About Us

Matthew La Piana

BRCU was founded by Principal Architect Matthew C. LaPiana in 2015. He earned a Master’s Degree in Architecture from the University at Buffalo and has complemented his academic studies with a significant amount of construction experience. With over 15 years of field experience as a mason’s laborer, carpenter, an estimator and a construction project manager, Matthew is an expert in understanding how buildings work. His academia training provided the insight while his field experience provided a solid understanding of the built environment.

Following graduation, he went on to extend the learning process, accepting a position as a design engineer in one of America’s most distinguished historic preservation companies; Boston Valley TerraCotta. Building on this base, he furthered his technical understanding of how buildings function, working for several accomplished structural engineering consulting firms in NYC. There, he aggregated his previous roles to become the lead in many high-value, multi-story, multi-use restoration projects.

The Firm

Building Restoration Consultants Unlimited is a cross-disciplinary team that works primarily with property managers and owners. Specific areas of expertise include: Historic Building Restoration, Site Reviews and Construction Administration, Local Law 11/98 Reports, High-Rise/CooP/Condo/Townhouse Transition Reports, Capital Reserve Studies, and Interior Space Planning Design.

OUR SINGULAR AIM IS TO EXCEED OUR CLIENTS’ EXPECTATIONS.

Testimonials

“It only took one meeting to realize that Matthew’s capacity and talent far exceeded the two other architects I had interviewed.  I have been continually impressed by his attention to detail, follow through and ability to balance client desire with incredible design.  Matthew has the unusual ability to balance world class design with real world application.  He also brings his extensive construction background to every project.  During construction I realized that those skills were invaluable in turning design into reality. I highly recommend Matthew and his team and can’t say enough about how they took a personal interest and how available they were every day during the entire process.”

Grace Hyndman-McCarthy, Owner
The Art of the Massage
Westhampton, NY 11978


“Matthew La Piana has provided the attention, creativity, and professionalism needed to complete multiple capital improvement projects simultaneously.  Matthew is extremely reliable, always making himself available to answer all of the questions and concerns of Management and The Board of Directors.  We are grateful for Matthew’s dedication to our building and projects, his high level of experience in the industry has helped to make the complex process of executing and completing multiple major capital improvement projects at once much simpler for Management and the Board of Directors.  All of the projects were completed in a timely manner and within budget.  We would highly recommend him and BRCU to anyone and look forward to working together again on future projects.”

Nicole Bianco, Property Manager
Columbus Park Owners, Inc.
New York, NY 10025


“Hi Matt – Thank you for your reassurances today and your level of commitment that goes above and beyond professionalism, demonstrating our trust and confidence in you was well founded. I’m happy to hear that you’re available to attend the annual shareholders meeting that will take place Monday, October 26th at 7:15 PM. I’m sure everyone on the Board will be more than happy to hear that you will be in attendance. I truly do appreciate your passion and vision for the project, and your taking time out of your busy schedule to discuss it with me. I hope that you will be able to continue to be involved in the project to ensure that your vision is properly realized. There is no doubt in my mind that starting your own firm was the right way to go, and that you will do very well in the future.”

Paul Marks, Board President
Forest Park CooP 3
Forest Hills, NY 11421