New World Design Builders is known for creating Instagram-worthy environments for its clients in the hospitality industry and high-end residential sector.
Whether it is commercial or residential construction, the devil is often in the details and no company knows that better than New World Design Builders. “My daily struggle is figuring out ways to build more efficient, smarter and less expensive so I can achieve the aesthetic and wow factor that people come to me for,” founder and CEO Chris Kofitsas says.
New World Design Builders is known for creating Instagram-worthy environments for its clients in the hospitality industry and high-end residential sector. The company achieves those imaginative designs by understanding and applying best practices in both design and construction to every project.
With a background in architecture, Kofitsas was one of the first to recognize the benefits of combining design and construction when he started New York City-based New World Design Builders 25 years ago. “My education has a lot of influence over how I deal with construction issues,” he adds. “I solve them through the understanding of both construction and design, which is where my strength is.”
For example, Kofitsas is adept at delivering one-of-a-kind designs for his clients. And, because he is also involved in the construction of each project, he recognizes there is often a huge disparity between a client’s vision and their budget.
“No one realizes how expensive things have become,” he notes. “Working in the construction industry every day forces me to stay on top of costs because things are always even more expensive than what I initially think.”
To control costs, New World Design Builders designs as if the budget is not the primary concern during the conceptual phase. “This is where we daydream about the guest experience and come up with the wow factors,” Kofitsas explains. “Once we achieve the desired aesthetic, we immerse ourselves into ways of cutting material cost and more importantly, cutting labor costs, which is one of the most expensive variables in construction.”
Fortunately, New World Design Builders owns a fabrication shop where a great deal of its installations are constructed off-site and in a controlled environment. “Here we work as a team — fabricators and designers — to achieve the desired aesthetic while maximizing ways of streamlining labor,” Kofitsas says. “We save on production costs by creating mock-ups so we glean how to best work with materials and cut labor. We save considerable costs by planning every detail ahead of time.”
Despite the rising cost of construction, New World Design Builders still delivers spaces that people want to take photos of and share on social media. New clients often contact the firm after seeing a post or reading an article on one of the company’s projects. “Instagram moments are still so powerful,” Kofitsas says. “We still sit in the office and ask ourselves what’s going to inspire someone to sit in front of this and take a selfie or a picture with their friends to show the world what they are up to?”
At Home in the Northeast
New World Design Builders entered the high-end custom home market in 2018. The company had focused primarily on the hospitality industry over the past two decades, but the private sector was infiltrating its client base as more people wanted Instagram-worthy designs in their homes.
“Everything we design is one-of-a-kind,” Kofitsas says. “I am not good at repetitive production because it bores me. The only recurring theme in my designs is bringing in nature. That’s my inspiration.”
The company’s first fully custom high-end home was located in the Prides Crossing neighborhood of Beverly, Mass. The shore-front property sits on grounds designed by architect Frederick Law Olmsted. “The property is very rich in history and the grounds are amazing,” Kofitsas says. “From the vantage point of that home, you feel on top of the world. It has amazing views.”
The three-bedroom, 3,500-square-foot home sits on the foundation of the original house. The company kept the original foundation to avoid a historical review of the plans, which Kofitsas says could have extended the project six months to one year.
New World Design Builders is currently building a custom home in Connecticut that will celebrate its structure by exposing its “amazing trusses,” which Kofitsas says will be part of the wow factor. “As a builder, you can’t design the inside without the outside and vice versa,” he explains. “It takes real construction knowledge to be successful in providing something out of the ordinary.”
The company will continue to design and build more residential projects because of the emotional aspect that goes into creating someone’s home. “That’s the fun part for me,” Kofitsas says. “Figuring out how people work in their lives and what inspires them is something that inspires me. I love hospitality, but I also love the private sector now, too.”
Sidebar — Uncharted Territory
New World Design Builders is tasked with designing a first-of-its-kind cannabis consumption lounge in California. Pending state and city approval, the retail store and lounge will be the first to allow patrons to consume on-site after purchase.
“Cannabis is a huge industry and I think it’s only a matter of time before the remainder of the states adopt the legislation to allow more cannabis retail and consumption because of the enormous tax revenue that it creates,” Kofitsas says.
Although it is still in the conception phase, the idea is to focus heavily on botanicals and create a comfortable environment that has the best of everything. “We are trying to engage as many senses as possible in this experience so people will feel comfortable in this unique opportunity,” Kofitsas explains. “We will have the best furniture, smells and create an inviting environment.”
One of the wow factors Kofitsas shared is the dispensary’s bird’s nest loungers. “Talk about complicated,” he says. “The loungers are in the shape of birds’ nests and will have pillows inside. They will be perched up to different heights, so they will be off the ground and people will have to climb up to them. I’m having a lot of fun designing this one.”
