Architect and developer Alloy has released images of its glass-clad Brooklyn skyscraper, which has a "wedding cake-like" shape and will reportedly run on all-electric power.

The residential skyscraper, called 505 State Street after its location in downtown Brooklyn, has already topped out at 482 feet tall (146 metres).

With 44 storeys, the skyscraper is sited on a triangular block where three Brooklyn streets converge. This gives it a wedge-like plan, similar to the iconic Flat Iron Building in Manhattan. The majority of its face is clad in glass and aluminium.

"The site itself is triangular, and weirdly enough, if you draw the Flat Iron floor plan on our site, it's almost identical. The heights are very similar," Alloy design director Ben Meade told Dezeen, noting that the structure is the studio's first "major ground-up skyscraper".

"It's a plan that references old school architecture, a wedding cake-like stack."

On one side, the tower is flat. On the other side, it steps back from the street to maximise views of downtown Manhattan over the East River and to cohere with the street-level brownstone buildings and historic architecture, like the historic Williamsburg Savings Bank tower.

In order to blend into the surrounding architecture as seamlessly as possible, the bottom three floors of the skyscraper were clad in dark textural concrete.

"We wanted to make sure we weren't dropping a spaceship into downtown Brooklyn," said Meade.

"We wanted to be respectful of a landmark that's been there for a long time, while still forming a gateway up from Prospect Park to greater downtown Brooklyn."

Meade said that rather than creating an "imposing" tower, the team wanted to create a "backdrop" for the people of Brooklyn.

The use of aggregate on the lower levels will also help integrate the building into the remainder of the block, which is also being developed by Alloy and will include what it claims will be the first two schools to meet Passive House environmental standards in the city, designed by local studio Architecture Research Office.

An energy-efficient approach was also taken for the skyscraper itself. Alloy claims that when completed, the 441 residences within will be powered completely by electricity.

This will require the installation of electric induction cookware in the kitchens, electrical water heaters, heat-pump dryers and high-quality glass.

The studio also said that it has filed a request to the city for the building to be powered completely by renewable energy sources.

"Alloy is the first developer to pursue such a program following a rule issuance by the New York City Department of Buildings around Local Law 97 confirming developers can comply with the law through off-site solar programs," said the firm.

For the interiors, Alloy worked with local interior design studio INC Architecture and designer Rebecca Robertson to design all of the furniture.

The apartments feature ceilings between nine and 12 feet tall and exposed concrete mixed with oak flooring and detailing.

Currently, the cladding for the structure is almost complete, with only the bulkhead still unfinished, and the tower will be completely finished by 2025.

Historically smaller in vertical scale than neighbouring Manhattan, Brooklyn has seen a flurry of skyscraper development in the past few years, including the SHoP Architects-designed Brooklyn Tower, the borough's first supertall skyscraper, and a skyscraper with an undulating facade by Studio Gang.

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Bright colours, neon lighting and expressive furniture create a playful mood inside this Brooklyn restaurant, designed by local studio Format Architecture Office.

Cafe Mars is an Italian eatery located in Gowanus, founded by co-chefs Jorge Olarte, and Paul D'Avino – whose grandfather lived across the street when he first emigrated from Campania in 1901.

Honouring these roots, the restaurant is designed as a celebration of all things Italy: from the Memphis design movement of the 1980s to the glamorous Amalfi Coast.

"It was important to connect the intent of the culinary experience with the intent of the spatial experience," said Format principal and co-founder Andrew McGee.

"If the driving force of the menu was to showcase knowledge and love of traditional Italian cuisine, twisted and subverted at just the right moments to create something playfully rebellious and unusual, it seemed only natural to reference the character and movement in [Ettore] Sottsass and the Memphis style with a similar vintage in the architecture and design realm," he continued.

To enter the 1,100-square-foot (100-square-metre) restaurant, visitors must turn a pasta die door handle sourced from local third-generation manufacturer D Malardi & Sons.

"The detail is a charming nod to the building's pasta factory and Italian grocery history whilst ushering in its restaurant future," the studio said.

Once inside the long narrow front space, the bar area can be found on the right and a row of back-to-back banquettes runs along the left.

The bar and the open kitchen further down are framed by white oak panelled arches, revealing a bright blue back bar that echoes the same shape.

A tall, light grey counter forms an L-shape within the first arch, with a lower surface for diners seated in custom chairs by Studio Apotroes with hot pink zig-zag legs.

More seats – this time with white details – face the kitchen area, beside a bright green shelving unit for tableware tucked under the bar counter.

Opposite, the custom double-sided banquettes have ribbed edges and are coloured one yellow for every two white.

In between are arched yellow panels with circular holes that expose the original brick walls behind, and Stuff by Andrew Neyer globe pendants that hang above each table.

The "blue room" in the back features cobalt-coloured seating that contrasts the exposed brick walls, black window frames and white hexagonal floor tiles.

Hot pink reappears in the cords of pendant lights with MushLume shades made from mushroom mycelium, while bespoke wooden tables have puzzle-piece tops that slot together in various configurations.

At night, colourful LED lights within the circular wall elements, under the bar counter and above the back bar all match a neon sign in the window, which traces the Cafe Mars logo designed by artist Massimo Mongiardo.

His illustrations of pasta shapes can be found throughout the interiors, including in the bathrooms, and across the black-painted roller shutters pulled down when the restaurant is closed.

"The goal was to strike a delicate balance between fanciful and comforting, transformative and familiar," said Format co-founder and principal Matthew Hettler.

"The design, however loud, becomes a backdrop for a quality experience, and that is something we are excited about."

Other relative newcomers to Brooklyn's ever-evolving culinary scene include Nabila's, a Lebanese spot designed by Frederick Tang Architecture, and Usonian-inspired eatery Sereneco featuring interiors by Carpenter + Mason.

Over in Manhattan, the number of Italian restaurants continues to balloon, with Bad Roman and Cucina Alba among the many to have opened in the past year.

The photography is by Nick Glimenakis.

Project credits:

Architecture and interior design: Format Architecture Office
Project team: Clare Hačko, David Hettler, Matt Hettler, Andrew McGee
Construction: Rusk
Structural engineer: Blue Sky Design
MEP engineer: Department of Approvals

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New York design studio Stickbulb has launched Treeline, a series of lighting created using wood sourced from trees that had been removed from New York City's "urban forest".

The Treeline lighting series comprises long, wood-panelled fixtures that are suspended from each end by wire and range from four to eight feet (1.2 to 2.4 metres) in length.

Made from pin oak, one of the most prevalent trees in New York City, the fixtures were fabricated by the studio in the city.

They were made using wood collected from trees removed from the city's green spaces and streets through a collaboration with NYC Parks Department and Brooklyn wood supplier Tri-Lox.

"[Treeline] was specifically designed to be a product of a new supply chain in New York City, which is taking the wood waste from the urban forest operations, proving that it can be used locally and made into beautiful products," Stickbulb co-founder Russell Greenberg told Dezeen.

"It's all about reducing waste and raising the profile of salvage – and trying to mainstream it." 

New York City, which contracts outside parties to do maintenance on its trees, removes more than 10,000 from the seven-million strong stock of trees in the city each year.

Typically, the wood collected from the trees, which are downed for various reasons like disease and storms, ends up being mulched or sent to one of the local landfills.

According to Greenberg, the studio was made aware of this waste and decided to try and save the wood.

"Some of it is beautiful old-growth wood with really tight grain," Greenberg said. "This is the smartest, lowest-carbon material we could possibly be working with."

Because of the inconsistent size and quality of the wood, the studio has also set up a depot where it stores wood bought from the city.

At the depot, the Stickbulb team can ensure its stock of wood for further production as well as evaluate the wood, removing metal and other debris from the supply.

It was important for the team to raise awareness of the usefulness of the wood, without relying on an aesthetic that made the salvaged nature of the material obvious.

"Normally, when someone thinks of salvage, they think of something that has a lot of rustication, that screams salvage when you look at," Greenberg said. "For us, that's not the case."

He noted that as only a single design is currently in production, the wood type needed is very specific, but in the future hopes to scale up the project to include more of the salvaged wood.

Greenberg hopes to expand the pilot so that the money for production could also go towards a more robust forestry program in the city.

This could create a circular economy around wood that also incorporates the deaths of trees, which Greenberg noted is usually overlooked in favour of planting and maintenance.

"No one wants to talk about trees getting removed or dying in the city," he said. "Everyone wants to talk about how are we going to plant more trees – both of these are important conversations to have."

"But if you're not thinking about the full lifecycle, which includes death, you're not thinking about the whole thing," he added.

Stickbulb has worked with salvaged wood from other sources in the past, including a line made from wood recovered from a water tower. Other studios to use reclaimed wood include Ptacek Home, which created a line of decor with wood from trees downed by storms.

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New York-based studio Schiller Projects has converted a former Brooklyn carriage house into a single-family residence using mass-timber construction and re-purposed materials.

According to Schiller Projects, it is the first single-family residence in New York City to be built using mass timber construction methods.

"In response to the dual environmental and housing crises, our studio set ourselves the task of dismantling and recycling the existing, but damaged, components from the original structure, dating to 1880, then reforming and enlarging the existing building using new components that could themselves be recycled or reworked in 100 years without loss or degradation," said the team.

Located in the Clinton Hill neighbourhood, the red brick facade of the house was restored to harken back to its 1873 origins, with arched windows and central garage doors painted in black. The brick facades conceal the remodelled interior of the home, with a completely new floor for the primary suite at the top of the building.

At its back, it faces a Gothic Revival cathedral, which can be seen through the windows on each of the house's three floors.

Inhabitants enter past the garage at the front of the property and enter into a first-floor kitchen and dining space that looks out over a backyard.

Inside, a three-storey Douglas Fir glued-laminated timber (glulam) staircase sits to the side, with an old coal ash pit converted into a planting bed installed at the base.

A skylight and second-floor bridge allow light to filter down through the centre of the stairs and its slatted wooden treads and railings.

"The majority of the dowels and screws hidden within the slatted members are all wood," said the studio.

"The only metal screws and bolts are installed beneath concealed wooden covers that slip off. The whole system can be tightened, loosened, or entirely dismantled without waste or heavy tools."

The staircase was fabricated off-site and installed "in a matter of days".

On the second floor is a living room, laundry room and two bedrooms with adjoining full bathrooms.

The primary suite was placed on the third floor and opens onto a roof terrace through a large, asymmetrical picture window and glass door.

An interior seating pit was installed in front of the windows, while the door leads out over the staircase's skylight and onto a patio.

The studio used a variety of re-purposed materials in the creation of the house.

Excess timber panels were sourced from a New England dormitory project undergoing construction, while the wooden floors were made of recycled hardwood from the original structural beams.

After the studio addressed the water, fire damage and leftover nails from the beams, they were sized down to floorboards by local millwork shop Tri-Lox.

Custom wood windows installed throughout the project were also made by a local fabricator located in the Navy Yard.

The studio also collaborated with New York-based company Stickbulb on the patent-pending Electrified Laminated Timber (ELT) lighting system.

"The design carves light-reflective coves into the gaps between timber elements," said the studio.

"Features for the lighting system were milled into the wooden panels at the factory before they were shipped to site, allowing for a system of custom-designed lighting elements to flush-fit into place without the need for fasteners."

According to the team, the method has the potential to further reduce the embodied carbon of a project by eliminating unnecessary metal enclosures and other installation components.

Tones of grey were used throughout the interior, found in cabinetry clad in recycled veneer, a painted brick wall that runs along the dining wall and stairwell, and in the primary bath, which was wrapped in black tile.

Studio founder Aaron Schiller designed the house for himself and his family.

"The mass timber construction methodology we designed made it possible for us to create a beautiful, ecologically friendly home in a fraction of the construction time utilizing traditional methods despite the difficulties of building in a dense urban center," said the studio.

"The building exemplifies how modern methodologies can be used to re-purpose and enhance existing historic structures."

Schiller Projects was founded in 2011 by Aaron Schiller. Previous work includes a Massachusetts island home embedded in a hillside.

New York City recently announced an assistance program for design teams interested in mass-timber construction, while local studio Mesh Architectures completed the city's "largest mass-timber building" in Park Slope.

The photography is by Frank Frances.

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Local architecture studio Practice for Architecture and Urbanism has installed a glass office building with a vaulted roof inside the shell of the 19th-century Domino Sugar Refinery on the waterfront in Brooklyn.

Called the Refinery, the 12-storey building is the conversion of an industrial factory into a contemporary office, reflecting how the borough's architectural needs have shifted.

The structure is the centrepiece of the redevelopment of the Domino Sugar Refinery site, developed by Two Trees Management with a master plan by SHoP Architects and Field Operations.

For the Refinery, Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) wanted to create a functioning office space that kept the facade of the Romanesque Revival structure.

"We're not shortchanging today for some nostalgia," PAU principal Ruchika Modi told Dezeen.

"What was really important was this idea of palimpsest and embracing what was on the site without becoming slavish to history."

Because of the floor configuration, the original building could not simply be adapted.

The floorplan was industrial with large cavernous spaces inside, so the studio opted for keeping the historic building's facade intact while putting a whole new building inside of it.

"It's not a conventional adaptive reuse project in the sense of going into a warehouse building and adapting it," Modi continued.

"There was no building to adapt. And if we were to just go in and fill in the missing floors, it would lead to a really weird, idiosyncratic, completely bizarre, you know, interior configuration."

Instead, the new glass building sits back from the preexisting masonry and is anchored to it with metal beams that connect to the new building's curtain walls.

This gap allows for light to filter in through the windows and creates space for a "vertical garden" between the brick wall and the curtain walls.

Architectural details such as a large smokestack from the original structure were preserved on the facade.

The studio also used some of the original structural detailing to guide the new structure, such as a cantilevered glass overlook that juts out from the gap in the facade where an industrial chute once sat and has views of the Field Operations-designed parks on the site.

The new structure consists of 460,000 square feet (42,735 square metres) of offices with floor plans that differ depending on needs and a vast penthouse that sits directly underneath the glazed vaulted roof.

From the offices, inhabitants can catch views of the Manhattan skyline across the East River or of the urban environment of the Williamsburg neighbourhood in Brooklyn.

According to the studio, the building also runs on all-electric power.

On the ground floor is a triple-height atrium lobby with amenities spaces and retail. A replica LED sign displaying the Domino Sugar logo brand was hung from the river-facing facade.

The structure sits between two larger structures, a pair of linked skyscrapers by CookFox Architects and two in-progress skyscrapers clad in porcelain by Selldorf Architects.

The Refinery had been in operation for 120 years when it closed in 2004. The site was bought by Two Trees Management in 2012.

A six-acre park by Field Operations holds the space between the developments and the East River and has become a popular park for the local public.

Since being commissioned for the Refinery, PAU has landed a commission, along with HOK, to redevelop the beleaguered Penn Station in Manhattan.

The photography is by Max Touhey.

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Arched niches provide stations for tattoo artists at Atelier Eva, located in a former Brooklyn hardware store transformed by designer Alp Bozkurt.

The Atelier Eva Grand Street parlour is the second in Brooklyn run by tattoo artist Eva Karabudak, who is renowned for her detailed, micro-realism tattoos.

"Created with an ambitious vision to reimagine tattoo culture following Eva's own experiences feeling uncomfortable and unsafe as a woman in her early work environments, Atelier Eva offers a new kind of tattooing experience with the goal of providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all people," said the studio.

While her first location on Havemeyer Street was designed in house, Karabudak turned to Alp Bozkurt for the Grand Street space – which at 3,000 square feet (280 square metres) is almost twice the size.

The building dates back to 1895 and was originally constructed as a hardware store, occupying a single story space that extends 115 feet back from the street facade.

Original features such as large roof trusses, skylights and brick walls were all restored and highlighted during the renovation work.

The trusses are painted black, drawing the eye up to the ceiling, while the remaining structural elements are whitewashed for a clean look.

"A distilled material palette is deployed to create a warm and calming environment from otherwise industrial materials retaining the building’s original ethos," said Bozkurt.

Wrapping the perimeter of the interior are translucent polycarbonate panels that sit a few inches in front of the brickwork, unifying the sequence of spaces.

All the way around, arches puncture the panels to frame original corbeling, and reveal other historic elements.

In the front of the studio, beside the floor-to-ceiling glass facade, one arch provides a backdrop for a seating area with boucle-covered chairs, and pendant lights by Apparatus above.

Behind a pink-concrete reception counter is a consultation area, shrouded by a sheer curtain suspended from a curved metal track.

"Visitors are offered glimpses of activity in the studio flooded by natural light while the artists and their clients maintain privacy," Bozkurt said.

The group of artists offering a range of tattoo styles and piercings work in the large space beyond, where each is allocated a station aligned with an arch.

Foldable padded tables for clients to lay on, stools for the artists and cabinets for storing equipment all tuck neatly into these niches when not in use.

The open space – which also hosts creative gatherings and events – is sparsely populated, other than a central pink-concrete planter that matches the consultation table and the counter.

Together, Bozkurt's interventions create "a carefully choreographed sequence of experiences through varying degrees of transparency offered by various design elements".

Other tattoo parlours with unconventional interiors include a minimalist space in Kyiv with holes slashed through its walls, a stark monochromatic space in New York and a studio in Paris featuring curtains printed with Hieronymus Bosch paintings.

The photography is by Atticus Radley.

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Local studio Light and Air has introduced a light-filled void at the centre of a Brooklyn townhouse as part of a major reconfiguration and extension project.

The home in the leafy Clinton Hill neighbourhood was bought by a family of four with roots in India and required a complete gut renovation to open up the spaces to the outside.

"They wanted a house that exhibited a strong connection to nature, featuring a more seamless integration between inside and out," said Light and Air.

The project involved extending the building one level vertically, bringing its total number of storeys to four, as well as pushing it out significantly at the back.

While the historic front facade was carefully restored, the rear elevation now presents as a contemporary stack of pale-brick cube volumes.

The interior was completely reorganized to allow sightlines between the original spaces, the new extensions and the outdoors.

The most dramatic change involved swapping the stacked staircase with a switchback configuration – a similar approach taken by the studio at another Brooklyn townhouse in 2018.

This arrangement allows for improved visual connections between the levels and gave the project its name, Z House.

In addition, an angled skylight was added above the staircase void, bringing in light all the way down to the parlour 40 feet (12 metres) below.

"Filled by light and air, the stair's drama is heightened by the placement of large windows punctuating the rear facade, allowing the vertical space to open to the exterior," said the studio.

Of the home's four storeys, the lower levels are occupied by the public spaces including the kitchen, dining, living and media rooms.

The top two levels are reserved for the children's rooms and the primary suite respectively. The uppermost floor also accommodates a home office and provides access to a roof terrace created by the rear extension.

"This private, elevated, exterior space offers a unique domestic experience not typically found in most Brooklyn rowhouses," Light and Air said.

Interiors throughout are clean and minimal, with white walls and custom oak millwork, built-ins and furniture.

The pale brick of the rear facade is also expressed inside the double-height kitchen and dining area, which is open to the back patio.

"Located above the garden level addition is a green roof that buffers sightlines from the parlor floor, creating the effect of a floating garden beyond," said Light and Air.

