgh and Wappinger stores, as well as an expansion of the Poughkeepsie location. They are currently working on the new Middletown store, now under construction.

Tinkelman’s redesign of the 300 Westage office complex in Fishkill incorporated elements such as a teak wood screen and porcelain tile in ways that opened a public space, filling it with natural light and making it more inviting. The entire property was reimagined with American 1950’s modernism as an inspiration.

His commitment to excellence also draws on his devotion to the community, which is evident in his civic activities. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Vassar Brothers Medical Center, the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley, the Bardavon 1869 Opera House, and the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation, among many others.

After three decades, the firm’s work continues apace. At Van Wagner Place, for instance, the firm is planning two new residential buildings. One is a five-story residential building offering luxury living with amenities such as a top-floor community room and rooftop patio along with an indoor swimming pool housing the British Swim School. The other is a four-story, 20-unit building called the Westerly. The firm was also recently hired by the County of Dutchess to design a progressive new homeless housing campus.

“We all love the Hudson Valley and our neighbors throughout the region,” Tinkelman said. “We will continue to pour all of our creativity, thoughtfulness and skill into designing buildings and parks that people enjoy seeing, visiting, working in and living in.”

About Tinkelman Architecture

Founded in 1992 by Steven Tinkelman, Tinkelman Architecture is a full-service architecture and planning firm dedicated to the betterment of the Hudson Valley, its communities, and its built environment. Committed to excellence, the Tinkelman team believes in addressing architecture from every angle. Tinkelman proudly provides clients with diverse solutions for their wide-ranging needs. The team does so by leveraging their unique skills and experiences, as well as some of the best leading-edge technology the architecture, engineering and construction industry has to offer.

Learn more at tinkarch.com