- TOMMY & JOSEPH SCHWARZKOPF
We are a family architectural development firm that has, over five decades, helped shape the positive development of Ecuador. We have completed more than 140 building projects, but we are more than developers.
We create opportunities for people to make their cities their home, their habitat, and their future. We contribute with our experience and knowledge for the creation of urbanism in its healthiest expression.
We use design as a catalyst for positive change. We design and build quality buildings that provide a lifestyle upgrade and a secure investment for their inhabitants, setting new architectural and environmental benchmarks for the country.
We enable communities and neighborhoods to thrive. We support social and cultural programs that raise the quality of life for the city’s population.
We work collaboratively in the service of people and the future of the cities. Our mission is to build Ecuador onwards, upwards and forwards, as a country at the center of the world.
Our values influence everything that we do at Uribe Schwarzkopf, and they form the key pillars of our work:
Human: Human values are at the heart of what we do. We create homes, buildings, and communities that improve the quality of life of those who inhabit them. We promote and support social programs that create opportunities for people.
Design: We partner with leading global architects and designers to inspire new architectural benchmarks. We share knowledge and expertise to raise the quality of design in the local industry and achieve sustainable environmental standards.
Healthy Urbanism: We generate positive impacts for the urban development of Ecuador and its inhabitants, through the promotion of responsible densification that strengthens ties in the community. We promote the activation of public spaces and support the development of local culture.
Progress: We set the ground for people to make their cities and our buildings their habitat, their home, and their future. We build long-term relationships. We are catalysts for positive changes and progress in Ecuador.
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Architect Tommy Schwarzkopf founded Uribe Schwarzkopf in 1973, and has since played a foundational role in contributing to the growth of Quito and to the transformation of the city into the thriving metropolis it is today. Tommy Schwarzkopf has been a pioneer in the vertical growth of Quito, marking milestones for the development of a new concept of urbanism in the city.
Over the past 47 years, Uribe Schwarzkopf has undertaken more than 200 projects. Currently, the company collaborates with internationally renowned architects and designers, whose projects are based on the memory of the company’s initial work and represent a new era for Quito.
Tommy Schwarzkopf, the son of Czech immigrants, was born in Quito in 1954. He studied at the Faculty of Architecture of the Central University in Ecuador.
Joseph Schwarzkopf, Uribe Schwarzkopf’s General Manager, has led the company to undertake increasingly ambitious projects, engage international architects and designers, pioneer social and cultural programs for the city at large, and invest in an emerging kind of urban development through new architectural projects.
The sophisticated designs that are part of Quito’s new urban profile, for which Uribe Schwarzkopf is recognized today, as well as the drive for vertical growth and its integration with public space, are a result of his leadership. Joseph Schwarzkopf’s entrepreneurial talent and vision have contributed to Uribe Schwarzkopf’s establishment as a cornerstone of architecture, design, and innovation in Quito and across Ecuador.
Joseph Schwarzkopf was born in 1981. He studied Business at Florida State University.
The seventies were a period of considerable political and economic change across Latin America. In Ecuador, these changes were amplified by a major milestone that impacted almost every area of life in the country: the development of oil resources.
Uribe Schwarzkopf was founded at the onset of this period (1973), and it began its practice planning and building apartment complexes, homes and housing units with a modern and functional style. Buildings like Edificio Bolivar and Edificio America are emblematic of this first period of construction of multi-residence projects.
In the early eighties, Quito grew into an increasingly influential capital city and strengthened its distinctive modern and colonial characters, unique in the region.
Uribe Schwarzkopf projects accommodated the shifting needs of the residents of Quito, which included housing developments built with a modern and people as well as community-oriented approach. Office buildings like Artigas 100 and residential developments like Jockey Club are emblematic of the changing face of the city in this era.
Leading up to the turn of the century, Quito continued to grow and transform itself.
Uribe Schwarzkopf evolved with the capital and its demands with the purpose of improving the quality of life of its citizens, offering new alternatives in the areas of engineering, architecture, technology and urbanism. Hotel Dann Carlton and the Synagogue of Quito, demonstrate the city’s growth and the portfolio of Uribe Schwarzkopf in this era.
The advent of the 21st century brought major changes in politics, economics, and culture in the country, especially in its capital, Quito.
During this period, Uribe Schwarzkopf became a national leader in its industry, contributing to improving the lifestyle of Ecuadorians by combining comfort with quality, easy payment terms, and security. The striking Urban Plaza office building and Hotel Le Parc are indicative of the modernizing styles that marked Quito in the new century.
Over the past 10 years, Uribe Schwarzkopf has expanded exponentially, as it plans and builds with the objective of improving the quality of life of the community. During this era, the firm began to truly transform the skyline of the city, working with renowned international architecture and design companies including Arquitectónica – Bernardo Fort-Brescia (Peru-Miami), YOO (London), Philippe Starck (Paris), Marcel Wanders (Amsterdam), Carlos Zapata (Venezuela-Miami), Jean Nouvel (France), Moshe Safdie (Canada-Israel), Tatiana Bilbao (Mexico), and Bjarke Ingels (Denmark).