Founded by Shane Neufeld in 2017, the studio has completed a variety of interior design projects across New York City.

These include a Brooklyn apartment retrofitted with ample custom cabinetry and a spiral staircase and a Financial District loft where partitions were removed to create an open, inviting space.

The photography is by Kevin Kunstadt.

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Fashion house Chanel has announced plans to cover an iconic Brooklyn diner in retro pinks and greens to celebrate the launch of a new perfume.

Exterior renderings depict the chrome diner wrapped in bands of mint green and light pink inspired by the pastel bottles of the CHANCE EAU FRAÎCHE Eau de Parfum (CHANCE).

Called Lucky Chance Diner, the overhaul is part of a pop-up event for the new fragrance.

Retro-inspired signage and branding of the temporary Lucky Chance Diner name will be placed on the sides and windows of the building while a glowing, circular neon sign will sit on top.

The same palette will carried inside, with a central countertop and bar stocked with perfume bottles and branded white and pink coffee mugs. The bar will be similarly clad in mint green with a speckled countertop.

Guests will be ushered to the countertop or a booth in order to "delight in a special and personalized scent discovery", and then move to the back room, where a life-sized perfume bottle will be poised for a picture moment among other interactive features.

An outdoor garden will host games, diner-inspired snacks, and a pick-up window where guests can purchase a bottle of CHANCE.

The fragrance is described as "a luminous expression that intertwines zesty citron, a jasmine heart and the ambery presence of a teak wood note to create an energizing trail".

Located in Williamsburg at 225 Wythe Avenue, the space formally hosted the Wythe Diner for twenty years along with several other restaurants, including La Esquina, and Blank Street Coffee recently hosted a food truck at the space before closing earlier in 2023.

Reports have circulated previously of a new apartment building planned for the site.

Chanel recently established its first brick-and-mortar store in Brooklyn, just around the corner from the diner.

The brand also recently celebrated 100 years of Chanel No. 5 with an Es Devlin-designed installation and hosted Karl Lagerfeld's final show in an Alpine village set.

The renderings are courtesy of Chanel.

The Chanel Lucky Chance Diner pop-up will take place from 8 September to 10 September 2023. For more exhibitions, events and talk in architecture and design, visit Dezeen Events Guide.

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Local architecture studio SO-IL has unveiled renderings for a residential high-rise under construction in downtown Brooklyn that will be wrapped in a perforated metal skin.

The renderings depict a building made of slender, interconnected volumes paired with large picture windows and several outdoor patios, located just outside of the Dumbo neighbourhood.

Called 9 Chapel, it will contain 27 one to four-bedroom residences spanning 14 storeys and will be "clearly visible" from the Brooklyn Bridge.

The exterior will be wrapped in an undulating, perforated metal skin. Developer Tankhouse, which collaborated on the design, said that it wants to push "the design envelope to establish a new architectural landmark for the neighborhood".

The fluted facade will absorb light while also providing privacy throughout various outdoor spaces. Each unit will feature covered or uncovered patios designed for year-round use.

Details like a semi-circle cut-out in a patio ceiling provide additional light, while concrete exterior walls will be included to reflect a wave pattern similar to the metal exterior.

Loggias located on the outermost volumes of the building also provide outdoor space.

Each residence will be a designed like a corner unit with at least two exposed facades, which SO-IL achieved by placing the building's volumes at different angles and keeping each floor no more than two windows wide.

"Leveraging the particular characteristics of this site, we introduce an innovative concept: a collection of homes dynamically connected with their surroundings," said SO-IL co-founder Florian Idenburg.

"This presents an exceptional and vibrant approach to 21st-century living in New York."

Interior renderings show a bedroom and open-concept living space that opens directly onto the surrounding terraces through large glass doors.

Most units will come equipped with an oversized, custom butcher block kitchen island.

Concrete ceilings and a light wood floor will run throughout the interiors.

The entrance to the building will be buried just a few feet underground, pushed back from the street so that the ground-level volume cantilevers over the small entrance plaza. The plaza will be framed by the resulting exposed structural columns.

It will have floor-to-ceiling windows and garden boxes with native plant species.

Additional building amenities will include a shared lounge, a "state-of-the-art" fitness studio and bike storage.

9 Chapel is located in "a nook" of downtown Brooklyn, with views of the neighbouring Cathedral Basilica of St. James and the World Trade Center.

Elsewhere in Brooklyn, the borough's first supertall skyscraper by SHoP architects was recently completed and twin porcelain-clad skyscrapers are under construction along the Domino Sugar Refinery waterfront.

The renderings are by DARCSTUDIO.

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Photos have been released of a pair of skyscrapers designed by local studio Selldorf Architects at the Domino Sugar Refinery redevelopment site on the East River waterfront in Brooklyn, NewYork.

Located in the Domino development in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighbourhood, the twin skyscrapers called One Domino Square have nearly reached their full height of 550 and 450 feet (168 and 137 metres).

The skyscrapers rise from a single podium that is clad in granite with acid-etched glass spandrels. The granite forms columns rise from street level giving the base a distinct appearance and contrast with the iridescent porcelain tile that will clad the remainder of the skyscrapers' facade.

The buildings will be Selldorf Architects' first completed residential skyscrapers. Studio founder Annabelle Selldorf said that her studio used principles from its other residential projects for the tower.

"We bring the same principles of design to an eight-storey or 20-storey or 50-storey building," said Selldorf.

"We are interested in designing buildings that are beautiful and comfortable places to live in but that also contribute to the urban fabric and the overall quality of life in the city."

One Domino Square will contain 700,000 square feet (65,032 square metres) of usable space. Wedged between the two staggered towers will be a raised area with outdoor amenities including a swimming pool.

To deal with the possibility of flooding, the ground floor has been elevated and there is no basement space on the site.

"Minimum below-grade scope dramatically reduces carbon footprint," added Selldorf.

"It reduces the use of concrete and excavation; it is rare for this size of tower building to not have any cellar levels."

The structures are part of the Domino Sugar Factory masterplan, an 11-acre complex masterplanned by SHoP Architects and developed by Two Trees Management.

Landscape architecture studio James Corner Field Operations (JCFO) designed Domino Park along the riverfront.

JCFO is in the process of designing another outdoor area, Domino Square, between the Selldorf towers and the forthcoming redevelopment of the historic Domino Sugar Refinery by Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU).

Structures by CookFox Architects and another by SHoP Architects have already been completed on the site.

"Domino Park is a wonderful fertile ground for a series of new buildings and one amazing old building, the Refinery, that read almost as a necklace of charms on the skyline," said Selldorf.

"Each one stands on its own like solitaires but come together to frame the Park."

German-born architect Annabelle Selldorf founded her firm in 1988. Other forthcoming projects by the studio include a revamp of the Sainsbury Wing at London's National Gallery and an addition to the Art Gallery of Ontario.

The photography is by Nicholas Venezia. Renderings courtesy of Two Trees Management.

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In this week's comments update, readers are discussing the completion of Brooklyn's first supertall skyscraper.

At 93 storeys and 325 metres tall, the SHoP Architects-designed Brooklyn Tower in New York is the tallest building in the borough. Though the mixed-use tower topped out in March this year, its intricate black and bronze facade was only recently completed.

Blackened steel panels run from the top of the skyscraper towards the bottom, where it meets the preserved, historic Dime Savings Bank at its base. Bronze and copper pilasters give definition to the black facade, creating a staggered appearance.

Commenters were split.

"A bit of Gotham about it"

Some thought the supertall skyscraper was a "beautiful" addition to the Brooklyn skyline, others gave it a "one out of 10".

"All it needs is the Eye of Sauron," wrote James Beckett, referencing the comparisons that some New Yorkers are making between Brooklyn Tower and the architecture of the Lord of the Rings films.

Chris saw a likeness between the tower and a different film franchise: "looks great and [there's] a bit of Gotham about it as well."

Floooo called the tower "one of the most beautiful skyscraper additions to New York in a long time", while Snessnyc agreed that "it most definitely is a striking landmark in the best way".

Other commenters weren't quite so generous in their comparisons. "A vertical castle: heavy, defensive, dominating," wrote Jesse Lockhart Krause. "Poor outcome. One out of 10 from me."

"This is a giant step backwards for Brooklyn," warned Jb, while Marius was curious to "see the developer's bottom line".

Future icon or present-day eye sore? Join the discussion ›

"Lots of pleasing quirks and character"

One project that commenters could agree on this week was a "refreshing" family home in Surrey with a steeply-pitched roof covered in red clay tiles.

"Good to see a new house designed in the traditional, vernacular manner, with lots of pleasing quirks and character," wrote AlfredHitchcock. "The staircase, gallery landing and timber partition are particularly lovely."

"This is rather nice and appears to settle restfully in the local context," agreed Smorgasbord. "Good to see some photography showing the house as lived-in, too."

Jb posited that "architecture informed by architecture is refreshing", while Jerry Dickman-Wilkes called the dwelling "wonderful and beautifully executed".

"It's nice to see more liveable places on Dezeen's radar," concluded Design Junkie.

Can you see yourself living in Middle Avenue House? Join the discussion ›

"Unbelievably gorgeous exterior material"

Also providing plenty of fodder for commenters this week was a kiln-like learning centre in Denmark designed by Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter.

While some commenters praised the centre's "gorgeous" exterior, others wondered whether it bore more resemblance to a "crematorium" than a kiln.

"Kiln-like indeed – it looks like a crematorium," wrote Tosh Fieldsend, while BBOB branded it an "awful-looking building".

"What a beautiful structure," allowed Danny De Jayeff. "Unfortunately, after looking at the interior photos of the light wells, it seems [that the] way they're being used doesn't really match with the more dramatic possibilities that a space like that commands. It looks like a common office interior and [is] quite disappointing."

But the project had just as many admirers as detractors, with JZ praising the "unbelievably gorgeous exterior material".

Design Junkie was on the same page and was "loving the mono-exterior, single-material cladding."

"This looks like a baker's paradise," concluded Niall. "Would love to visit."

Do you think it rises to the occasion? Join the discussion ›

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The latest edition of our weekly Dezeen Agenda newsletter features the first supertall skyscraper in Brooklyn designed by SHoP Architects. Subscribe to Dezeen Agenda now.

SHoP Architects recently completed the exterior of a supertall skyscraper in New York named Brooklyn Tower. The building has a black and bronze facade and is measured at 325 metres high, making it the tallest building in the borough.

This week's newsletter also included the San Siro in Milan being saved from demolition, a wooden A-frame house in Mexico by Pérez Palacios Arquitectos Asociados and a prototype HPV home-testing kit created by Yihan Dong.

Dezeen Agenda

Dezeen Agenda is a curated newsletter sent every Tuesday containing the most important news highlights from Dezeen. Read the latest edition of Dezeen Agenda or subscribe here.

You can also subscribe to our other newsletters; Dezeen Debate is sent every Thursday and features the hottest reader comments and most-debated stories, Dezeen Daily is our daily bulletin that contains every story published in the preceding 24 hours and Dezeen In Depth is sent on the last Friday of every month and delves deeper into the major stories shaping architecture and design. 

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This week on Dezeen, we reported that the first supertall skyscraper in Brooklyn had reached completion after finishing touches were finally made to its intricate facade.

Named Brooklyn Tower, the 325-metre-tall building by New York studio SHoP Architects topped out in March, but its black and bronze exterior was only recently completed.

It contains more than 500 residences alongside retail facilities at its base, which is wider than other supertalls because of the high winds in Brooklyn.

In other architecture news, construction progress on the Red Sea International Airport by Foster + Partners was revealed in a drone video and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) released its House of the Year award longlist.

Among the listed projects are a castle-like dwelling by Denizen Works and a glasshouse-informed home by Niall McLaughlin Architects, both of which were also recently named winners of the RIBA National Awards for 2023.

Architect David Adjaye was in the spotlight again after the International Slavery Museum became the latest institution to sever ties with his studio in the wake of sexual assault allegations against him.

Adjaye Associates had been appointed to create the architectural design of the museum last year, with Ralph Appelbaum Associates set to create its exhibition design.

In the design world, Tesla hit the headlines after it began selling a cardboard cat house that has an angular form modelled on the brand's electric Cybertruck.

Meanwhile, scientists from Texas A&M University and Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico published research that proves metal is able to self-repair. The discovery could pave the way for self-healing machines, vehicles and bridges.

Combining architecture and design news, Pritzker prize-winning architect Álvaro Siza has unveiled a watch that he designed in reference to his Leça swimming pool project from 1966.

Called the Lebond Siza, the watch has an angular case that was informed by the square shape of the main Leça swimming pool, while the watch hands nod to the minimalist restroom signs found in the leisure complex.

Projects that turned readers' heads this week included a trapezoidal concrete home in Slovakia, a Rajasthan residence with rammed-earth walls and a charred-wood beach house.

Our latest lookbooks spotlighted kitchens with tiled worktops and serene interiors with decorative lime plaster walls.

This week on Dezeen

This week on Dezeen is our regular roundup of the week's top news stories. Subscribe to our newsletters to be sure you don't miss anything.

The post This week SHoP Architects completed its supertall Brooklyn Tower appeared first on Dezeen.

Local design studio Mattaforma has collaborated with music venue and cultural space Public Records to create an outdoor plant nursery and community space to expand its programming in Brooklyn.

The Nursery at Public Records sits in an outdoor space adjacent to the Gowanus institution's other programming, a vegan cafe, club and listening lounge.

It serves as a nursery for plants and as an outdoor music venue.

Public Record founders Shane Davis and Francis Harris brought on Mattaforma and other collaborators including interior design studio Space Exploration and landscape design studio Cactus Store to turn the adjacent, empty lot into a functioning space.

"The Nursery is intended to be an ecological/urban intervention that serves to bring people and plants together, in reaction to the challenge of re-imagining an asphalt parking lot," said Davis and Harris.

To do so while limiting new construction, the team took advantage of several storage units already on the site, positioning them as both separators and inhabitable spaces for both humans and plants.

"The brief was an over winter nursery for their garden plant collection, as well as a community space that people could enjoy and learn about plants," Mattaforma co-founder Lindsey Wikstrom told Dezeen.

"With this in mind, we focused first on designing a space that relied solely on passive heating in the winter, treating the plants as our clients first, then adapting a plant-oriented space towards humans as our secondary clients."

To house the plants, Mattaforma installed wooden pratt trusses lined with polycarbonate panels.

The trusses were made on-site out of Microllam R laminated-veneer lumber (LVL), a manufactured wood that combines micro-layers of different kinds of woods like fir and larch.

According to Wikstrom, the material was chosen for its durability and also its manufacturer, Weyerhaeuser.

"[It's] the first American timber company to call for regenerative forest stewardship over 100 years ago and who still maintains today some of the highest ethical standards in their replanting initiatives, meeting SFI certification and transparency in their evolving ESG performance metrics," said Wikstrom of the company.

Vents were included in the trusses to allow for passive cooling during the summer months. The trusses also extend out over the sound system and DJ booth to celebrate the DJ booth "like an altar".

Public Records also created the sound system for The Nursery, working with audio engineer Devon Ojas and manufacturer NNNN to develop a custom system that includes two blue-green and black speakers.

In addition, the team brought in engineering firm Arup to advise on the acoustics of the space. New York-based Cactus Store designed the landscaping and supplied the vegetation for the site.

Besides the plants within the containers, trees and a grove of bamboo were installed around the concrete dance floor.

The once-industrial areas of Brooklyn have seen a variety of art and culture institutions moving in past years. Recently, a derelict powerplant, once known for its graffiti culture, was renovated by Swiss architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron into an arts centre.

Elsewhere in the borough, Ennead Architects and Rockwell Group converted a 19th-century train warehouse into a headquarters for a charitable organisation.

The photography is by Adrianna Glaviano.

Project credits:

Creative director: Shane Davis
Curatorial / sound direction: Francis Harris
Architecture: Mattaforma
Interior design: Space Exploration
Sound design: OJAS, NNNN, Dalbec Audio
Landscape design: Cactus Store
Acoustic advisory: ARUP

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New York studio SHoP Architects has completed the black and bronze facade of the supertall skyscraper Brooklyn Tower, the tallest building in the borough.

At 93 storeys and 1,066 feet (325 metres) tall, the supertall skyscraper topped out in March 2023, but the intricate cladding of its exterior was only recently completed.

The skyscraper features blackened stainless panels running from the top of the tower towards the bottom, where it meets the preserved, historic Dimes Savings Bank, which has been integrated into the tower's podium.

Running the length of the tower are bronze and copper pilasters that give definition to the black facade, which at certain points comes to edges, creating a staggered appearance. The building has quickly become one of, if not the most, visible structures on the Brooklyn skyline.

Last year, SHoP principal Greg Pasquarelli told Dezeen in an exclusive interview that the structure, because of its special zoning, "would be kind of like the Empire State Building of Brooklyn."

"We wanted to make sure that no matter what grid you were on, looking at it from wherever you were in Brooklyn, you felt like you were looking at the front," he continued.

The residential skyscraper, which has more than 500 residences as well as retail at its base, has a wider base than many other supertalls because of the winds in Brooklyn.

The larger base means that the tower tapers, drawing attention to the smaller peaks of the tower as it narrows towards the tops. The base is clad in white marble, reflecting the art deco bank, and darkens as it rises.

The tower also has a number of "wind floors" throughout its length that allow heavy gusts to pass throughout without rocking the massive structure. According to New York magazine Curbed, one of the taller wind floors has been outfitted with a basketball court, the highest in the world.

The tower's distinct form and colour have led some in the city to compare the building to the architecture of Sauron's Dark Fortress, a tower in Peter Jackson's filmatisation of the Lord of the Rings novels.

Inside, the art deco design of the Dimes Saving Bank has been carried through many of the public spaces, including the lobby design by Krista Ninivaggi.

The tower features multiple entrances, one directly from the street and another through the renovated bank, which has become a retail and pedestrian space.

Local interior firm Gachot Studios carried out the design of most of the residences.

SHoP Architects is also responsible for the nearby Barclays Center, a stadium clad with thousands of steel panels.

It has designed a number of other buildings throughout the city, including 111 W 57th Street on Billionaires Row in Manhattan, the world's skinniest supertall skyscraper.

The photography is by Max Touhey.

Project credits:

Developer: JDS Development Group
Builder: JDS Construction Group
Architect: SHoP Architects
Residential interior design: Gachot Studios
Amenities interior design: Krista Ninivaggi of Woods Bagot
Landscape design: HMWhite
Structural engineer: WSP
Mechanical, electrical, plumbing engineer: JB&B
Curtain wall consultant: MW Skins
Civil engineer: AKRF
Geotechnical engineer: Mueser Rutledge
Wind engineer: RWDI

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The founders of local architecture studio Only If have completed a multi-storey, slender house for themselves that is meant to represent the potential for "architectural invention in constrained, residual urban spaces".

Situated in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood, the Narrow House was designed and developed by Adam Snow Frampton and Karolina Czeczek, the husband-and-wife team behind New York studio Only If.

The infill house was built on an exceptionally narrow parcel that is 100 feet deep and 13.4 feet wide (30 by four metres). The width of a typical lot in the area is 25 feet (7.6 metres).

