Rick Cook (architect)

Richard A. Cook (born 1960) is an American New York City-based architect, best known for designing the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park, a 2,100,000-square-foot (200,000 m²) skyscraper that is the first commercial high rise to receive the United States Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum Certification.^[1]

In 1992, Cook became a founding partner in the firm Richard Cook & Associates. He developed a portfolio ranging from master planning to various commercial and residential projects, including The Caroline, one of the largest new buildings ever completed in a New York City historic district;^[2] the Chelsea Grande, which received a Charter Award from the Congress for New Urbanism;^[3] and 360 Madison Avenue, which was called "the best new building in years" by the New York Sun.^[4]

Cook joined with his longtime mentor and friend Robert F. Fox, Jr. to form COOKFOX (formerly Cook+Fox Architects) in 2003. To date, COOKFOX has completed 4 LEED Platinum projects in New York City, including the firm's own studio, Skanska's full floor office in the Empire State Building, One Bryant Park, and St. John's Terminal. COOKFOX designed the award-winning redevelopment of the Historic South Street Seaport neighborhood and the new Henry Miller's Theatre- the first green Broadway theater.^[5] COOKFOX also designed the Center for Friends Without a Border, a visitor center for the Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap, Cambodia. As part of their involvement with this project, COOKFOX implemented “The Green Initiative,” a social venture to fund five local NGOs through the production of sustainable fuels; the project was a semi-finalist in the 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge.^[6]