Lee Harris Pomeroy, founder of the eponymous architecture studio based in New York City, passed away Sunday night at the age of 85. His firm, Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects, is well known around New York City for its focus on adaptive reuse and its restorations of historical subway stations, including the Bleeker Street stop, which holds the iconic honeycombed light installation by artist Leo Villareal.

Pomeroy was born on November 19, 1932, and received his Bachelor’s of Architecture from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1955, followed by a Master of Architecture degree from Yale in 1961. He founded the studio only three years after that, leading the firm for 52 years until his death.

Pomeroy had been recognized for his distinguished career by an AIA New York Fellowship, and as a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The studio has branched out in recent years, completing towers, rail systems and entire mini-cities in both China and India; still, New Yorkers will likely remember Pomeroy most for his tireless advocacy for the creation of the eventual Broadway Theater District.