The couple acquired the property in 2015 and set out to construct a home for themselves and their Siberian Husky, Nikita. By developing the project on their own, they aimed to create an experimental form of housing that transcended the typical "client-architect service model".

The project also offered the architects a chance to provide an example of how to create housing on odd, slender lots.

"The Narrow House represents a specific architectural proposition, but is also a prototype for infill and a polemic on the greater potential for architectural invention in constrained residual urban spaces," the architects said.

The skinny site posed several challenges. The primary concern was bringing in natural light and facilitating movement through the house.

"On such a constrained site, the main problem in the design of the Narrow House is not form or outward appearance, but rather daylight and circulation," the architects said.

The duo conceived a rectilinear, split-level home that encompasses 2.5 storeys and a basement. The interior is just 11 feet wide (3.4 metres).

The home's shape, height and positioning were largely dictated by local zoning regulations. At its highest point, the home rises about 43 feet (13 metres).

Exterior walls are clad in black stucco. The street-facing elevation features glazed walls with integrated operable windows. A similar treatment is found in the rear, where the facade overlooks a backyard.

A small flight of steps lead up to the front door of the 2,815-square-foot (262-square-metre) dwelling.

Spaces for lounging, eating and dining are found on the main floor. Appliances and storage are incorporated into a long, cabinetry volume made of metal, oak and terrazzo. An oversized, glass pivot door extends the living space to the yard.

Up above, the levels are split, rather than stretching the length of the house. This strategy provided "spatial distinctions between different domestic functions" and enabled the formation a double-height space on the ground level.

The upper floors hold a work study and two bedrooms, with the study able to be converted into a bedroom if needed.

Rooms are arrayed along a staircase made of perforated steel, set within a "vertical void".

The interior has an absence of traditional walls and corridors, allowing for deep penetration of daylight and "an unusual lack of separation".

"The bedrooms are separated from other spaces through a plywood volume, containing bathrooms, closets and pocket doors for privacy," the studio explained.

The basement – which is technically a cellar, per local parlance – holds a recreation room, bathroom, laundry area, storage space and mechanical room

Structural walls are made of reinforced concrete masonry units (CMU). The front and rear walls have diagonal steel braces that provide lateral stability.

Floors consist of metal decking covered in concrete. Poured polyurethane was used as a finish.

The Narrow House is a continuation of work carried out by Only If for many years concerning "residual, vacant and irregular lots throughout New York City".

The studio has identified and catalogued 3,600 such lots in the city, and their findings were presented in a 2017 exhibition.

Moreover, the studio won an international competition organized by the AIA New York and New York City's housing agency to develop 23 city-owned vacant, irregular lots.

Founded in 2013, Only If has completed a range of other projects in New York, including a co-working office with mirrored surfaces and a white-and-black colour palette, and a space-themed underground coffee bar.

The photography is by Naho Kubota and Iwan Baan.

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New York studios Starling Architecture and Emily Lindberg Design have renovated a Brooklyn townhouse for a young family, combining two units into a single home and unifying them through the use of white oak.

The Carroll Gardens Townhouse was previously laid out as a two-family dwelling, but the owners needed more room for their growing kids, so decided to connect the units.

Starling Architecture and Emily Lindberg Design were initially briefed to convert and cosmetically upgrade the townhouse, and add spaces such as a mud room, work-from-home and living areas, and a large dining room.

Once the project was underway, the scope expanded to include a complete overhaul of the layout, a new staircase, an extensive millwork package, and the replacement of the furniture and artwork.

"Aside from giving everyone a little more space to work, live and grow, we also quickly focused on bringing in more light and connection between the various levels," said Starling Architecture founder Ian Starling.

Spanning five storeys, the building has a total living area of 3,700 square feet (344 square metres), with four bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms.

Rearranging the program involved moving the second-floor kitchen from the centre of the plan to the south facade, where it received much more light.

The dining room occupies the adjacent space, enveloped in European white oak panels that extend from a long built-in bench seat, across the ceiling, and down to a slatted screen in front of the stairs.

A walnut table with rounded corners provides enough space for hosting friends and extended family.

White oak is continued on the staircase across all levels and the flooring throughout, to a corridor and the mudroom, powder room, office and wet bar at garden level.

"All wood for the house was sourced from the same mill in Belgium, where they custom fabricated and finished it to our exact specifications," said Starling.

"All of the panels were CNC cut, so we were able to specify exact panel sizes based on as-built dimensions and each panel was divided into equal veneer widths."

The earthy tones of the wood helped to guide the remaining decor choices, which include cool blue undertones offset by family-friendly materials like purple slate and clay brick.

Cork lines the office space, while the children's playroom in the cellar features brighter colours without feeling too juvenile.

"With a new layout overall, the clients were in an 'out with old in with the new' mentality, going forward with some bold splashes of color along the way," said Starling.

"There is a purity about much of the palette, working with organic texture and form rather than applied pattern," added Lindberg.

Starling Architecture is based in Brooklyn, while Emily Lindberg Design has a presence in both New York City and Providence, Rhode Island.

The two studios previously collaborated on a similar project for friends of the Carroll Gardens Townhouse owners, who recommended them for this job.

Brooklyn's townhouses are in high demand, and new owners waste no time in renovating these historic buildings to meet their needs.

Recently completed examples include a property on Warren Street, for which Studio Vural used Kyoto merchant houses as a reference point, and a home in Park Slope that was designed to meet Passive House standards.

The photography is by Eric Petschek.

Project credits:

Architecture: Starling Architecture
Interior design: Emily Lindberg Design
Contractor: Euro Art Construction
Wood surfaces: Madera Surfaces

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In this renovated loft in Brooklyn, the owner both resides and hosts public art performances within a space divided by a variety of inserted volumes.

The loft is located in a late 19th-century cast iron building in Williamsburg that once served as a hat factory, and was renovated by a team of architects.

Ignacio G Galán, Jesse McCormick, Khoi Nguyen and Julie Tran of Future Projects collaborated to turn the industrial space into a residence that could also serve as a venue for artistic performances and other public events.

Named Another Seedbed, the project recalls the use of lofts in New York City by artists in 1960s to 1980s for developing experimental works.

The owner and activator of this apartment began organising parties, performances and other events in a similarly industrial space in Bushwick.

He then decided to create a dedicated space for himself to live and work, as well as host other artist friends who needed square footage to bring their ideas to life.

"Neither just a private studio nor an art gallery, the space is equipped to welcome gatherings that operate between a dinner party and a public performance," said the project team.

"Artists appropriate the space and become hosts themselves, expanding the communities which the project brings together."

The apartment is organised as a largely open-plan space, with private areas concealed inside inserted volumes.

Red-stained pine plywood panels hide the bedroom, which is accessed via a concertina door, and also contain storage.

The bathroom occupies another volume that's covered in hand-troweled earthen clay plaster outside and lined entirely is blue penny-round tiles inside.

An open kitchen with grey cabinetry sits below a framework of coloured wood, featuring smokey polycarbonate panels that are lit from behind.

This frame extends into the living area to form a floor-to-ceiling shelving unit, on which books and objects are displayed, and a projector for screening videos onto the opposite wall is housed.

A variety of moving furniture pieces, including an ochre-toned sofa on wheels, help to choreograph the events and arrange the apartment as desired by whoever is using it.

"The space will not advertise its performances," said the team.

"Some neighbors might not know of its existence. Others will hear about an event through friends. Some might find themselves there often and will develop networks of neighbourliness within it."

Brooklyn has both a thriving arts scene and a wealth of defunct industrial buildings for hosting exhibitions, performances and events.

Herzog & de Meuron recently completed the transformation of a derelict power plant in the borough into arts centre, while the Public Records creative venue added a bar and lounge on an upper floor of its former warehouse building earlier this year.

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Swiss architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron has completed the restoration and conversion of a power plant on a decontaminated industrial site along the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.

After an extensive decontamination project launched by the state government, Herzog & de Meuron was charged with converting the remains of a 115-year-old power plant into an art manufacturing hub, now called Powerhouse Arts. The studio worked with local PBDW Architects, which served as the executive and restoration architect on the project.

The studio took the shell of the one remaining structure on the site and converted it into a six-storey art production centre, keeping details from the original structure in order to respect the history of the site and its industrial landscape.

The power plant, which served the transit system, was decommissioned in the 1950s and later became a spot used by local graffiti artists.

In 2010, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched an initiative to clean up the contaminated industrial site.

The project included the renovation of a brick-clad building called Turbine Hall and the reconstruction of the demolished Boiler House.

Herzog & de Meuron refurbished Turbine Hall and rebuilt Boiler House on the historic foundations.

The Turbine Hall facade kept its masonry and arched windows, typical of industrial buildings of the early 20th century, while Boiler House was given a treatment in red concrete to match the historic brick.

The rebuilt Boiler House was placed behind Turbine Hall and stands taller, making both structures visible from various angles. A vertical service wall connects the two buildings.

Most of the art workshops are stacked along this wall but located at different levels depending on their use.

For example, the wood and metal workshops are located nearer the ground floor, closer to the loading zones, while the ceramic and painting workshops are located higher up, closer to the exhaust outputs.

The mechanical systems and stairwells were also placed along this central plate.

"The consolidation of these vertical elements between the existing and the new building provides additional lateral, structural stability for both buildings and creates the flexibility required for workshop programming within the remainder of the Boiler House floor slab," said the studio.

"Two large bulkhead volumes at the roof express the primacy of the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems in the project and recall the historic smokestacks of the original Boiler House building."

The floorplans for the Turbine Hall are wider and hold the largest single space within the building, the grand hall.

Located on the third story, the grand hall features details that illustrate the history of the building, including exposed refurbished steel trusses painted red and graffiti on the exposed brick walls.

The grand hall also has a painted-steel catwalk surrounding the space and is lit by a massive skylight.

The combination of refurbished steel and exposed brick walls layered with graffiti continues throughout the interiors of the restored structure.

Adjacent to the grand hall is a smaller event space in the rebuilt structure. This space reflects the contemporary generation of the Boiler House, with stark white walls and exposed concrete beams.

Parking was included underneath the structure.

Herzog & de Meuron is working on a similar project in San Francisco, transforming an industrial site in the Dogpatch neighbourhood, and recently finished a building for the Royal College of Art in London.

The photography is by Iwan Baan. 

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For New York's design week, local designer Jean Lee of Furnishing Utopia has created an exhibition of public-oriented design at the Naval Cemetery Landscape in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Called Public Access, the exhibition features projects designed for public use and comprises two sections, a physical outdoor component and an indoor installation with documentation and references at Brooklyn gallery and bookshop Head Hi.

In total, the exhibition features 35 projects designed to respond to locales in the United States, United Kingdom, Vietnam and nine other nations, selected from an open call put out last year.

A selection of these have been presented at the boardwalk at the Naval Cemetery Landscape in Brooklyn, a park and native plant landscape.

These outdoor projects range from bird feeders and seed libraries to benches and community fridges, all made from simple materials meant to show "how can design serve more as like a point of empathy" according to curator Jean Lee.

The indoor portion of the exhibition features photography and documentation of the remaining projects, with a map showing the various international locations where they are located.

All of the schematics for the designs have also been made available online so that they can be repeated and modified for different contexts.

Curator Jean Lee, who is the co-founder of Brooklyn design studio Ladies and Gentlemen, said that the designs were meant to be a celebration of "ad hoc" design practices, public space and "empathy".

"A lot of all these public access projects are simply designing something for somebody else – it could be a stranger," she told Dezeen.

"It's an invitation to interact and engage in a place that perhaps didn't have any design. It's a reimagining of what place to be."

The impetus for the project came both from the Covid-19 pandemic when Lee noticed that people were spending more time interacting with local environments and from a desire to "explore design without commerce".

"We're not criticizing the industry by any means, but simply want to expand the lens to look at how design permeates throughout life," Lee told Dezeen.

"It's where people decide to use something else and repurpose it and then fix it, and over time it becomes a sort of evolution of different people putting their hands on something – and there's no authorship, it's not about owning, or taking credit for anything."

"It's public access, not private excess," added Head Hi founder Alexandra Hodkowski.

Lee also noted that it was important that designers engage with the communities they were designing for, and encouraged them to get permission and to understand the needs of the locale, adding that sometimes "designers can overthink" projects and design without assessing the actual needs or desires of a place.

The point was to facilitate interaction and not to "dictate" it, she said.

A number of notable designers contributed to the outdoor installation, which featured designs built for animals as well as humans.

Mexican designer Jorge Diego Etienne created a small wooden shelter for opossums, while Lee's own studio Ladies and Gentlemen created a public bookshelf and lost-and-found meant to hold a variety of objects.

American artist Allan Wexler created public seating with detachable chairs that line up to form a white picket fence.

New York-based Various Projects worked with the local organization One Love Community to create a modular public fridge made from painted lobster cages sourced from Maine.

Lee is part of Furnishing Utopia, a collective that undersigned the exhibition, and takes inspiration from the simple, community-oriented designs of the Shakers, a religious community known for its craft and communal design.

The organisation has put on a number of other shows celebrating simple, non-commercial design initiatives.

The photography is by John Daniel Powers. 

Public Access is on view at the Naval Cemetery Landscape from 18 May to 25 May, while the exhibition at Head Hi is on view from 18 May to 3 June. For more exhibitions, talks and events during New York's design week, visit Dezeen's dedicated NYCxDesign guide. 

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Hotel brand Moxy has opened its first outpost in Brooklyn, with plentiful gathering spaces including a bar with motorised 20-feet-tall liquor shelves and an eatery modelled on Tel Aviv's Bauhaus architecture.

Californian hospitality design practice Basile Studio spearheaded the interior design of the 216-room hotel, set in the heart of Williamsburg on bustling Bedford Avenue.

The aim was for the design to reflect the area's rich history and its eclectic inhabitants while creating a slew of public spaces for locals and visitors to enjoy.

"The design for Moxy Williamsburg was inspired by the neighbourhood's history as a magnet for mavericks, immigrants and creators while taking its place at the centre of Brooklyn's contemporary social scene," Basile Studio's lead designer Ashley Evans told Dezeen.

"The hotel's eclectic public spaces reflect the area's melting pot character, finding inspiration in both past and present with influences from both near and far."

Among the hotel's communal spaces are several co-working studios with modular rearrangeable furnishings as well as four different dining and nightlife venues created in collaboration with Bar Lab – the hospitality company behind Miami's famous Broken Shaker cocktail bar.

"For Moxy Williamsburg, we envisioned an eclectic grab-bag of experiences that mirrors Williamsburg's diversity," said Bar Lab founders Elad Zvi and Gabe Orta. "Once you enter, you don't want to leave."

It is housed in an 11-storey building, designed by local studio Stonehill Taylor, which has a glass-fronted facade that opens completely onto the sidewalk of Bedford Avenue.

Guests enter via a lobby with exposed 20-foot ceilings, reminiscent of Brooklyn's many converted warehouses.

On one side, custom timber joinery frames a small seating area with a built-in bench and a long planter, helping to soften the otherwise industrial space.

A monumental artwork by creative studio RareCulture presides over the hotel's two blacked-steel check-in counters. Stretching up all the way across the ceiling, this shows a pointillist depiction of nearby Williamsburg Bridge formed from thousands of colourful crayons.

Immediately to the right lies Bar Bedford, which was designed to resemble a comfortable living space.

"Our seating is miscellaneous and meant to feel warm and inviting, modular in the sense that we want to invite people to move around and get social," Evans said.

The room's centrepiece is a curved bar, which houses 1,500 bottles of wine and liquor inside a custom 20-foot-tall cabinet made from white oak and glass, with motorised shelves that move up and down like dumbwaiters.

Although designed largely for entertainment value, the system was actually modelled on New York's historic automat restaurants.

"The automats, ubiquitous in New York in the first half of the 20th century, were fast food restaurants where customers would pick up their food from a wall of glass-fronted cubbies," said Mitchell Hochberg, president of the hotel's developer Lightstone.

"We thought it would be fun to take something that was iconically New York and introduce it into the design."

Timber also features here in the form of the dramatic pendant lights – designed by Basil to resemble a giant nest of twigs – and the portals that provide a peek into the neighbouring Levantine restaurant Mesiba.

With its textured plasterwork, abundant greenery and curved seating booths upholstered in burgundy-red leather, the eatery was designed to reference the buildings of Tel Aviv.

"The curvilinear lines of Bauhaus architecture find echoes in the rounded bar overhang and the oblong wood-framed etched-glass windows that offer a glimpse into Bar Bedford," Evans said.

"Travertine tabletops hearken back to Tel Aviv's historic architecture, providing a striking contrast to the Bauhaus-influenced elements."

Moxy Williamsburg has three co-working and meeting rooms that can be used independently or combined to host larger groups thanks to their modular furnishings.

After hours, the hotel also has its own club, named Jolene in homage to the iconic Dolly Parton song and outfitted with a sound system designed by DJ Nicolas Mater – the owner of infamous New York nightclubs Output and Cielo.

Informed by 70s interiors and mid-century recording studios, the space is lined with rows of integrated high-fidelity speakers and rectangular acoustical panels in shades of green and gray.

Walnut, leather and fabric finishes ensure warm, resonant acoustics while hundreds of multicoloured, marquee-style lights that sync to the music are integrated into the ceiling.

Modular furniture, including floating banquettes and low semicircular armchairs, allows the space to act as a lounge, a club or something in between.

On the top floor, Basile Studio imbued the LiliStar rooftop bar with Balinese influences that can be seen in the hand-shaped timber chairs and the theatrical ceiling lights, which resemble giant lotus flowers carved from copper, glass and leather.

"It's much more playful here with an elevated tropical feel while, again, not being too literal," Evans said. "We stuck to patterns and textures along with shelving inspired by shutters and exteriors of homes in Bali."

The hotel's 216 bedrooms are pared back and fitted with space-saving birchwood joinery such as collapsible desks and wall-mounted pegs, that guests can be folded away when they are no longer needed.

Moxy has recently completed a number of other outposts across the US. Among them is New York's Lower East Side branch designed by Michaelis Boyd and another in Downtown Los Angeles by Yabu Pushelberg.

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New York designer Krista Ninivaggi has completed the lobby design of the Brooklyn Tower, a supertall skyscraper that is the tallest in the New York City borough.

Ninivaggi was commissioned for the interior spaces – including lobbies, amenities spaces and furniture – for the SHoP Architects-designed skyscraper, which is completing this year. So far, it has completed the two entrances that will usher residents into the lobby.

The tower itself rises from the historic Dime Saving Bank in Downtown Brooklyn, so Woods Bagot needed to navigate the historic design as well as the "future landmark".

"Together with the architect we looked to the future rather than focus on a nostalgia for the past," Ninivaggi, now a principal of international design studio Woods Bagot, told Dezeen.

"Ironically, [American architect] Hugh Ferriss's work and dedication to retro-futurism influenced our designs," she added.

"We very much wanted the interiors to be in dialogue with the ethos of the exterior of the building, so that it felt like a complete work and continued the vision of the exterior. The goal was for the inside and outside to be unified as a total work."

The solution was to create this unification was to focus on small details, such as the wood panelling in the main lobby, which was milled at one-half the scale of the exterior facade extrusions.

