ABOUT HEATHER BRIN

The principal architect of Aging in Place Architecture PLLC, Heather Brin, is a licensed architect in the State of New York, and has been helping those with physical needs for over 25 years of her career. She has an in-depth understanding of what it takes to make an environment as accessible as possible, so that we each can live as independently as possible.

Ms. Brin was primarily educated the the University of Waterloo’s School of Architecture (the premier architectural program in Canada). She was fortunate to complete her architectural degree at another renowned architectural school, Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture in 1994.

Prior to starting her own firm, Ms. Brin spent many years working for a wide variety of architectural offices in the United States and Canada. She has worked for firms that specialize in high end residential and commercial construction (Smiros & Smiros Architects in Glen Cove, NY) to small architectural firms on Long island (Architecture East, now currently Richard Searles Architect, P.C. in Rocky Point) as well as a very large firm (Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill Architects, LLP in New York City) increasing her exposure to a broad variety of architectural projects, styles and construction methods, from a $50,000 single family residential renovation to a $3.5 million high end residential single family residence in Asharoken, NY to a $1.2 billion airport project (Lester B. Pearson Terminal 3 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

Ms. Brin received her architectural license in the State of New York in 1999.

     INSPIRATION: HEATHER’S STORY 

I started this practice, Aging in Place, when I was hit myself with a major medical issue that severely limited my abilities to move around in my own home safely. When I was recovering from major surgery (an 8 hour surgery) and was sent to a rehabilitation hospital, where I stayed for over a week relearning how to move, dress myself, and do basic household chores. I met a really sweet, caring 75 year old couple. The wife had recently been sent to the rehabilitation hospital after a lengthy hospital stay. She was in the facility for at least two weeks by the time I met her and her husband. She was wheelchair bound, and had limited skills to take care of herself independently. When this couple and a few other patients were sitting in our occupational therapy session, the husband admitted that he was very scared about how he would take care of his wife when she had completed her rehabilitation stay.

At that time, she was predominantly wheelchair bound, and had limited abilities to walk on her own. Her 75 year old husband did know how he was going to be able to take her home, since he had a large set of exterior stairs into his house, and he was not able to carry her. I let him know that there were companies that manufactured and installed exterior stair lifts that could take her up and down his outside stairway, and gave him a few names of companies in his area that did this. He came to me in tears and thanked me effusively for my help. He had been terrified as to how he could get his wife in and out of the house for her doctor visits, etc. He called one of the companies that day and scheduled the installation of his outdoor stair lift. The relief on his face and his wife’s each time I saw them in the hospital was palpable. I then went home myself and had some assistive living devices added to my house to help me move around my home safely. Thankfully, I have done well since the surgery, and have been able to open this new business to help others in my situation.

IN THE NEWS 

Heather is frequently sought after for her thought-leadership on designing for accessibility and aging in place. She has been featured recently in the below news articles.