A New York City architecture firm known for its innovative apartment buildings in Manhattan was named this year’s winner of the Cooper Hewitt national design award.

The Brooklyn-based firm nArchitects was cited by The Cooper Hewitt for its "goal of addressing urgent issues through socially engaging architecture." The Cooper Hewitt also gave national design awards for landscape architecture and interior design, among other areas.

NArchitects’ multifamily projects in Manhattan include Carmel Place, a nine-story multifamily property with 55 micro-apartments. The building’s rental units range in size from 260 to 360 square feet, and the design is intended to address the city’s housing crisis, according to the firm. Carmel Place, located at 335 E. 27th St., was built using modular construction, with many of the parts built off-site.

“The firm works for the public good, maximizing the mutual positive impact between communities, buildings, public spaces and their environment,” the Cooper Hewitt Museum said about nArchitects.

The ground floor of Carmel Place has a 920-square-foot retail space that is available for lease, according to Ripco Real Estate.

NArchitects also designed the Switch Building, a seven-story apartment building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with an art gallery at street level. The exterior features “an angled metal façade [that] switches visually back and forth, allowing residents views up and down the street,” according to the firm.

Eric Bunge and Mimi Hoang founded nArchitects in 1999. Many of its designs are for government and nonprofit organizations, including the Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center at Long Island’s Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh, New York.

Previous Cooper Hewitt award winners for architecture include Frank Gehry, Peter Eisenman, Studio Gang and the Rural Studio of Auburn University’s School of Architecture.

The Cooper Hewitt, a Smithsonian design museum in New York, began its national design award program in 2000 and commends firms and individuals that are based in the United States. All awards are given for a body of work and not specific projects.

Andrew Mandell and Ben Sabin at Ripco Real Estate are listing agents for the retail space at Carmel Place.