The design included both of the two residential entrances to the tower, one of which passes through the Dime Savings Bank building on Fleet Street.

Both entrances have oak panelling and cream-coloured hexagonal flooring that was based on the original flooring for the bank.

The Flatbush Avenue Extension entrance, through the extension built for the tower, acts as the primary lobby and has a concierge desk positioned in front of a recess.

Gold and bronze detailing and custom furniture designed by Ninivaggi – such as a built-in stone bench – were arranged around the desk and the wood panelling is backlit.

From here, a passageway with arches clad in stone connects the main lobby with the Fleet Street entrance. Also accessed from the main lobby is the elevator bank.

This area has a vaulted ceiling clad in liberty dimes, another reference to the bank, and the elevators are framed by gold detailing.

"We also used an abstracted mercury dime face as the signage for the ATM tucked away in the lobby," said Ninvaggi.

"Though we wanted to reference the bank we intentionally incorporated wood, which was not found in the bank's original material palette. This warmed the space and gives it a more residential feel and the lighter wood tone compliments the stone."

"Overall, we made strides to abstract our references for a modern-day audience," she added.

The Brooklyn Tower is scheduled to be completed in the next few months, with most of its black facade already having been installed.

The photography is by Adrian Gaut.

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American clothing brand Kith has created a flagship store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that uses brick, wood and steel to reference the industrial history of the neighbourhood.

Designed by Kith's founder Ronnie Fieg and the brand's in-house team of architects, the Williamsburg location is located in the Gensler-designed 25 Kent Plaza office building, where Kith also has its corporate offices.

The design takes elements that carry through some of the other Kith stores, such as marble finishes and metal fins, and adds details that situate it in the context of Williamsburg.

These include a massive circular structure at the heart of the store that is covered with red brick on the outside and lined with white oak inside. The piece was custom-made at a nearby, undisclosed wood workshop.

This central element has a domed wooden ceiling with a wooden column and circular light fixtures that radiate out towards the edges concentrically.

A number of sloping arched voids in the structure have metal-lined undersides and provide an entryway on two sides and display cases for the brand's collection of sneakers on another.

"We constructed the central dome completely from scratch and created the exterior from the same exact bricks used on the outside of the main building so it feels very cohesive as you enter," said Fieg.

"Every inch of that dome is custom which meant our precision down to the last minute detail was crucial."

"Outfitting the interior with rounded wood panels, shaping the footwear shelves to sit flush within the windows, every detail was poured over."

Outside the circular area, the lights radiate perpendicularly, like sun rays, towards the walls.

The perimeter of the store is lined with metal fins that block the sun from the glass-lined eastern exposure while also creating a massive logo when viewed from outside.

Also lining the perimeter of the store are custom wooden clothing racks.

Polished concrete flooring runs through the space, which steps down from the public plaza at the centre of 25 Kent.

The designers oriented the entrance towards the plaza and placed garden boxes in the corners of the store to better connect it with the public space outside.

"The industrial ambiance is balanced with lush oak trees outside, and an abundance of greenery spread throughout the store," the brand said.

The Kith Treats Area at the entrance – where a combination of ice cream and cereal are served – was lined with Rosa Aurora marble and has a to-go window that opens up to the plaza.

A wall of stainless steel panels separates the treats area from the retail space, while the walls opposite the street-facing glass are matte concrete with wooden insets for further display and service areas.

On the floor, Kith installed a brand logo made of mosaic tiles.

It is the third store in New York City for the brand, which was founded in 2011, and creates apparel for men, women and children.

To celebrate the opening, the brand launched a sneaker with footwear companies Clarks and Adidas.

This is the twelfth store opened by Fieg, who moved to Williamsburg himself with his family in 2017, and the Kith headquarters there in 2021.

"The restaurants, the shops, the people, and the atmosphere make it a very special area in New York and were all factors in us moving our brand HQ there in 2021," he said.

"It's my home, our team's home, and it only made sense for us to make it a home for our community.”

Many of Kith's prior locations, in Miami and Los Angeles, for instance, were designed by designer Daniel Arsham and his studio Snarkitecture.

In both the Paris and original downtown Brooklyn locations, Kith installed chandeliers made up completely of Nike Air Max sneakers.

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US studio Gluck+ has completed Van Sinderen Plaza, a social housing project that stretches along an elevated subway line in a low-income district and is meant to be "a gateway for the community".

The project is located in East New York, a neighbourhood in Brooklyn where over half of residents live below the poverty line. It was built on a long-vacant lot.

Totalling 193,665 square feet (17,992 square metres), the project was developed under New York City's Extremely Low- and Low-Income Affordability Program. It offers a total of 130 affordable apartments, ranging from one to three bedrooms.

Designed by New York firm Gluck+, the development consists of two buildings, both of which rise seven levels and are meant to be "sympathetic to the low-lying neighboring homes".

The buildings stretch alongside an elevated subway line and sit across from subway and bus stops.

One building is long and rectangular and holds 102 apartments. The other building is much smaller and contains 28 units. Running between the two buildings is a bustling street called New Lots Avenue.

Both structures have retail and dining space at the ground level, helping activate the retail corridor and establishing a sense of place. In addition, the development contains a community daycare centre painted in bright colours.

Several design elements help integrate the buildings into their milieu and physical setting. For instance, the sides of the building that face New Lots Avenue are set back from the street.

"The buildings are set back from the street to create a complementary pair of triangular plazas and public outdoor space – emphasizing the project's stature as a gateway for the community," the team said.

Sidewalks around the building are also wider than normal, which was achieved by recessing the ground level.

"To create a better and safer pedestrian experience, the design set back the ground floor, essentially expanding valuable sidewalk space from five feet to 15 feet," the team said.

The upper portion of the building slightly cantilevers over the sidewalk, achieving more space for the apartment levels.

"Architecturally, this sculptural move provided the added benefit of breaking down the scale of the building while providing visual interest to the repetitive nature of the housing program," the team said.

Facades are clad in a fibre-cement panelised system in shades of grey, red, yellow and orange. A gradation pattern provides "visual texture to the buildings", the team said. Vertical fins are made of perforated aluminium.

Careful attention was paid to the building's acoustical performance, owing to its close proximity to the subway line.

Sound attenuation products and special assemblies for windows, walls, and packaged terminal air conditioners – typically referred to as PTACs – reduced the transmission of outdoor noise into the building.

The studio added that it incorporated "smart design details" throughout the project to help keep costs down and to help the building achieve LEED certification from the US Green Building Council.

The project also received Enterprise Green Communities certification, which is awarded to affordable housing projects that meet green-building criteria.

The housing complex was designed according to guidelines set out by New York City's Housing Preservation & Development agency.

The complex is owned and managed by MacQuesten Development. The project was funded by a combination of city capital funds, low-income housing tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, debt and equity financing.

When the tenant selection process began in 2018, rents started at $413 a month, according to the Brownstoner.

Other affordable housing projects in New York include a Bronx apartment block by Alexander Gorlin Architects, which features grey-brick facades and anodised aluminium panels in shades of red, orange, yellow and blue.

The photography is by Paul Vu of HANA unless otherwise noted. 

Project credits:

Architect: Gluck+
Client: Macquesten Development

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UK studio Adjaye Associates has released designs for a Brooklyn campus for the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation that include a cultural centre and theatre.

The campus will include three structures at the institution's site on Fulton Street in central Brooklyn. It includes two mid-rise buildings at 16 and 13 storeys and an expressive cultural building and theatre at four storeys tall.

The 840,000-square-foot Restoration Innovation Campus will have a cultural centre, theatre, and offices, as well as public and commercial space, dedicated to educational and community-building initiatives.

"The design of Innovation Campus taps into Bed-Stuy's vibrant culture to create a place-based model to disrupt the racial wealth gap," said studio founder David Adjaye.

"Based on extensive community engagement sessions, the design scheme prioritises the public realm and ensures dedicated space for collaboration between mission-aligned partners."

"We look forward to seeing the campus become a reality and model for others as Restoration moves the transformative plan forward."

For the cultural centre and preconceived Billie Holiday theatre, the renderings show a two-storey structure cantilevered over a plaza and supported by a number of smaller structures with spaces in between, giving the impression of stilts.

The structure will have a scalloped, arch facade with expansive windows and sit between two mid-rise towers.

Lines of sight will run underneath the cantilevered structure, between the ground-floor areas, opening up the block to pedestrians.

The office buildings flanking the theatre building will be largely symmetrical, with terraces occurring halfway up as the tower graduates towards a slender envelope.

The offices will surface staff of the institution as well as provide space for the outreach and development programs initiated there, including the Restoration Software Engineering Fellowship, Restoration Business Center and the Center for Personal Financial Health.

In 2019, Adjaye Associates undertook a "visioning process" with the community that resulted in the current designs.

Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation has been operating for 55 years and has played a vital role in strengthening the community, according to local and national politicians.

"Restoration Plaza has brought residents together for art, education, engagement, service and commerce," said US House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries.

"The Restoration Innovation Campus will further the legacy of what has come before and takes bold steps to help meet the needs of those living in the neighborhood by investing in the community and delivering good-paying jobs."

New York City mayor Eric Adams and Brooklyn borough president Antonio Reynoso also voiced support for the project.

The organization cited a $40-$50 billion dollar "racial wealth gap" in Brooklyn, which it says has only increased during the pandemic, "devasting" businesses, excluding people of colour from the borough's economic growth.

Other projects created by Adjaye Associates include the National Museum for African American History in Washington DC.

The studio also recently unveiled plans to develop the waterfront in Cleveland, a city heavily hit by post-industrialisation in the United States.

The renderings are courtesy of Adjaye Associates.

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New York City architecture firm Studio Vural used Kyoto merchant houses as a reference point when renovating the interiors of this Brooklyn townhouse for a couple.

A trip to the Japanese city in 2009 left such an impact on the clients that Studio Vural decided to adapt and update elements of the traditional minimalist architecture for the interiors of the Warren Street Townhouse.

"Our design is the embodiment of an early memory our clients experienced as a young couple in Kyoto, an experience so powerful and authentic, that it found its way to a new reality in Brooklyn through our imagination," said studio founder Selim Vural.

The four-storey building was overhauled to create a rental apartment at the garden level, leaving the upper three floors for the clients to live in.

With a total of 3,200 square feet (300 square metres), the project involved reorganising rooms while bringing in contemporary renditions of traditional Japanese home features, such as a sunken hearth, folding and sliding screens, and undulating soffits.

"[We] studied Kyoto houses' serene interior emptiness, flow of asymmetrical spaces, rhythm of tatami mats and the placement of courtyards to make that interpretation possible," Vural said.

At parlour level, where the main entrance is located, the plan was opened up so the living and kitchen spaces flow together.

Exposed brick walls were painted white, creating a blank canvas onto which a variety of light-toned European oak elements were placed.

The custom wooden furniture includes a window seat and a sofa. Both feature built-in storage, as well as a range of cabinets and shelves that run along one wall and incorporate a bar.

Oak boards wer also laid across the floor to create homogeneity throughout the open-plan space.

At the back of this level, the kitchen area is framed by a concrete-topped breakfast bar and includes a dining nook – based on a recessed space in Japanese reception rooms known as a tokonoma – tucked in behind the staircase.

The stairs are enclosed by slatted oak screens, and the first seven treads are widened thanks to beige limestone slabs that act as platforms for displaying objects.

Three bedrooms and two bathrooms can be found on the storey above, while a further two bedrooms and a bathroom are located on the top floor.

All of these rooms continue the same simple white and oak palette, and character is added by exposing the original wood ceiling beams.

The upper level also includes a lounge area, where the historic vertical columns are also made a feature.

Skylights were added to bring more natural light into the centre of the long, narrow space, which reaches the windowless hallway below through a glass panel in the floor.

"Our work at the Warren House Townhouse powerfully demonstrates architecture's capacity to cast distant memories into contemporary forms, revitalise historic typologies," said Vural. "It is a prime example of a historic building's rebirth for a new family in the history of Brooklyn."

Much of Brooklyn's townhouse stock has been bought up and renovated over the past few years, after homeowners jumped at the opportunity for extra space compared to nearby Manhattan.

Recently completed examples include a passive house that features a dramatic cedar screen and a project that took its architect owners 17 years to complete.

Studio Vural, which is based in the borough, has previously released images of a speculative off-grid house in the dunes of Cape Cod and a vision for a mixed-use Manhattan skyscraper covered with Asian lilies.

The photography is by Kate Glicksberg.

Project credits:

Principal architect: Selim Vural
Project architect: Rima Askin
Design team member: Angela Tsaveska
Interior design: Claire Hung Design
Engineering: Ilya Veldshteyn
Construction: David Nahm

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Distressed plaster, exposed brick and mahogany millwork at this cocktail bar in Greenpoint were chosen by Space Exploration Design to "give the impression that it's always been there".

Bar Americano opened recently on the corner of a landmarked residential building on Franklin Avenue – a bustling yet not overrun thoroughfare in north Brooklyn.

Serving cocktails, aperitifs and small plates, the bar is designed with an intentionally worn-in appearance to integrate with the fabric of the neighbourhood.

"The directive that the ownership team of Bar Americano gave to Space Exploration Design was to create a neighborhood bar that gives the impression that it's always been there," said the studio, run by designer Kevin Greenberg. "[We] chose a palette of mostly warm, neutral materials with natural finishes that will patina gracefully over time."

The bar itself is located in the centre of the space, with a U-shaped counter surrounded by wooden stools on three sides.

Behind, a mahogany cabinet displays a wide range of liquor bottles, and a vintage clock is affixed near the top.

Also embedded into the millwork are a pair of gilded sconces decorated with abstract floral patterns, created by Blaser Finishing, which also completed the plasterwork across the walls.

Tight tambour panels clad the front of the bar counter and the lower half of partitions, and fluted glass continues the same vertical accentuation above.

"To emphasise the simple, honest approach to the cocktails, Space Exploration employed a restrained detailing language throughout. A strong sense of verticality provides the perfect complement to Bar Americano's delicate glassware," the studio said.

Cosy seating nooks with leather upholstery of different sizes are snuggled into corners and window bays, away from the standing room.

A larger area with two-top tables is raised a few steps up, set against an exposed brick wall.

Decorative tin tiles covering the ceiling were painted matte white, while brass was chosen for lighting fixtures, coat hooks and other hardware details.

Bar Americano joins several design-forward food and drink spaces in Greenpoint, including the Sereneco restaurant informed by Usonian architecture and the plant-filled Vietnamese eatery Di An Di.

Other cocktail bars in NYC that have recently opened include the Upstairs lounge at Public Records in Gowanus and the rooftop bar at the Moxy Lower East Side hotel.

The photography is by Alice Gao.

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Interiors studio Crystal Sinclair Designs has renovated a loft apartment in Brooklyn's Dumbo neighbourhood to include a mezzanine with a wall of books and a bedroom behind a glass partition.

Upstate New York studio Crystal Sinclair Designs overhauled the space for a well-travelled lawyer and writer.

The client purchased the loft during the early Covid-19 pandemic in Dumbo, an area that has seen extensive conversion of buildings into luxury apartments.

Sinclair's aim was to retain the industrial look of the space, while incorporating a mix of furnishings that offer a European flair and nod to some of the locations where her client has spent time.

"[She] wanted to incorporate certain elements that are representative of the places she’s lived and worked before," Sinclair said.

"To that end, we worked in a nuristani mirror and a tribal qashqai rug purchased in Afghanistan, a statement chandelier from Italy, and her entire and not insubstantial library."

The concrete shell was largely left exposed, balanced with antique pieces like an easel and a leather wingback chair to add more story and a "lived-in" feel.

"The space itself led the way," said Sinclair, who founded her eponymous studio with her husband, Ben. "The idea was to draw attention to the high ceilings with floor-to-ceiling drapes and a metal/glass partition wall. As the space is bright, we decided to paint everything white."

The 1,190-square-foot (110-square-metre) apartment features a concrete coffered ceiling that reaches over 14 feet (four metres).

Thanks to this height, an L-shaped mezzanine could be added to provide a space to store the client's book collection.

A ladder beside a window provides access to the upper level, where bookshelves displaying the extensive library almost cover the whole wall.

Underneath are a row of tall cabinets, and the kitchen that features slabs of white and grey arabascato marble that contrasts a wooden farmhouse-style island.

In the living room, a cream boucle sofa is paired with a Moroccan rug, while a giant crystal chandelier hangs overhead.

The corner bedroom is partitioned from the rest of the space by floor-to-ceiling glass panels housed within black metal frames.

A white linen curtain can be pulled across to obscure the neutral-toned sleeping area from view. A desk also runs the length of a wall, for the client to use on the days that she works from home.

Elsewhere, original structural columns are wrapped in tiles around their lower halves, and a section of wall is covered with wood battens that create a relief pattern.

"We played with it and kept everything bright and airy," Sinclair said. "All we needed to do was to layer in order to give the space depth and purpose."

Loft apartments are typified by high ceilings, large windows and expansive open floor plans, and are commonly found in former industrial neighbourhoods of Brooklyn.

Other areas of New York City, like Tribeca, are similarly full of historic warehouses and factories that have been converted for residential use.

In these types of buildings, recently completed projects include an apartment by Andrea Leung with "secret spaces" hidden behind a mirrored wall and a penthouse by Worrell Yeung where industrial finishes are contrasted with the "pure minimal lines" of new fittings.

The photography is by Seth Caplan.

Project credits:

Interior design: Crystal Sinclair Designs
Stylist: Mariana Marcki-Matos

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Sculptural walls and tangerine hues feature in a public library by New York studio WORKac that is housed in a former torpedo factory.

Adams Street Library is the first new branch established by the Brooklyn library system in more than 20 years.

Situated along the East River under the Manhattan Bridge, the library is within a historic district in the Dumbo neighbourhood. It is housed in a 1901, multi-storey building that was once a torpedo factory, and later, a recycling facility.

The building now contains apartments and commercial spaces, along with the 6,500-square-foot (604-square-metre) library, which occupies a portion of the ground level.

"The design takes inspiration from this layered history," said local studio Work Architecture Company, known as WORKac.

"The dialogue between old and new continues throughout the space."

The original, brick perimeter walls – which have weathered over time – were left exposed. The entrance is marked with a red and white super-graphic that reads LIBRARY.

"This sign was approved by the Landmarks Commission, who noted its creative use of the precedent set by historic painted signs in the neighbourhood," the team said.

"Visible from across the East River, it gives a clear identity and invitation to this vital public amenity."

Within the library, historic elements are mixed with contemporary features. Tall, 15-foot (4.6-metre) windows bring in daylight and afford views of the surroundings.

In several areas, patinated brick is contrasted with pixelated, nature-themed murals. Overhead, a heavy timber ceiling was left visible through curved openings.

Spaces are organized around a central pavilion with sculptural walls made of medium-density fibreboard with a maple veneer. A custom pattern was created via CNC milling.

The enclosure features curvaceous openings and niches for book storage and stroller parking.

Within the pavilion is a children's area with bright orange hues, steps for sitting and playing, and space for storytime. This zone is slightly elevated, enabling youngsters to peer out over the main reading room and look toward the river and Manhattan skyline.

