About
Forward Work is a design practice that focuses on creating projects in the built realm that aspire to define the human experience. We employ alternative strategies through the use of various materials and technologies that explore a range of scales from the tactility of the physical realm to the virtues of space. Our work is made by many hands unified toward a common purpose: to engage work that is of use, endures, and is loved. Our mission is constantly evolving, but founded upon a deep commitment to be of service and to assist others in realizing their goals. The direction of the studio begins with the fundamentals, an ability to solve problems through making, and the desire to develop an identity that transcends style. It is an ever optimistic approach that strives to provide solutions and offers opportunity for invention. We specialize on the exterior to make a better interior experience working from inside out. Forward Work is a certified Minority-Owned Business Enterprise.
Carlyle Fraser RA // Principal and Founder
Carlyle received his MS.AAD (Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design) from Columbia University and a B.ARCH (Bachelor’s of Architecture) from the Pratt Institute School of Architecture. While attending Pratt, he received the David C. Singler Award, the World Studio Foundation Award, and an American Institute of Architecture Scholarship.
Before founding the studio, Carlyle worked in the New York offices of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and Polshek Partnership Architects in design and management capacities. His design and detailing experience was wide-ranging on projects including the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center and, most notably, the design of the American Institute of Architecture Honor Award-winning Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, PA. Working with Tod Williams & Billie Tsien provided him with a heightened sensibility in the use of materials and how to put things together thoughtfully, while at Polshek Partnership Architects, he was exposed to the methodology of practice- two experiences integral to the ethos of his work. At PPA Carlyle’s technical detailing experience was developed and implemented extensively on the numerous awards New York City Fire Department: Rescue Company 3 and the New York Hall of Science Great Hall Exterior Facade Restoration.
Carlyle has served as an architectural critic at several institutions, including Parsons School of Design, New Jersey Institute of Technology, City College of New York, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, The Cooper Union, University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, and Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. He teaches core design studios at Columbia University GSAPP and seminars in the undergraduate department at Pratt Institute as an adjunct professor. Carlyle has taught several courses ranging from design studios in the undergraduate core to the Rome program, representation, construction documents, professional practice, and a seminar on urban studies abroad. He is a registered Architect in the state of New York.
Peter Buchholz LEED BD+C // Associate
Peter Buchholz was born and raised in New York City and completed his academic studies at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, with a B.Arch (Bachelor of Architecture). He has spent much of his career focusing on the technical design aspects of architecture, specializing in the detail and coordination of a variety of building typologies with a diverse range of building styles and uses.
In the span of Peter’s thirty-year career, he has worked on transportation, healthcare, museums, urban masterplans, high-end residential, private offices, cultural institutions, mixed-use high-rise residential, affordable, and supportive housing. Buchholz has always believed in the assimilation of the design team's intent and its translation to a methodology of the assembly, whether in concept or in field coordination to achieve project success. The most notable project Peter has had the fortune of working on is the design and detailing of the new World Trade Center Transportation Hub at Ground Zero in New York for the world-renowned Sanish/Swiss Architect Santiago Calatrava.
As the world moves forward in its growing awareness necessitating the increase of sustainable design, Peter Buchholz is committed to understanding the implementation of the design and detail principles of Passive House, LEED, and WELL design into all projects he leads. Two exemplary projects of note are the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, which consists of a 28-story passive house mixed-use high-rise, and the Afie: a 6-story passive house affordable housing building in Brooklyn, New York.