RKTB architect Bafitis receives AIA-NY
Citation of Design Excellence

Bronx, NY Peter Bafitis, managing principal of RKTB Architects, has been newly honored for his commitment to shaping how his professional community thinks about housing. The New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA-NY) recently awarded him a Citation of Design Excellence in recognition of nine consecutive years of leadership of the chapter’s highly influential Housing Committee, and for “committing to over a decade of activism on housing advocacy efforts in New York City through the chapter.”

Recent successes for RKTB and Bafitis include the mixed-use development at 683 Thwaites Pl. in the Bronx – designed for affordability and occupant health and comfort on a site directly facing an elevated subway platform – and a mixed-income residence - One Sullivan Pl. in Brooklyn. The latter’s upper floors cantilever over adjacent buildings, a solution that increased the developed floor area, helping to make the project financially viable while also capturing city views over the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. 

Bafitis has contributed a body of work composed of creative design solutions aimed at reinvigorating the places that people call home. His career comprises a wide range of urban solutions and an extensive portfolio of subsidized, supportive, and middle income housing, in addition to public schools, civic buildings, and commercial hubs. 

In 2023 alone, Bafitis led RKTB to add hundreds of affordable, senior, and market-rate units across the New York Metro region, working with for-profit and nonprofit developers to navigate labyrinthine zoning laws and tight-site construction challenges. Every project features affordable or supportive units in the mix, many for seniors.

According to 2023 AIA-NY president Matthew Bremer in the citation letter, “Peter has been a key voice and advisor to [AIANY] in advocacy efforts by leveraging his co-chair position to help prioritize the multitude of housing issues the Chapter could bring to City Hall and Albany.”

The citation also references Bafitis’ work building professional development programs, coordinating speakers and events, using “nontraditional paths to influence policy makers” on housing issues, and enhancing the prestige of AlA-NY’s annual Ratensky Lecture by helping wrangle such notable speakers as former HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and former Chicago Planning commissioner Maurice Cox.