Beyond the central pavilion, there is an assortment of spaces and programming geared toward teen and adult patrons.

Among them are open reading areas fitted with tables with built-in charging stations, and two multipurpose rooms with stackable chairs, foldable tables, whiteboards and kitchenettes.

Additional areas include gender-inclusive bathrooms and a staff zone.

The building serves residents of Dumbo, along with Vinegar Hill and a large public housing project called the Farragut Houses.

The design was influenced by extensive community outreach led by the architects.

The library was designed to put "children at its centre" based on community feedback, which "indicated that children's spaces and programming were lacking – and important – to residents across the diverse neighbourhoods," the team said.

Other libraries in New York City include the art-deco-style Brooklyn Central Library, which was recently revamped by Toshiko Mori, and the Steven Holl-designed Hunters Point Library in Queens, which features large, irregularly shaped windows.

The photography is by Bruce Damonte.

Project credits:

Architect: WORKac
Architecture team: Amale Andraos and Dan Wood (principals), Evgeniya Plotnikova and Troy Lacombe (project architects), Zahid Ajam, Nevin Blum, Ania Yee-Boguinskaia, Giorgia Cedro, Leslie Dougrou, Kelly Lee
Structural engineering: LERA
MEP: DOSE Engineering
Lighting: Tillotson Design Associates
Graphics: Linked By Air
Contractor: Shawmut Design & Construction
Code: CCBS Consultants
AV/IT: Cerami
Cost: Costrak Consulting

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Public Records co-founders Shane Davis and Francis Harris have added a bar and lounge on an upper floor of their multi-purpose creative venue in Brooklyn.

Upstairs is the latest addition to Public Records, which was opened in 2019 by Harris, the curatorial director, and Davis, the creative director and designer of both the original spaces and the new lounge.

The extension joins a variety of programmed areas in the industrial brick building, including a cafe and record store, a plant-based bar and restaurant, an outdoor garden and a Sound Room for live performances.

For Upstairs, Davis collaborated with Studio Kos on the interiors, Arup for the acoustics, and a cast of makers to renovate the upper-level space – once occupied by Retrofret Vintage Guitars.

"We felt that people would value a space that inspires more intimate connection than our other spaces," said Davis. "This framework then provides opportunities to explore our ideas and showcase those of our collaborators on various scales, whether it be a sound system, a chair, an event series, or a cocktail."

The room is anchored by a dark, patterned marble bar, which together with the glossy black floor contrasts the mostly white walls and furniture.

Particular attention was paid to the sound quality in the space, where walls are furred out and undulated to bounce music around the room from large subwoofer speakers.

These are housed in cabinets by Devon Turnbull of OJAS and positioned against the back wall, with either side of the cabinets containing a diverse array of equipment including a reel-to-reel tape player.

Patrons will be able to choose from a curated selection of records and CDs available to play during gatherings, events and parties.

"Intentional listening on an audio system that showcases the practices of production in the music space allows for a deeper understanding and appreciation of the cultural significance of musicians and producers who are an integral part of how we shape our perception of the world," said Harris.

Wrapping the room are cream leather banquettes, accompanied by circular glass tables, and black ceramic and foam stools commissioned from Zurich-based artist Cristian Anderson that are reminiscent of used paint buckets.

Also scattered through the space is the custom PR Lounge Chair, designed with local fabricator Joe Cauvel and constructed of plywood and steel with exposed joinery.

Exposed ductwork and services found throughout the building are also present in Upstairs, which continues the same "DIY approach" taken to all of Public Records' spaces.

Brooklyn has no end of venues that act as community hubs, workspaces and nightlife spots geared towards its thriving creative population.

Among others are The Mercury Store performing arts centre in Dumbo and the 77 Washington artist studios in the Navy Yard.

Elsewhere in New York City, creative co-working space Neuehouse recently updated its hospitality areas.

The photography is by Ill Gander.

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Architecture studio OMA has created a pair of skyscrapers called Eagle + West in the Greenpoint neighbourhood of Brooklyn that consist of stacked volumes with cantilevers and concrete panelling.

Part of the ongoing Greenpoint Landing development in a post-industrial area in northern Brooklyn, Eagle + West comprises two highrises and a smaller building.

Designed for residential with some retail, the two high rises – with 40 and 30 storeys – comprise volumes stacked towards and away from each other, with the taller tower having a wider profile at its height and vice versa, with step-backs every 24 feet (7 metres).

"The two towers – complementary siblings –create an ever-shifting presence that engages both the neighborhood and the waterfront," said Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) partner Jason Long.

According to Long, the stepped design of the two structures was implemented because of the limited space of the site and the desire to optimise the views of the city.

Where the taller, 400-foot-tall (121 metres) tower steps toward the other volume, cantilevers were deployed.  The two towers flank a central void where, on the podium, outdoor amenity spaces were placed, including an outdoor pool and a landscaped park.

Sloped columns were used in the structure of the taller tower to allow for the cantilevers.

The smaller of the two towers – with a height of 300 feet (91 metres) – has terraces stepped toward the water that mirror the cantilevers of the taller structure. This mirrored, inverse stepping technique allowed the space between the towers to expand to 60 feet (18 metres).

Having two towers on the site also keeps lines of site open from Greenpoint towards the waterfront and the Manhattan skyline.

"The two towers—complementary siblings—create an ever-shifting presence that engages both the neighborhood and the waterfront," said Long.

Precast concrete panelling was used to clad the structure, and each of the blocks – which hold seven or eight storeys – has a varied angle of groove patterning in the panel to create visual differentiation and shading and are punctuated by eight by eight-foot (2.4 x 2.4 metres) windows.

The size of each of the stacked volumes was chosen to mirror the scale of the surrounding neighbourhood.

In total 1616 panels were used with the panels at the entrance given a more intricate, "fishscale" pattern to create focal points. The undersides of the cantilevers on the taller structure are clad in aluminium patterns with inset grooves to facilitate the cleaning of the structure.

The podium is seven storeys tall and holds additional residential units as well as lobby spaces and lounge spaces.

Many of the amenities, including a lap pool and gym, are hosted in a glass bridge volume that sits on top of the podium at its edges, passing over the exterior courtyard in the void between the two buildings, and connects the two towers.

Interior design for the amenity spaces was carried out by Los Angeles-based design studio Marmol Radziner.

At the middle of the development, below the glass bridge is a double-height lobby space with grooved stone and wood on the walls. It is backed by a floor-to-ceiling glass wall that opens to an outdoor sculptural staircase leading up to the outdoor amenities.

There is another lobby at the base of the smaller tower.

The pavilion includes a great room lined with bookshelves and windows seating as well as a reservable lounge area where concrete columns that support the structure were left exposed in a double-height space.

Apartment interiors were designed by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and feature a variety of floor plans because of the variation of the envelope, plentiful glazing and warm finishes.

The building, which is OMA's first high-rise in the city, is part of the larger Greenpoint Landing development, which, when complete, will cover 22 acres.

Besides adding affordable and market-rate residences to the neighbourhood where Brooklyn meets Queens, Eagle + West was also raised 17 feet (five metres) above the grade, which Long said will provide flood resilience to the neighbourhood.

OMA was founded in 1975 in Rotterdam and has expanded offices to New York, Doha, Hong Kong and Australia. The studio has recently completed projects including the Tapei Performing Arts Center and a pavilion beside a Jewish temple in Los Angeles.

The photography is by Jason O'Rear.

Project credits:

Lead design architect: OMA New York
Partner-in-charge: Jason Long
Project architects: Yusef Ali Dennis, Christine Yoon
Team: Remy Bertin, Jingyi Bi, Sam Biroscak, Titouan Chapouly, Ken Chongsuwat, Marie-Claude Fares,
Yashar Ghasemkhani, Anders Grinde, Wesley LeForce, Chong Ying Pai, Nathan Petty, Andres Rabano,
Laylee Salek, Alan Song, Wo Hong Wu, Soojung Yoo, Steven Young, Juan Pablo Zepeda
Executive architect: Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP
Unit interior designer: Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP
Landscape architect (waterfront): James Corner Field Operations
Landscape architect (building): Marmol Radziner
Amenities interior designer: Marmol Radziner
Structure: DeSimone Consulting Engineers
MEP and LEED: Cosentini Associates
Façade: Thornton Tomasetti
Lighting: Focus Lighting
Acoustics: Cerami Associates
Civil: Langan Engineering
Wayfinding and signage: MTWTF
Marine engineering: McLaren Engineering Group

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Architecture studio Studio Gang has completed the 11 Hoyt residential skyscraper in downtown Brooklyn with a scalloped concrete facade and an elevated park.

Named 11 Hoyt, the 620-foot-tall (189 metres) skyscraper was clad with precast concrete panels that are positioned at different angles in order to give it an undulating effect.

According to the studio, the panels were positioned in order to create an "inhabitable facade" – a designation given because of the extra interior spaces created where the panels extrude from the interior envelopes.

The position of the angled windows in some of the precast panels was based on the "classic bay windows found among Brooklyn's iconic brownstones".

"We designed 11 Hoyt from the inside out, looking to give residents great natural light, views, and spacious interiors, even in dense Downtown Brooklyn," said Studio Gang founder Jeanne Gang.

"The design reinterprets them as projecting bays sweeping diagonally up and down the facade like gently cresting waves," added the team.

The 57-storey tower rises up from a podium that surrounds the building, on top of which was installed a 27,000 square foot (2,508 metres) private park, with landscape design by New York-based Hollander Design.

"We looked for ways to bring green spaces and biodiverse nature to the neighborhood, which it has traditionally lacked," said Gang.

"New plantings at street level add green to the public way, and the elevated garden landscape atop the podium provides a place where residents can build community and enjoy the outdoors, as well as habitat for wildlife and rainwater retention."

The park is connected to the main stricture via a semi-enclosed fitness deck where large concrete trusses were left exposed.

Architecture studio Michaelis Boyd designed the interiors for the skyscraper, including the public areas and the 481 residences.

These include the double-height lounges and exercise facilities on the third floor, adjacent to the elevated park, with a 75-foot saltwater pool framed by columns clad in deep-blue tile and floor-to-ceiling windows of the adjacent skyline.

Structural elements of the building were left exposed, like the massive columns that punctuate the interior of the coworking lounge, which Michaelis Boyd decorated with dark wood flooring.

The residences all have 10-foot-tall (three-metre-high) ceilings and their floors are made of American oak.

Two different colour schemes – one of dark metal and stained wood and one of light wood and stainless steel – were chosen for the accents and hardware.

New York City real estate firm Tishman Speyer developed the project and has worked with Studio Gang on other structures across the United States including the twisting Mira apartment tower in San Francisco and the studio's green high rise for the Mission Rock development, also in San Francisco.

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New York-based studios Ennead Architects and Rockwell Group have converted a 19th-century train warehouse into the headquarters for a charitable organisation in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighbourhood.

The studios transformed a block-long train repair shop in Brooklyn into a headquarters and distribution centre for the charitable organisation City Harvest, turning it into a bright and open space by modernising the original structure.

Ennead Architects led the external and internal redesign while Rockwell Group designed an event space and a test kitchen for the facility, which is called the Cohen Community Food Rescue Center.

The historic elements of the facade were kept largely intact by the redesign, with most of the interventions occurring in the long warehouse-like spaces of the interior.

"As we see it, the most sustainable building is the one that is already there, so our design approach was informed by the existing potential already within this building, which we revitalized and filled with daylight to create an open and welcoming environment for all," said Ennead Architects partner Richard Olcott.

Inside, Ennead opened up the 150,000 square-foot (13,935 metres) structure and uncovered features such as clerestory windows that had been closed over.

The two-storey structure now houses open-concept workspaces alongside spaces for the collection and distribution of food, with offices on the top floor and distribution areas on the bottom floor.

Throughout, Ennead Architects added steel screens and other partitions, and the studio also restored some of the tree-like wooden support columns throughout the space.

In the entryway, a steel staircase was installed to provide access to the upper level, where the office program has workspaces, lounges and a large gathering space, with custom graphics on some of the walls.

A number of energy-saving upgrades were also added to the structure. These included hookups, radiant heating and cooling, and electric charging stations.

Rockwell Group was responsible for designing a modern test kitchen where the organisation can host chefs and gatherings.

The kitchen was designed for visitors to be able to watch the food being prepared, and the warm space consists of reclaimed wood from barns, terracotta and steel elements.

This area leads to restored archways that open into an event space with reclaimed-oak flooring and what the studio called "immersive wainscoting".

Rockwell Group also installed a roof terrace to complete the program. Here, an outdoor kitchen and lounge area were furnished with items made from recycled milk jugs.

International architecture studio Ware Malcomb served as the architect of record on the project and provided designs for the logistic spaces in the build, including the loading docks and food-storage systems.

City Harvest is known for rescuing food waste and redistributing it to New Yorkers in need, and in a year distributes upwards of 75 million pounds of food.

"As the need for emergency food continues to stay far above pre-pandemic levels, our new, sustainable headquarters will help us meet the need in our city – one day, one meal, one New Yorker at a time," said City Harvest CEO Jilly Stephens.

Other projects that use older structures include the transformation of a Victorian warehouse into an office structure in London by Squire and Partners and the conversion of a 16th-century clergy house in Spain into a holiday home by Atienza Maure Arquitectos.

Photography by Albert Vecerka/Esto for Ennead Architects and Jason Varney for Rockwell Group. 

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American studio Sarah Jefferys Architecture + Interiors has renovated a slender townhouse in Brooklyn with airy rooms and a cedar screen on the facade to meet Passive House standards.

Located in the Park Slope neighbourhood, the Passive House project involved the overhaul of a brick-faced, three-storey townhouse built in 1921 and owned by a family of four.

New York-based Sarah Jefferys Architecture + Interiors sought to create a tranquil living atmosphere with elements that pay homage to the family's Indian and Danish roots.

Moreover, the team wanted the 3,000-square-foot (279-square-metre) building to align with Passive House standards for energy efficiency.

To significantly reduce heating and cooling needs, the team installed triple-pane Zola windows, which are often used in passive houses. Walls were reconstructed to create an airtight envelope, which included the addition of cellulose insulation.

The team also added an electric heat pump and an energy recovery ventilator, which helps purify the air.

The front facade was kept intact and refurbished, while the rear wall was redesigned to add ample glazing. To provide privacy and to modulate incoming daylight, the team added an artful cedar screen that acts as both "a sculpture and a veil".

Within the slender home, the team incorporated pops of colour and pale materials such as white oak.

"We strategically used light hues and reflective materials, and created an airy environment to offset the narrow footprint of the townhouse," the team said.

The ground level has an open plan and holds the communal spaces.

Up front is the living room, where one finds a blue Living Divani sofa, rattan chairs from Fritz Hansen and a Muuto table.

A wood-burning fireplace, an element not often found in passive homes, sits between the living and dining areas.

To curb emissions from the hearth, the architects added a triple-pane glass enclosure and an extraction fan with an insulated cap. Still, because of the fireplace, the home does not fully meet the PHIUS certification requirements, the architect said.

The all-white dining room is furnished with Ant chairs by Arne Jacobsen and a PH50 pendant by Poul Henningsen. Just beyond is the "showpiece kitchen", which is framed with an LED light cove.

"The light cove acts as a separation point – an outline – and provides an atmospheric glow throughout the kitchen," the team said.

In addition to the special lighting, the kitchen features slatted wooden cabinetry, yellow pendants by Louis Poulsen, and an island topped with Glassos crystallized glass.

Part of the island consists of a live-sawn slab of white oak, which is lined with bar stools.

"The beautiful juxtaposition between Glassos and white oak exemplifies the nature of the kitchen as both a practical work area and a leisurely lounge space for entertaining," the team said.

A sky-lit staircase leads to the upper levels. The first floor holds the main bedroom and bathroom, along with an office – all of which are arrayed along a corridor lined with frosted glass.

The main bedroom features a BoConcept bed, sconces by Robert Dudley Best for Bestlite and a graphic blanket by Pia Wallén for HAY. The bathroom is adorned with matte glass and penny-round tiles from Ann Sacks.

The office is infused with a "touch of nostalgia". Pieces include a Hans Wegner armchair, a teak Danish dresser and a 1962 copper pendant by Jo Hammerborg.

The top level contains a den and two additional bedrooms. The house also has a cellar.

Other Brooklyn townhouses include a house by Space4Architecture that has a skylit staircase and minimalist decor, and the family home of architects Fanny and Matthew Mueller, which features floating steps and a wood-and-steel bridge.

The photography is by Morten Smidt.

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Lighting brand In Common With has opened a studio, showroom and production facility inside a Brooklyn warehouse.

The 3,500-square-foot (325-square-metre) space is located in a former industrial building in Gowanus, which was recently renovated by Morris Adjmi Architects and is home to a variety of creative companies.

Bringing all of In Common With's operations under one roof, the set-up allows founders Nick Ozemba and Felicia Hung to assemble and showcase their products in a residential-style setting.

The opening of the space also coincides with the launch of In Common With's 20-piece glass lighting collection, Flora, which was created in collaboration with French-American designer Sophie Lou Jacobsen.

"Five years ago, Felica and I set out to create a different kind of lighting brand based on a collaborative model with other makers and centered around material exploration," said Ozemba.

"Our new space will allow us to push this approach further, grow our team and take on more ambitious projects."

The showroom presents new and previous lighting collections – designed with ceramicists, glassmakers and metalworkers from around the world – amongst a mix of vintage and contemporary furniture.

A Mario Bellini sofa and a Tapestry Chair by Giancarlo Valle anchor a living room area, lit by a chandelier and a floor lamp from the Flora range.

Plastered walls and custom millwork join the exposed wooden ceiling, uniting a selection warm earthy tones.

Artworks by Charlotte Hallberg, Al Svaboda and more were also commissioned for the showroom.

"Highly tactile and hand-crafted details create an immersive environment while celebrating the architectural details, generous proportions, and ample light of the industrial building where they are based," said the team.

In the studio, custom work tables, oak shelving, storage and technical lighting were all installed to aid production.

Components for In Common With's modular Up Down Sconce and Alien Orb Pendant are arranged by colour on the shelves. There's also a dedicated area for the team to prototype new products.

Ozemba and Hung met while studying at RISD, and founded their brand in 2017 before debuting a range of handmade clay designs a year later.

Brooklyn is home to a thriving creative community, with many artists and designers living and working in the New York City borough.

Other workspaces that have opened there recently include a series of historic factory buildings converted by Worrell Yeung, and retailer Radnor's studio and showroom in another former factory.

The photography is by William Jess Laird.

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Architects Fanny and Matthew Mueller have completed a lengthy and extensive renovation of their family home in Brooklyn, called 17 at 17, which features floating steps, loft beds and a wood-and-steel bridge.

Encompassing 2,500 square feet (232 square metres), the Brooklyn townhouse is located on a tree-lined street in the South Park Slope neighbourhood. .

Occupying a slender, rectangular lot, the wood-framed building dates to 1901 and underwent various modifications since its construction.

The Muellers bought the house in 2005 and embarked on a 17-year restoration project.

The Mueller's goal for the project was to create a thoughtfully designed home for themselves and their three children.

"We were determined to create a project which reflected our professional passion and our belief of the importance of home as the ‘hearth' of our family," the duo said.

The project entailed a complete overhaul of the existing building.

On the exterior, the architects added two types of fibre-cement cladding, along with creating a new roof and installing skylights. The interior was fully revamped.

Communal spaces – a living room, dining area and kitchen – were placed on the ground level.

The upper floor was re-framed and reconfigured. The central portion was left open to below, enabling daylight to penetrate the ground level and giving the home an airy feel.

Bifurcated by the central void, the upper floor has two sides that are connected by a wood-and-steel bridge.

One side contains a primary suite; the other holds a kid's bedroom with a pair of loft-style sleeping areas that can accommodate full-size mattresses. The bedroom can become two enclosed rooms if desired.

Rising from the upper floor is a short flight of floating steps, which leads to a boxy volume partly suspended over the living room below. An overhead steel beam and a single hanging rod in the corner were used to achieve the suspension.

This volume holds another kid's room. It features a platform bed that is accessed via a wooden staircase with integrated storage.

The home also has a basement, where one finds guest quarters and a family room that doubles as an office.

The Muellers used a restrained palette of materials, including seamless epoxy and concrete flooring, white gypsum board walls, and custom cabinets with lacquer fronts and maple trim. Maple was also used for the staircases.

The project unfolded in phases. When the Muellers first acquired the property, they removed old carpeting and linoleum, painted everything white and installed a simple kitchen.

Next, they demolished a rear, one-storey addition and replaced it with a two-storey extension totalling 1,000 square feet (93 square metres).

"When it came time to stitch the existing and new structures together, we moved across the street to a one-bedroom apartment, keeping a close distance to allow us to follow the progress as well as contribute to the work," the architects said.

After a year of work, the family was able to move back into their townhouse, but it was far from being finished. They made slow but steady progress on the to-do list over the years.

"The list continued as money would become available, each step according to the original master plan but often self-executed when hiring contractors was not feasible," the Muellers said.

"Each phase often displaced our family into quieter and cleaner areas of the house, never allowing anyone to fully settle in a room destined for its final purpose."

The dwelling was finally completed this year. With their three kids now in college, the Muellers have decided to sell 17 Jackson Place and build a new home.

"We are investing in another new building project in the South Slope neighbourhood, which will enable us to create a home better suited for the next stage of our family's life," they said.

Fanny – who grew up and studied in France, and earned her architectural license there – is the founder of Fanny Chevalier Mueller. Matthew Mueller, who is American, is a partner at New York-based PBDW Architects.

Other residences in Brooklyn include a renovated townhouse by BAAO that features a giant pegboard wall and pops of colour and pattern and a house by Space4Architecture that has a skylit staircase and minimalist decor.

The photography is by Evan Joseph Photography for The Corcoran Group.

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Early adoption of digital technology and the competitive nature of working in the architectural "pressure cooker" of New York City helped SHoP Architects become successful, say principals Gregg Pasquarelli and John Cerone in this interview.

Pasquarelli, one of five architects who founded SHoP Architects 1996, and Cerone, an employee since 2008 and principal since 2020, spoke to Dezeen about the origins of the studio whose recent projects include the Brooklyn Tower and 111 W 57th, the skinniest supertall skyscraper in the world.

Brooklyn Tower, which recently topped out at 325 metres, is now one of Brooklyn's most recognisable landmarks thanks in part to special zoning which means it is visible from almost anywhere in the borough.

"This building – which is the only zoned for that kind of height – we knew would be kind of like the Empire State Building of Brooklyn," said Pasquarelli.

"We wanted to make sure that no matter what grid you were on, looking at it from wherever you were in Brooklyn, you felt like you were looking at the front."

He added that architects should be making "serious architecture in Brooklyn" and not just in Manhattan.

"Two of the top-five buildings in Brooklyn"

"Why should Brooklyn have a second-grade tower? It's got a real skyline. It's a fantastic place to live," he said. "I'm proud that we did that building and I'm proud that we did the Barclays Center," he said, in reference to the studio's 19,000-seater sports arena that opened in 2012.

"Maybe with the Brooklyn Museum, the Wonder Wheel, and the Brooklyn Bridge, we got two of the top five buildings in Brooklyn, and I'm super proud."

The principals relate the success they have had in the city of New York to SHoP’s early implementation of digital technologies in the architectural process, a willingness to work closely with developers and the competitive nature of the city, which Pasquarelli referred to as an architectural "pressure cooker".

"The intensity of New York and the people here really affect the program," said Pasquarelli.

"New York is always changing. Nothing is permanent, but it needs to be authentic and people can tell when something is forced, not authentic," added Cerone.

SHoP adopted technologies early on that allowed them to digitally plan the fabrication of ornate facades like at the Barclays Center, and at Porter House, a building with a custom-fabricated facade that is cantilevered off an older building in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan.

Creating highly detailed fabrication plans and even at times helping to cover the cost of the experimental methods help prove the approach to developers.

"We were like, look this is New York," said Pasquarelli of the early days of the firm. "We're all fighting over every inch of this island. If we don't engage and speak in the language of the developers, we're not going to ever really be able to build and push the limits of what we can do."

Pasquarelli said the technology allowed the studio to deliver on design expectations by coming up with schematic models that not only showed what the buildings would look like, but how to build them.

"I was hoping journalists would do a rendering versus reality critique of the last 20 years and like go back against all my competitors and show what their renderings look like and what the building looks like at the end," he said.

"And rate the architects on how well they deliver what they promise, because I know we will win that competition."

Tech for the sake of beautiful buildings

For Cerone, who specializes in production technology, the technology is a means to an end and a way to avoid being "gimmicky".

"All the technology is not for the sake of technology itself but for making these beautiful buildings significant," said Cerone, adding that the studio was in the process of perfecting a system that would allow for a digital database to provide contractors and developers with a library of specs and fabrication elements for each aspect of SHoP's designs.

While the team emphasized the importance of streamlining production and communicating with developers to increase efficiency, they also acknowledged the wealth disparity that some of the projects represent.

"I'm a New Yorker, and I care about the city and I know there are people that don't like Billionaire's Row," said Pasquarelli. "I get that wealth disparity argument, but, if they're gonna go up – and they're gonna go up – make it the best ones possible."

"Both with the Brooklyn Tower and with 111 W 57th Street, we took the position with our client that though extraordinarily wealthy people are going to live inside of this building, eight million of us have to live with it every day," he continued. "So you need to spend at least as much money on the outside as you do on the inside."

They said that processes and technology drive them to create buildings that adapt to the place.

"People take selfies at Barclays and then they turn around and then take selfies down the street with the Brooklyn Tower," said Cerone. "They don't know they are by the same architects."

While New York is no longer the primary focus of the firm, the principals believe that their methods and styles, varied in form and function, have made a mark on the city and allowed them to prove themselves to international clients.

The studio's global buildings include embassies in Milan and Bangkok, a sprawling government complex in Botswana and a Dutch skyscraper that takes cues from the Brooklyn Tower.

"So we focused, for the first decade or so, on New York. And once we proved that we could build them, then we just started saying well now, can you do it in other places – can you do it in Africa, and can Asia do it?" said Pasquarelli.

"And it's just now getting out there."

Read on for the edited interview:

Ben Dreith: What has it meant to start designing in New York as student and wind up being responsible for some of the most talked-about buildings in the city?

Gregg Pasquarelli: I think we started at a very odd time; there was a big recession in the 1990s. And I was part of the beginning of using the digital to design like using animation software. We were using some of the first 3D printers. We were at the very beginning of the digital and saw how it was going to transform things. And some of the people we worked for were using it, like Frank Gehry and Greg Lynn, but they were using it for drawing.

We very early on wanted to work in New York. We all went to Columbia. We wanted to start here, we wanted to learn in the pressure cooker of New York, like not only how to make radical buildings, but buildings that made financial sense and also buildings that you couldn't make.

So these crazy shapes were coming but the question was 'how do we extract that information out into something beautiful?'. We were very early into laser cutters and 3d printers and some of our early work was experimentation on the extraction of the digital into the visible.

Also, there was always an idea that working with developers was bad and to watch out for it. We were like, look this is New York. We're all fighting over every inch of this island. If we don't engage and speak in the language of the developers, we're not going to ever really be able to build and push the limits of what we can do. So instead of blaming them for being difficult, we speak their language and inspire them to do better, that was very much at the firm at the beginning.

Ben Dreith: It's so popular now doing digital renders and it's you know, it's just pretty much the mainstream. What was the reaction when you first came to developers with these ideas?

Gregg Pasquarelli: They thought we were completely nuts. Virgin Atlantic hired us for the first class lounge at JFK, and we digitally made the screens. We were dealing with The Port Authority guys, and they were kind of like 'you can't build this' and we said 'yeah, you can't but robots can.' And they said 'don't you tell me how to build.' Then like five or eight years later, you're with the same guys and they were like, 'Oh, we'll get a five-axis mill robot to carve that.'

Between 1998 and 2006, the whole world changed in its understanding of using that technology. We believed in it, but it was a way for us to be able to compete with firms that were much older and had more resources. 'They're too old to understand the computer. So let's take that to our advantage to try and be able to build these buildings,' we said.

So using these digital tools started with PS1. It started at our park on the east end of Long Island. And we did an experimental building there, a camera obscura, which was the first building where every single part of the building was digitally fabricated in this little pavilion. And then it goes to the Porter House, which was the first development building we did in Meatpacking District and was the first time an entire facade was digitally fabricated, and then that technology leads directly to being able to pull the Barclay Center.

We were put in that pressure cooker in New York, and had to be highly theoretical, highly radical in design, but super competent, and, and straightforward and financially responsible.

Ben Dreith: John, you began around the time of Barclays. Was the technological approach something that attracted you to the firm?

John Cerone: The ethos of the firm is what brought me. Modelling for design was relatively new in undergrad. But people were getting into [3D] modelling to make renderings. I realized you could use modelling for instruction. There were no other places that were genuinely using these tools for production. And that distinguished itself. So I was brought in for production technology, of using it not just for renderers – we had renderers – but as a way to communicate with people making the buildings so take our design models, use the tools to create instructions for how to make pieces.

Gregg Pasquarelli: We learned very early on that this idea of plan section and elevation is a bad way to communicate. So you've got people who are architects who are thinking incredibly well in three dimensions, and then we reduce this information to a 2D section, handing it to other people who understand what you're trying to do, then they have to extract that. We were like why are we pushing it through this process? When we can take the digital that's got all this other information and invent new ways of communicating. And if we didn't, there's no way these buildings get built. And to do it in the pressure cooker of New York was the proof that we had to go through. So we focused for the first decade or so on New York. And once we proved that we could build them. Then we just started saying well now can you do it in other places can you do in Africa, and Asia can do it? And like it's just now getting out there.

Ben Dreith: Your building types cover many different uses. Does this come from New York? From building for the city rather than kind of building a typology?

Gregg Pasquarelli: In New York, every street is different. Every corner is different. Every neighbourhood is different. You get on that street and there's that energy. That's what makes it an interesting place. And so maybe there's a similar way that we think about architecture in the sense that it's like if we're just doing towers, or we're just doing libraries, or we're just doing parks, or we're just doing NBA arenas, or airports, it's seeing the same thing all the time, why do that? What's interesting is every time coming out with a fresh approach, How do I solve a problem? Not how do I repeat the technology? I think that just comes from being New Yorkers. We love that.

Ben Dreith: Coupled with technological innovation, why is it important for you to maintain historical aspects like maintaining the bank for the Brooklyn Tower or using terracotta for 111 W 57?

Gregg Pasquarelli: I did grow up here and there's this background, there's a fabric that exists. Restoring a building is a pain in the ass, right? I also think that it's part of the DNA that helps drive the design of the building, right? But what can we extract from what's here, its context, its history, the narrative, the story, all that stuff to drive us to make something new and fresh, that looks back and forward simultaneously? So I kind of love having a historic building on the site, because it gives you a kind of texture that you can draw from. And I find that super interesting. I love seeing these towers that feel like they're part of a historic building but are not. That contradiction in New York.

Ben Dreith: How does the technological approach still leave room for the human element?

Gregg Pasquarelli: One of our buildings gets done and it's like you're looking at it and you're like, wow, that feels like an incredible accomplishment. I always see people around our buildings and they're smiling or they're pointing or they're yelling at me. A building for us doesn't end when the building hits the sidewalk. Right? Like, and this might be a New York thing, too. It's like, there are these neighbourhoods and stuff is happening and there's infrastructure and subway in parks and open space and light hits differently. And the building drops into this energy and it radiates energy out. I like to think of the building as the mediator between these two energies.

John Cerone: So all the technology is not for the sake of technology itself but for making these beautiful buildings significant.

Gregg Pasquarelli: And the intensity of New York and the people here really affect the program.

John Cerone: New York is always changing. Nothing is permanent, but it needs to be authentic and people can tell when something is forced, not authentic.

Ben Dreith: The Barclays Center is such a public space, it's so seen and used by the public. How do you feel about the contrast between that and something like the Brooklyn Tower, which everyone sees, but then has an aspect of being more closed?

Gregg Pasquarelli: One is private and one is a public forum, so they're going to be different. Both with the Brooklyn Tower and with 111 W 57th Street, we took the position with our client that though extraordinarily wealthy people are going to live inside of this building, eight million of us have to live with it every day. So you need to spend at least as much money on the outside as you do on the inside. We need to think about the detailing and the materiality and the way that the building is viewed from all over as much as we think about how the apartments are laid out. And I think also saving the two landmark buildings and making them publicly accessible and integrated into the building, as opposed to knocking them down and building a fortress with like doorman and security on the outside allows a certain amount of interaction.

So there's the interaction at 40 feet there's the interaction from a block away. There's the interaction from 10 blocks away. There's the interaction flying in LaGuardia, seeing buildings on the skyline, and thinking about them that all those levels are super important. On 111, because it's in Manhattan, and it's a grid, you always know the primary and secondary way the building is going to be viewed. And that's why the terracotta is on two sides and the glass is on the other. In Brooklyn, all the grids are different, right? They all collide. And this building, which is the only one zoned for that kind of height, we knew would be kind of like the Empire State Building of Brooklyn. We wanted to make sure that no matter what grid you were on, looking at it from wherever you were in Brooklyn, you felt like you were looking at the front. And so the interlocking hexagons of the building kind of gave it that ability that you never felt like you were looking at the side or the back and the other thing that that did was you're always looking at two facades in the oblique. And so by putting the texture on the building, it made the building look solid, not all glass, and we felt that that was important. To see that solid building gives you the kind of gravitas on the skyline and it becomes this anchor, it becomes an orienting device and that was a huge part of how we were thinking about what it needed to do when it radiates out from the center.

Ben Dreith: Especially when it's competing with towers in Manhattan.

Gregg Pasquarelli: Why should Brooklyn have a second-grade tower? It's got a real skyline. It's a fantastic place to live. No, make serious architecture here. I'm proud that we did that building and I'm proud that we did the Barclays Center. Maybe with the Brooklyn Museum, the Wonder Wheel, and the Brooklyn Bridge, we got two of the top five buildings in Brooklyn, and I'm super proud.

Ben Dreith: How does it feel for you and for everyone involved to work on these buildings?

Gregg Pasquarelli: It's amazing. I mean, our team is from all over the world. I lived in Queens when the original World Trade Center was going up, and I could see the construction from my bedroom window. And I kept the LEGO model of the Trade Center as they were building it, so I was like looking at towers as a little boy. It's amazing how unbelievably proud I am of these buildings I’ve worked on because I'm a New Yorker, and I care about the city and I know some people don't like Billionaire's Row. I get that wealth disparity argument, but, if they're gonna go up, and they're gonna go up, make it the best one possible.

John Cerone:
I live right by there. People take selfies at Barclays and then they turn around and then take selfies down the street with the Brooklyn Tower. They don't know they are by the same architects. But then those are the things that drive their interests and that's what works and fits the design. It's the process. People think things made with technology need to look a certain way. And they don’t. They can fit into the fabric and take on different forms and styles. No one would think terracotta, this historical material, would be digitally fabricated, so shouldn’t it be "techie" looking? No, it looks incredibly elegant. It's certainly very sensual. It's very musical. It feels like a piano. It feels like a skyscraper. It feels like seduction, feels like material, it feels old and it feels new. Like that's when you're like okay, that technology got us there.

Ben Dreith: Now that technology has caught up to the rest of the field, do you still have the same resistance from developers?

Gregg Pasquarelli: Before we had to be like a total cheerleader, like rah rah technology. Now they're like, okay, I see how it works like, wow, that was smart. And we want that too. So it's, it's much easier to have. But I think it's still the narrative about the building. Narrative gets everyone excited, and then it is the technology that allows us to build it and make it work and get that kind of quality building.

John Cerone: They believe us at this point. They believe that the image that you're showing them, will look like this. It will.

Gregg Pasquarelli: And there's a whole side of the architecture in the design community that's like, 'why would you give to clients the power to make decisions?' It's the opposite. It was the same thing with the developers. Once we were in with them and they felt like they had skin in the game and like we were communicating, they let us design whenever we wanted.

I was hoping journalists would do a rendering versus reality critique of the last 20 years and like go back against all my competitors and show what their renderings look like and what the building looks like at the end. And rate the architects on how well they deliver what they promise because I know we will win that competition.

Ben Dreith: Are there any technologies that you're excited about that they're kind of novel for any upcoming projects or that you're kind of just starting to work with?

John Cerone: Visualization tools. We wanted to solve very hard problems first like how do we use computers to make millions of parts — that is arguably a hard part of the building. We went there first and then we realized that the industry isn't set up to automate a production pipeline. We still upload the drawings and all that. So we've been sort of on the sidelines behind the scenes making the technologies more accessible through applications. Now, if you log in, here's what the budget looks like, here’s the status of your project, and one we call a kind of cocktail hour app. Here's intuitive access to the project in real-time. Do we need to create a plan section and elevation and all these traditional things? No, here's a project and here's where it is under construction. If you'd like, there's more information in real-time. It’s communication with transparency. No one's gonna open up these 3D modelling tools; they shouldn't have to. Clients and collaborators don't need to know the thick models. It's interesting because creating more access and transparency to the projects through intuitive technology allows us to do more robust and deeper client-facing technology.

Gregg Pasquarelli: Who goes into these three hundred pages of drawings? They want to just see it. Like 'where am I? Where are my parks? Where's my facade? How many are up there?' And the same information goes to the facade manufacturer, the same information goes to the guy that is making the glass that goes into the facade, same information goes to the guy that makes the bolt that holds the glass into the facade. It makes it transparent for everyone.

John Cerone: We're allowing people to walk through their building two years before they exist. Early in the process, you’re seeing renderings that are like the end of the timeline. We could do it in concept in like the first month. They're inside their space and they can begin to make decisions, in much more interesting ways.

It's not gimmicky. You only reason you create any kind of technological solution was to solve some immediate problem quickly with a small team. So at the end of this, you have a roadmap. This is the way to do projects digitally. We're in cloud-based systems, we can do all of this work from here in New York design, you know, the project coordinated down to the bolt, and then send those things out.

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Gradient Architecture has used a planning rule from the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy to help revitalise an unused lot in New York City's Red Hook neighbourhood, which was severely affected by the 2012 storm.

This white brick house in Red Hook in Brooklyn is located on a compact lot that could not accommodate a single-family home according to the standard zoning rules applicable in the area.

Gradient Architecture PLLC, a local studio, was approached by the property's owner, developer Phillip Sulke, to evaluate whether a single-family residence could be built on the vacant lot.

"After mulling it over for a few days I recalled reading in the post-hurricane Sandy building guidelines for substantially flood damaged areas that there were some provisions for 'redeveloping' homes that were 'substantially damaged'," Krone told Dezeen.

Upon further research, Krone discovered that there had previously been a building on the vacant lot, which the city had demolished in the aftermath of the Hurricane. This information meant that they could develop a property to match the previous building's footprint, in addition to an extension to meet current planning guidelines.

"The design process from this point was about how to work around the home's existing footprint but to expand it with added 10-foot-wide sections that zoning would allow," Krone explained.

The new residence is comprised of a single-storey garage at the front of the lot, near the street, and a two-storey townhouse beyond. A small courtyard separates the two structures.

The garage is furnished as an elegant study, with a thick carpet, a desk and a comfortable armchair that open out onto the central courtyard via two sets of doors.

A few steps lead up to the main residence, which occupies almost the full width of the lot. The 10-foot (3-metre) extension that was added to the home contains the resident's dining room on the main level and the primary suite's bathroom upstairs.

"There are a few residential programs that would fit in a 10-foot-wide space," said Krone. "All of the material choices and architectural expression are about highlighting this unique townhouse condition," he added.

To highlight this compact space, the walls and ceilings are lined with tightly spaced wooden battens.

At the back of the home is an open-concept kitchen, which has a dining island and opens out onto a large rear deck. The living room is in between these two areas, anchoring the centre of the floor plan.

A wooden staircase runs up along one of the exterior walls of the house, which was painted in a dramatic black hue and is lit by ornamental sconces. Upstairs, there are three bedrooms: two overlooking the rear yard, with the primary suite facing the garage and courtyard.

A bathroom off the landing is shared by the two smaller bedrooms and is illuminated by a skylight. Krone used simple white tiles that help the room feel spacious and bright.

The primary suite enjoys a small balcony above the front courtyard. An ensuite bathroom is located within the new extension to the home and features a glass-walled shower and a soaking tub placed in front of a large window at the front of the home.

"I used perforated brick to allow natural light and air into the master shower room while maintaining privacy," said Ben Krone.

According to the architect, this choice of brick complements a "handsome" house nearby.

"I wanted the houses to play off one another rather than try and compete," he explained.

The extension features a pattern that highlights the form, while the main part of the property is built with a more regular pattern.

Other townhouses that have been completed in New York City's most populous borough include a residence in Carroll Gardens that was built around a magnolia tree and Amity Street Residence, a "minimal but warm" renovation by design studios Selma Akkari and Rawan Muqaddas.

The photography is by David Heald.

Project credits:
Architect: Gradient Architecture PLLC (Ben Krone)
Structural: Sillman
MEP: ABS engineering
Developer: Phillip Sulke
Contractor: Black Square Builders

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Architecture and interior design studio Frederick Tang Architecture has transformed a 19th-century building into a Lebanese restaurant in Brooklyn with "an abundance of textures".

Named Nabila’s, the restaurant opened in May 2022 and was designed in collaboration with restaurant co-owner Mike Farah. The renovation transformed a formerly dark, segmented space into a restaurant that aims to reflect the heritage of its owners – a mother and her son.

"The client wanted to create an authentic food experience, one that reflected his Lebanese background and that evoked the spirit of his mother's dinner parties." Frederick Tang Architecture (FTA) director of interior design and branding Barbara Reyes told Dezeen.

"The result is an abundance of textures, patterns, lush colours, and hints of Middle Eastern moments while celebrating his mother's home cooking."

Nabila’s takes up the ground floor of an 1886 Queen Anne corner building in Cobble Hill, a Brooklyn neighbourhood where restaurant co-owner Farah grew up.

Frederick Tang Architecture transformed the existing structure into a bright space with curving architectural motifs.

Through the use of rich materials and colour palettes, the studio sought to nod to the Lebanese roots of the owners whilst embracing aspects of the existing building that would work with the new design.

"Our favourite projects are ones with some historic contexts when we can create something that’s both old and new," said FTA director of design Frederick Tang. "We loved playing with some original details and inventing new ones that work with them."

"Before we started the project, the space was occupied by a popular gastropub style restaurant," Tang told Dezeen.

"It was a neighbourhood staple, so the client felt pressure to maintain some history while being true to the roots of this project," Reyes added.

"The interior was more like a moody library with lots of dark wood and it had a lot of character but we knew we wanted to make it feel much lighter," Tang continued.

The upper floors of the Cobble Hill building are made from brick, whilst the ground floor is clad in timber with ornamental mouldings. The facade has now been painted black, with curved forest green awnings referencing the interior.

Upon entering, guests are met with a curving quartz counter that arcs away from the entryway.

The counter is used to display dishes in a way that aims to reflect the abundant spreads of food at the owner’s dinner parties which inspired the design.

The wall behind the counter is covered in fish scale cement tiles. Pendant-style lights from Kelly Wearstler’s Tableau collection hang from the ceiling above.

Beyond this, patterned finishes that the studio felt reflect Lebanese art, architecture and foliage become visible.

"We started with some source imagery of Middle Eastern themes, and we knew we did not want to imitate or create a pastiche, but we wanted to reference it with a lighter touch – it came in the rounded corners, the arches, the colours, and the patterns," said Tang.

A teal and cream tile floor by French architect India Mahdavi lines the long interior, stretching through a series of arches that organise the space.

Next to the storefront window, seating booths are formed by two recessed arches painted with purple accents whilst additional arches on either side of the counter contain shelving.

The booths are covered in a floral pattern by Hella Jongerius, while a patterned wallpaper coats the ceiling in the back of the restaurant.

As Nabila’s welcomes guests, the studio envisions this back section with warm light, rich colours will host many lively neighbourhood meals.

Other Lebanese restaurants featured on Dezeen include Studio Roslyn’s restaurant based on bad food photography in Victoria, Canada and a Lebanese snack bar by architect David Dworkind featuring an array of ash-wood furniture.

The photography is by Gieves Anderson.

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A family home in Brooklyn has been extended and renovated by local studio Barker Associates Architecture Office, to expand the kitchen and create larger rooms for the daughters.

The Carroll Gardens Townhouse, located a block away from the Gowanus Canal, was the family of four's home for a decade before they decided they needed more space.

Working around a magnolia tree in the back yard, Barker Associates Architecture Office (BAAO) designed an extension to all three storeys that provides additional living areas both inside and out.

At parlour level, the floor plan was opened up and storage was created through built-ins.

In the lounge area, colourful decor includes a custom Bower Studios mirror that hangs above the existing marble wood-burning fireplace.

"The finishes feature lots of vibrant colour, pattern, texture, and cozy nooks," said the architecture studio.

The kitchen has white lacquer and fir cabinetry to complement the pine floors, which run through the majority of the home.

The dining table is placed in the extension, where it enjoys views of the back yard through a large window that also accommodates a built-in bench.

Linking the multiple levels, the staircase was restored and modified to fit widened openings that make the most of the skylight above the hallway on the upper floor.

Reorganised bedrooms upstairs are now more spacious, with bright colours and patterned wallpaper used to personalise each room.

The parents' suite is at the front of the building, while the daughters' twin rooms occupy the extended volume at the back.

At garden level, a small kitchen for entertaining joins a sunken blue-tiled living space, a home office and a pegboard wall that allows the family to organise their outdoor gear.

A grey felt curtain can be drawn across to separate an area for guests.

Outdoors, a new steel staircase with wooden treads leads down from the parlor-level deck to the garden.

A bluestone terrace curves around the magnolia tree and is sheltered by the deck above.

Pavers lead past planting to another seating nook, built into the cedar fencing at the back of the property.

"An arborist was consulted to determine the sizing and placement of the extension, deck, and garden terrace, and a plant consultant was employed to help choose appropriate native species for the garden," the team said.

BAAO was founded by Alexandra Barker in 2006, and the Brooklyn studio has worked extensively in the New York borough and beyond.

Last year, the team's completed projects included two daycare centres: one featuring curved apertures and blue tones, and another with house-shaped openings and cheerful hues.

The photography is by Francis Dzikowski/OTTO.

Project credits:

Flooring: Hudson Flooring
Lighting: Allied Maker, Cedar and Moss, Dutton Brown, Hand and Eye Studio, Hollis and Morris, Apparatus
Wallpaper: Farrow and Ball, Hygge and West, Spoonflower
Tile: Cle, Complete Tile
Plumbing fixtures and fittings: Vola, Watermark, California Faucets, Kast
Rugs: Aelfie, Studio Proba

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The Brooklyn Museum has unveiled Figures of Speech, an exhibition of works by the late designer Virgil Abloh that includes Social Sculpture, a full-sized home placed inside the museum.

The exhibition is an iteration of Abloh's first solo show, which was originally organised in Chicago by Michael J Darling and had also been held in Doha.

The Brooklyn Museum's presentation was organized by writer and curator Antwaun Sargent and features over 100 works by Abloh, including many of his contributions to architecture, design and fashion.

According to Sargent, the exhibition was planned before the pandemic and before Abloh passed away in November 2021. The designer had a special connection to New York, he said.

"New York had a special meaning for [Abloh], in the sense that it really was the place that he in some ways became the artist that we have come to know," Sargent told Dezeen.

Abloh wanted to reimagine the exhibition as distinct from the previous shows in Chicago and Doha.

The Brooklyn Museum iteration of the show specifically highlights Abloh's contributions and commentary on the architectural practice, including early architectural sketches by the fashion designer, who initially trained as an architect.

"He surrounded himself with architects," noted Sargent.

The exhibition was built into the Brooklyn museum using new walls and utilizing existing columns in order to allow visitors to see Abloh's "spatial thinking as an architect and a designer," Sargent added.

Where previous iterations of the exhibition were designed by Samir Bantal, director of the research arm of Dutch studio OMA, the Brooklyn Museum's space was created by designer Mahfuz Sultan in collaboration with creatives from Alaska Alaska – Abloh's London-based design studio – as well as Lance Singletary of the Brooklyn Museum.

"[Abloh] builds around some of the fundamental aspects of the design aspects of the museum to incorporate thoughtfully into the exhibition itself," said Sargent.

This approach is most apparent in Social Sculpture, a full-sized house built into the museum. The house sits at the heart of the exhibition and incorporates some of the museum's large, structural columns into its own structure.

The wood-clad home with a full gabled porch was meant as a space where artists and designers can come together and share inspiration, according to Sargent.

"The work is designed with the promise and principles of what the artist David Hammons once termed 'negritude architecture,' which he defined as 'the way Black people make things, houses or magazine stands in Harlem, for instance,'" the museum said.

"Abloh considered the sculpture a representation of Black space, a living monument that holds the potential, through the exchange of ideas, to inspire the creation of more Black space," it added.

Though the exhibition is divided conceptually between Abloh's work in design, fashion and architecture, many of the objects are arrayed together.

Sargent said that this approach was meant to express Abloh's attempts to break down divisions and hierarchies in the creative industries.

"I think, fundamentally, what Virgil was about was the breaking down of hierarchies in the creative disciplines to make sure that there were folks who had access that hadn't previously had access to different forms of making," said Sargent.

At the entrance to the exhibition are a few long tables, designed by Abloh, that display early sketches and works in architecture alongside fashion design prototypes and Abloh's forays into sound system design through his collaboration with consumer company Braun.

Near these tables is a model of Chicago – Abloh's hometown – with a proposed skyscraper based on Abloh's master's thesis in Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2003.

The exhibition also showcases many of Abloh's collaborations, including work with sportswear brand Nike, furniture brand Ikea and celebrities such as Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Kanye West.

Taken together, Figures of Speech works as a holistic retrospective of Abloh's creative work. However, Sargent said that the Brooklyn Museum's show should be considered the last living work by Abloh, who passed away from a rare heart cancer in 2021.

Because Figures of Speech was in the works for years, Sargent said: "It is, in fact, not at all in that way a memorial, right? It really is a show by a living artist."

Several works have been released since Abloh's passing, including a number of products revealed at the recent Milan Design Week.

The designer also worked with automobile manufacturers including Mercedes-Benz, for which he designed a vehicle that incorporates solar power.

The photography is by Danny Perez, Brooklyn Museum

Figures of Speech will be on show at Brooklyn Museum until 29 January 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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Artists, architects and designers, including SO-IL, Tatiana Bilbao Estudio and Roman and Williams, have created numerous birdhouses as part of the For the Birds installation at The Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

The individuals and studios created the birdhouses, which range from the sculptural to the quaint, to be displayed throughout the 52-acre park at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

In total 33 different studios from a variety of backgrounds were asked to design birdhouses that respond to the specific habits of birds in the context of depopulation due to climate change.

"Climate change and the related destruction of habitat have led to a 30 per cent decline in birds across North America," said Brooklyn Botanic Garden CEO Adrian Benepe, citing a National Audobon Society study.

Architecture studio SO-IL – in collaboration Dalma Földesi, Jung In Seo and architectural fabricators Eventscape – used the opportunity to showcase technological know-how and create a clay birdhouse that resembles a skyscraper called A Palace for the Eastern Bluebird.

"Our excitement to participate stems from an interest in exploring an architecture for non-human life," said Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu of SO-IL. "The project uses robotic techniques to create a habitat for birds out of clay."

Designer Shun Kinoshita and architecture studio Charlap Hyman & Herrero teamed up to create a sculptural work made from nitrate, resin, plastic and paper that shimmers in green to both blends in and sticks out in the foliage.

Helene Schauer of Mexican architecture studio Tatiana Bilbao Estudio created a series of platforms with steel columns and terrazzo platforms that make up a "neighbourhood" for the birds.

"Its group of architectural artifacts provides spaces that offer various spatial characteristics, creating a close neighborhood of architecture and nature," said Schauer.

Members of Walter Hood's design studio took the building practices of crows themselves as the primary design principle, creating nests of wire, wood, string, and bottle caps.

Studios Bureau Spectacular and Kyle May Architect also designed for the crow but went in the opposite direction, building a 12-foot-tall (3.6-metre-tall) tower for crows.

Other designs dipped into the realm of classic birdhouses by designers like Tom Sachs, who contributed a simple red-and-white birdhouse with the cross symbol of ghlighs native Switzerland, which he intended as a refuge.

"To find home or shelter in Switzerland is the dream," Sachs said. "If those damn birds are so above it all, why not let them share our burden? Let's ground the birds in that reality."

Some of the designs relied on classic structures but made them even more elaborate, like the design by Stephen Alesch and Robin Standefer – from New York studio Roman and Williams.

The studio – frequent designers of hotels – said it is the "smallest hotel we've ever built".

Brooklyn-based artist Olalekan Jeyifous took the built environment of Brooklyn and shrunk it down to size with Birdega, a small blue-painted bodega – the corner stores found in Brooklyn that the artist says are disappearing due to gentrification in a way that reflects disappearing bird environments.

Artist Viktor Timofeev took a similar approach, creating a scaled-down model of the Soviet-era housing blocks in Riga, Latvia that he saw when he was a child growing up there.

As did artist Kevin Quiles Bonilla, who modeled a birdhouse on a Puerto Rican home.

While most of the birdhouses are on land, design studio Chen Chen and Kai Williams, created a floating platform for herons made from recycled plastic containers with billowing flags that sits on the Japanese-style pond at the garden.

The breadth of artists and designers who were invited to contribute aimed to represent diversity as apparent as the species of birds they referenced.

"We couldn't be more honored to invite such a talented group to create these pieces, which make for a whimsical and meditative experience for our visitors, and create awareness about all we need to do—collectively—for the birds," said Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Benepe.

The exhibition is part of a larger series celebrating birds organised by Musical artist Randall Poster, who also recorded a 20-track album with musicians and poets.

Other design based around sheltering birds includes a concept by BIG that saw a hotel room suspended and surrounded by hundreds of birdhouses and Dezeen has done extensive reporting into design that mitigates the harmful effects of glass and other features of the built environment on birds.

For the Birds takes place at The Brooklyn Botanic Garden until 20 October 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

The photography is by Liz Ligon. 

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Studio Gang has completed a fire station for Brooklyn's elite force that doubles as a simulation and training facility for extreme rescue situations.

The new headquarters for the FDNY's Rescue 2 unit is located in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Each of New York's five boroughs has a dedicated Rescue team.

These teams are highly specialized in extreme conditions that include rappelling down buildings, navigating collapsed structures, and even deploying for underwater rescue operations.

The building serves as the elite unit's headquarters, where the firefighters sleep, train, and coordinate their operations.

"The rescue company is trained to respond to various emergency scenarios, from fire and building collapses to water rescues and scuba operations," said US firm Studio Gang.

"The new Rescue Company 2 facility is designed as a tool for training, enabling FDNY’s elite force of specialized rescue workers to stage and simulate a wide range of emergency conditions in, on, and around the building," the studio added.

The building is organized around a three-storey-tall volume that is meant to accommodate firefighters' rappelling training. On the exterior, various anchor points similarly allow the firefighters to practice using the building itself.

"The void enables the team to practice rescue scenarios that mimic conditions common to the city, using its height and associated elements of balconies, bridge, doorways, ladders, and stairs," Studio Gang explained.

"At the same time, it introduces natural light and fresh air, improving the quality of everyday life within the building," they added.

The ground floor contains two garage bays for fire trucks, which are flanked by the classic firefighter poles, as well as easy-access storage for a wide variety of tools and building materials that may be needed in an emergency.

At the back, facing a courtyard, the architects included a kitchenette and conference room, where on-duty firefighters spend their time between operations.

The top two floors contain a range of rooms for the normal operations of the unit, including bunk rooms, a gym, and administrative offices. On the roof, the architects included planted areas and a space for the firefighters to enjoy the outdoors.

The concrete building is fronted with terracotta tiles that recall the red colour typically used for fire engines. These colourful accents line the surroundings of the windows, drawing attention to the building's function from the exterior.

"On the exterior, red glazed terracotta panels surround a smaller-scale series of voids (windows and doors) with highly crafted details animating these points of connection between the facility and the community it serves," the architects explained.

Studio Gang is headquartered in Chicago and has offices in New York City, San Francisco, and Paris. Other notable projects by the American studio include an expansion to the American Museum of Natural History, and a twisting residential tower in San Francisco dubbed Mira.

The photography is by Tom Harris.

Project credits:

Structural engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
MEP & Fire protection: ads
Civil engineer: Langan, civil engineer
Landscape architect: SCAPE
Wayfinding and signage consultant: Once–Future Office
Lighting consultant: Domingo Gonzalez Associates
Cost estimator: Toscano Clements Taylor
Expeditor: KM Associates of New York
Construction manager: The LiRo Group
General contractor: ZHL Group
Precast concrete fabricator: High Concrete Group
Terracotta rainscreen fabricator: Boston Valley Terracotta

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Local studio Mesh Architectures has completed Timber House, a condominium in Brooklyn that developer The Brooklyn Home Company claims is "the largest mass timber building in New York City."

Timber House is made of glue-laminated timber, a type of structurally engineered wood used to make mass timber structures, and is the largest mass-timber project in New York City in terms of square footage and height, according to The Brooklyn Home Company.

It is also the first condominium project in the city to be built using mass timber, the developer said.

"Timber House started with the simple notion of creating a sense of life in a building, which engages, stimulates, and at the same time, calms us," said Eric Liftin, founder and principal of Mesh Architectures.

"The way we do that here is by using a plant as the primary building material."

The building's columns, beams and floor plates are all mass timber, while the core had to be made of concrete masonry because of city restrictions, the studio said.

Timber House is located in the residential Park Slope neighbourhood in Brooklyn and comprises 14 condos that stretch from the street-side to the back of the building.

According to Mesh Architectures, the building was "constructed with passive house principles".

While not passive-house certified, it was built with solar photovoltaic panels on the roof to provide energy, and mineral wool and polyisocyanurate insulation to reduce the need for air conditioning.

Heating and air conditioning is provided by air-source heat pumps.

It also features passive house-quality windows with triple glazing, and the 10 parking spaces in its ground-floor garage each have an electric charging station.

The building's facade is characterized by a flat face made with Danish brick that, according to the team, was chosen to integrate the building into the mostly brownstone neighbourhood.

On the upper levels, the envelope is sculpted into jutting windows and recessed balconies with glass railings. The balconies' undersides are wooden, giving the exterior palette a touch of the timber within.

A rooftop terrace provides views of Downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Inside, wooden walls and ceilings line the corridors, which have hexagonal tiling on the floor that was designed custom by Mesh and produced in Turkey.

The condos have 11-feet-tall (3.3 metres-tall) ceilings and feature exposed timber beams with LED lights that are integrated directly into the wood.

The timber beams also extend down from the ceiling to frame some of the walls and windows, providing insight into the building's structural makeup.

"The exposed wooden beams present in the home create a style reminiscent of city living in the 1960s and '70s when we picture those large loft-style residences, which is really special," said Bill Caleo of The Brooklyn Home Company.

"As a city, if we want to lower our carbon footprint we need to prioritize mass timber."

Flooring in the living areas is wood, while the kitchen is floored with white tile to match the white cabinetry – accented with natural wood tones – and a long, white island.

Other recently-announced designs for mass timber structures include the world's tallest timber building designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen and a Henning Larsen-designed Volvo experience centre in Sweden.

The photography is by Travis Mark. 

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INC Architecture & Design has designed the Saint Marks Place housing block with terracotta-clad facades in Brooklyn, New York.

Located in the Boerum Hill, a neighbourhood in Brooklyn that has streets lined with mid-rise brownstones, Saint Marks Place was designed to be modern while referencing the local architectural heritage.

"The entire project was driven by an impulse to interpret the classic brownstone architecture of the area through a modern and abstract lens," said Adam Rolston, principal at INC.

"The classical architectural details that adorn these townhomes were reinterpreted in a faceted geometry that could give the facade similar sculptural depth and shadow," he told Dezeen.

Built around existing buildings on the site, Saint Marks Place has a relatively narrow facade on one side that has a form similar to a small townhouse.

This volume is the primary entrance and lobby for the building, which expands out and runs along 4th Ave.

At its tallest, the building is 12 storeys tall, on 4th Ave the retail spaces on the ground floor are bounded by an overhang or "marquee", which will be covered with foliage to dampen the sound of the busy thoroughfare.

INC decided to use off-white terracotta for the exterior because of its flexibility and because the light colour lightens the bulk of the design.

The 383 windows on the facade increase in size on the upper floors, with the largest on the penthouses that are set back from the main face of the building.

"They then get arithmetically larger up the facade to capture maximum view and light," he said of the windows.

The studio designed the block with a prevalence of indoor garden space, windows, and exterior spaces predicting a change in desires following Covid. According to the firm, 80 per cent of the apartments have an outdoor area.

"Curated personal loggias not only brought depth and elegance to the facade but also offer private outdoor spaces," said INC.

INC collaborated with Terrain, a local landscape design studio, to place 3,000 square feet (278.7 square metres) of indoor garden spaces, which, it claims, have 55 species of plants.

A 2,794-square-foot (259.5-square-metre) roof deck will be landscaped and include a kitchen.

The interiors of the residences differ substantially, but one apartment decorated by ASH NYC has white walls framing views of the city with rich brown millwork.

Other projects by INC Architecture & Design include interiors for the redesign of Eero Saarinen's Flight Centre as the TWA Hotel, as well as a redesign of its own office space in the city.

The exterior photos are by Ivane Katamashvili and the interior photos are by Matthew Williams.

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London studio Sella has created office interiors for tech company Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners in Dumbo, New York City, with a focus on flexible and collaborative space to entice employees back to the workplace.

The 3,000-square-foot (280-square-metre) office has a prime waterfront location at 10 Jay Street, inside a former sugar refinery overhauled by ODA Architecture in 2019.

Designed during the coronavirus pandemic, the workspaces for Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners are open and flexible — more akin to a members club than a traditional office.

"Sella sensitively evolved the design to create the first-generation post-pandemic office space, championing the merge of the workspace and membership culture within private office environments," said the studio.

Travel restrictions also meant that Sella had to execute the project from the UK, in collaboration with the New York office of architecture firm Gensler.

Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners is a startup backed by Google's parent company Alphabet, and a spin-off of smart cities initiative Sidewalk Labs.

At its offices, the building's industrial heritage is celebrated through exposed brick columns and poured concrete floors.

A large area in the centre of the plan, for both employees and guests to congregate, is arranged around a tree.

Custom banquettes, upholstered in fabrics by Dedar and Maharam, offer casual seating against the wall and beside the greenery. Opposite, the kitchen area is set against a gently arced partition between two brick columns.

The curve is continued in the shape of walnut-fronted cabinets and a white, oval island that reaches bar height. Beer and kombucha taps and other hardware are plumbed directly into the wall for a clean, minimalist finish.

Another new textured-plaster wall curves behind the kitchenette, leading employees to the more private work areas.

"These casual break-out spaces linking with the more private, formal moments within the office were sensitively considered by Sella to push the brief of an office based on connection, born out of the pandemic," said Sella.

Meeting rooms are positioned along the glazed facade, overlooking the East River.

An engineered bronze conference table with a leather-like top can be rolled along a track in the concrete floor, to facilitate larger board meetings when needed.

Warm neutral colours in all of the spaces are complemented by lighting from American brand Allied Maker, while quirky details include cabinet handles by UK-based Swarf Hardware.

"With the ease of working from home, an office now needs to work harder to entice employees to connect with each other and with clients – thereby Sella's design aims to incentivise behaviour with connectivity at its heart," the studio said.

Sella was founded by Tatjana von Stein and Gayle Noonan, and works across interiors, furniture, branding and set design.

Interchangeably known as Sella Concept, the studio has also completed the London headquarters for fashion brand Sister Jane, a co-working space in the UK capital and a collection of curvaceous furniture.

The photography is by Sean Davidson.

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Architectural design studios Selma Akkari and Rawan Muqaddas have renovated an apartment in a 20th-century building in Brooklyn, New York, adding warm and natural materials to the residential space.

Amity Street Residence is located on the fourth floor of a stone building that was built in 1910, overlooking a quiet but central corner of the city at the intersection of Amity and Clinton street.

New York studio Selma Akkari collaborated with London studio Rawan Muqaddas on the 1,400 square-foot interiors, which have been updated from a "neglected" apartment into a space filled with warm colours.

As part of the renovation, the studios rearranged the rooms to create space for an additional third bedroom if required.

"A dialogue of opposites was the main theme behind the creation; minimal but warm, understated yet rich," said Rawan Muqaddas, founder of eponymous studio Rawan Muqaddas.

"We wanted to retain the essence of the 1910 building by reinterpreting the original traditional details, which we were excited to build on," she told Dezeen.

"The previous owners of the apartment called this their home for decades, leaving behind layers of history and some areas that were left neglected."

The two studios transformed the single floor apartment into an open-plan living, kitchen and dining area. A handful of original features, such as the decorative cornice and bold skirting, were reinterpreted.

The living space now boasts views across the street from the two large bay windows, which had previously been obscured.

"The first thing that caught our eye was the 30-foot apartment frontage composed of the width across both bay windows," recalled Muqaddas.

"As it stood, the windows felt shy and in hiding; we wanted to do the opposite and celebrate the curve."

Floors in the apartment have been covered in warm wood, while the walls were painted in a creamy neutral colour. A couple of contemporary chairs frame the window and let the inhabitants enjoy the street views.

"A warm colour palette was deployed to unify the spaces by way of gentle oak floors, cream-hued walls that contrasted with dark stone, and stained wood inset bookshelves," said Selma Akkari, founder of Selma Akkari.

A study area sits at the back of the room and could easily be swapped for a third bedroom if necessary, the designers said.

The studios decided to add curved arches that run through the apartment's core to help create a feeling of space.

"To encourage a dialogue between the interior and exterior, we wanted to carry through the historic curved facade into the curved interior arches," Akkari told Dezeen.

"This was the guiding theme throughout the process: opening up the front area as the living and dining space and dedicating the quieter area to the more private spaces at the back."

The apartment now has an airy aluminium-clad kitchen with an island counter and a long marble shelf in place of overhead storage cabinets.

"We were very attracted to contrasting and unexpected colours and textures, in particular, the brushed metal counter topped with a veiny marble, with a backdrop of dark smoked oak shelving," said Akkari.

The warm material palette continues in the master bedroom and second bedroom, where the same flooring and beige furnishings can be found.

More Brooklyn interiors include a townhouse with a striking staircase by New York studio Space4Architecture and a family-friendly townhouse called Bed-Stuy by Brooklyn studio Civilian.

Photography is by Sean Davidson.

Project credits:

Architectural design: Selma Akkari and Rawan Muqaddas

Staging: The Somerset House

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American firm CookFox Architects has completed a pair of tall, connected buildings with gridded facades for a Williamsburg site that once held an iconic sugar factory.

The towers, called One South First and Ten Grand, are located at the historic Domino Sugar Refinery, which opened in 1882 and was shut down in 2004.

In recent years, the former industrial property – which stands prominently in Brooklyn along the East River – has been converted into a mixed-use development. The site's original name has been retained.

Masterplanned by SHoP Architects in 2013, the redeveloped site features five buildings, each designed by a different architect.

New York's CookFox Architects created the 42-storey One South First and the 24-storey Ten Grand for a trapezoidal parcel on the north edge of the property. One South First holds residential units, while the other building contains office space.

The towers opened in 2019 but the firm has just now released photographs. The massing was guided by the Domino Sugar Refinery masterplan.

Rising up from a three-storey podium, the towers have a large gap between them. One South First, which climbs higher, has an arm that rests atop its shorter neighbour.

Most of the elevations are aligned with the neighbourhood's rectilinear grid, with the exception of the podium and Ten Grand's west facade, which are aligned with an angled roadway that runs along the site.

Facades consist of white, precast concrete panels that form a gridded pattern – a design that takes cues from the site's history.

"The contemporary facade design is inspired by sugar's crystalline structure, connecting the new building with the industrial history of the site," the team said.

The panels are slightly angled, creating an interesting play of light and shadow and helping animate the towers, the architects added.

The facade treatment – along with the towers' positioning – help reduce energy consumption.

"Designed to self-shade, each elevation is formed to respond to its specific solar orientation and optimised to reduce energy use for cooling," the team said.

The architects have also incorporated a heat capture system that will help cut down on energy use.

"Excess heat produced from the workspaces, which is traditionally ejected from the top of the building, will be captured and reused for the residential component, significantly reducing energy use," the team said.

The housing block offers 332 apartments, with 66 designated for low-income tenants.

The units range from studios to one- and two-bedroom apartments. The smallest residence measures 900 square feet (84) and the largest is 1,240 square feet (115 square metres).

Interior elements include floor-to-ceiling windows, central air conditioning, solar and blackout shades, and Bosch washers and dryers. Open-layout kitchens are fitted with stainless steel appliances and custom Italian cabinetry.

The podium contains retail space and restaurants, along with a gym and other tenant amenities. The roof has a garden and pool, with landscaping designed by New York firm James Corner Field Operations.

Glazed walls at street level help foster a connection with the neighbourhood.

"The storefronts are designed to allow for variation and unique identities to promote visual evolution and adaptation over time, like the historic streetscapes found throughout Williamsburg," the team said.

Other projects at the Domino Sugar Refinery include a waterfront park by James Corner Field Operations, which features an industrial-style playground and sunbathing chairs, and a 16-storey building by SHoP Architects that has a large hole at its centre.

The photography is by David Sundberg/Esto.

Project credits:

Architect: CookFox Architects
Team: Richard Cook (founding partner), Pam Campbell (partner), Arno Adkins (partner), Adam Beaulie (senior associate), Seth Brunner (associate), Avnee Jetley, Shira Grossman
Client: Two Trees
Architect of record: Dencityworks architecture
Master plan: SHoP Architects
Structural engineering: Rosenwasser Grossman, Consulting Engineers
MEP: Dagher Engineering
Civil engineering: Philip Habib and Associates
Geotechnical: GeoDesign Inc.
Exterior wall consultant: Vidaris / Laufs Engineering Design
Energy modelling: YRG/WSP
Acoustics: Longman Lindsay
Landscape: James Corner Field Operations
Residential windows: Skyline
Commercial windows: Schuco
Precast concrete facade: Gate Precast

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This shared workspace for creatives located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, features a minimalist black and white interior and gold-toned accents.

The New Work Project is the brainchild of The New Design Project, a studio founded by Parsons graduate Fanny Abbes and her husband James Davison.

Having worked in finance for a time, Abbes returned to her design roots to set up the co-working space with Davison in a converted foundry building, and craft its interiors.

The duo describe it as "a place for like-minded people to come together in an environment that is personal and intimate, and designed for collaboration", adding that the space is "individually designed to inspire, stimulate, promote creativity and facilitate fluid working".

A largely monochrome theme is followed through the space — from walls and door frames to furniture to artworks — with light fixtures, flooring and decorative plants adding some colour.

"Bold accents of black and gold are carried throughout the space with an overall modern approach to the design," said the founders. "Clean lights are beautifully accentuated with track lighting against the white interiors."

The stark palette is evident immediately upon entering into a vestibule painted black on its three sides and ceiling.

A reception desk has a pale marble top cut into an angular shape, and is lit by a thin linear fixture that runs up the wall and across the ceiling to form a 90-degree angle.

Beyond is a lounge area, where four black-framed modernist chairs with caned backs and seats face a large upholstered ottoman.

The dark central seating sits on a pale grey rug, as do a pair of styled coffee tables on either side.

A larger meeting table surrounded by the same caned chairs is positioned in front of a series of private conference rooms, which are available for members to book for meetings.

There's also a trio of phone booth-style rooms from which individuals can take calls.

"The intimate 'boutique' space creates a community environment while also creating a place for work and productivity," the founders said.

The remainder of the co-working space is open plan, with light wood flooring throughout and white on all of the walls except those painted black at each end.

Tables are laid out in U-shape configurations, divided by black-tinted glass partitions where they face one another.

Three-branched brass lights hang overhead, while lamps with globe-shaped bulbs are placed on each desk.

A marble bar, accompanied by a line of black stools, separates this work area from a kitchen for members to prepare and eat food.

Some of the building's original steel columns are left exposed, their rough surfaces contrasting with the white walls and marble counters.

New York City has no shortage of co-working spaces. Many are similarly using design to entice members, like The Malin that recently opened in Soho.

Our latest lookbook rounds up 10 shared workspaces around the world that offer a reprieve from the home office.

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The Brooklyn Tower supertall skyscraper by SHoP Architects, which became the borough's tallest building last year, has reached its full height. 

Reaching 93 storeys and 1,066 feet (325 metres) tall, The Brooklyn Tower is the first in the borough to claim supertall status.

The mixed-use tower, which was formerly called 9 DeKalb, will contain condominiums starting on the 53rd floor, with rental residences below, and over 100,000 square feet (9,300 square metres) of retail space in the Dimes Savings Bank of Brooklyn at its base.

The building is the latest supertall skyscraper – defined as measuring between 984 and 1,969 feet (300 and 600 metres) tall – to reach its full-height in the city.

It has a broader base than many of the skinny skyscrapers across the East River, some of which have reportedly experienced engineering issues as a result of high winds.

According to SHoP Architects' founding principal Gregg Pasquarelli, his skyscraper's broader shape will enable it to avoid similar problems.

"This is a fundamentally different building than the other supertalls in the city with a considerably wide base," Pasquarelli told Dezeen. "So in many ways we had that advantage from the start."

The layout of less-dense Brooklyn and the integration of a historic building into the tower's base have both contributed to its larger footprint.

"The design of The Brooklyn Tower arose from the native geometries of its triangular site and location in Downtown Brooklyn," said Pasquarelli.

The Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn, a landmark building that dates back to 1908, was incorporated into the tower and also informed some of SHoP Architects' design decisions.

Elements from the interior of the bank – including the hexagonal shapes, geometric patterning and rich materials – influenced the tower's form and facade treatments, according to Pasquarelli.

"The building's distinctive materiality incorporates elegant white marble at its base and evolves to blackened stainless steel and shades of bronze and copper as the tower ascends," the architect said.

With setbacks that narrow to a point, the tower is accessible from two points from the ground.

The first on Fleet Street is intended as a residential entrance, with interiors by Krista Ninivaggi of Woods Bagot that feature restored marble and a double-height atrium with "white oak walls cut into a sculptural pattern".

The other entrance is into the retail area through the restored Dime Savings Bank on the Flatbush Avenue Extension.

Gachot Studios designed the interiors for the tower's residences, which will include 150 condominiums, and 400 rental residences with 30 per cent designated for middle-income housing.

The Dome Pool and Terrace will include three swimming pools that surround the historic bank's roof, while the 66th floor of the skyscraper will have the highest basketball court built anywhere in the world, not accounting for altitude.

New York City has several supertall skyscrapers. The Brooklyn Tower was among several that shed large chunks of ice in late February during unseasonable weather, including SHoP Architects' 111 West 57th Street.

Other supertalls recently completed in the Big Apple include One Vanderbilt by Kohn Pedersen Fox. Last year, Dezeen compiled a list of supertalls changing the skyline of the city.

SHoP is based in New York and known for its work on the Barclays Center, not far from The Brooklyn Tower. The firm's workers recently moved to unionise in response to an alleged culture of "endless overtime and deadlines".

Credits:

Developer: JDS Development Group
Builder: JDS Construction Group
Architect: SHoP Architects
Residential interior design: Gachot Studios
Amenities interior design: Krista Ninivaggi of Woods Bagot
Landscape design: HMWhite
Structural engineer: WSP
Mechanical, electrical, plumbing engineer: JB&B
Curtain wall consultant: MW Skins
Civil engineer: AKRF
Geotechnical engineer: Mueser Rutledge
Wind engineer: RWDI

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