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Mission StatementIn today’s world of high-density residential design, the default model takes the position that the site always takes second fiddle to the individual unit. This condition is the direct result of a viewpoint of economy. However, the quality of place is disregarded in lieu of higher occupancy.

Instead, placemaking should be a critical aspect in design that capitalizes on a community’s assets, inspirations, and potential. How these people meet, interact, and live throughout a place should be facilitated by the architecture. That architecture should ultimately create the opportunity not only for a place to live, but a place to dwell.

habitat nySchool of Architecture + Design, Virginia Tech

Joanna ColferGina Leonard



habitat nySchool of Architecture and Design, Virginia Tech

Joanna ColferGina Leonard

Project AbstractThe proposed building is a 12-story mixed-use developmenet in the heart of Downtown Brooklyn. The lower two floors of the building are double-height commercial spaces, with facilities for small restaurants or cafes. A large amount of the commercial program is dedicated to Greendesk, a flexible month to month office space rental agency.

Above the commercial levels are ten floors of apartments arranged in a ring around an interior atrium space. There are three types of apartments: a single story micro-apartment, an L-shaped block, and a double height apartment. All three typologies are considered “micro-units,” as they are all less than 310 square feet, but each caters to a different type of individual on the basis of income and lifestyle.

In order to create quality affordable housing units, the smallest spaces are rented below market price, but the revenue is regained through an increased Greendesk rate for non-residents of the building. By pairing people who need affordable housing with young entrepeneurs using Greendesk, a symbiotic relationship can be fostered where both people live in an environment that enables success.

Downtown Brooklyn Cultural DistrictDowntown Brooklyn is home to some of the most impressive arts and cultural institutions in New York City, and the Downtwon Brooklyn Cultural District is at the heart of it. This growing district includes dance centers, galleries, music venues, theaters, artists’ studios, media arts organizations, restaurants, public plazas, and mixed-income housing.

The site at the corner of Flatbush and Lafayette Avenues was chosen due to its unique relationship to the street and its many opportunities to begin a dialogue between other venues near it such as the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Barclays Center. In keeping with the diversity of the district, the architecture will strive to become a part of an integrated cultural hub.

Brooklyn

ManhattanDowntown Brooklyn is home to some of the most impressive arts and cultural institutions in New York City, and the Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District is at the heart of it. This growing district includes dance centers, galleries, music venues, theatres, artists’ studios, media arts organizations, restaurants, public plazas and mixed-income housing. The site at the corner of Flatbush and Lafayette Avenue was chosen due to its unique relationship to the street and its many opportunities to begin a dialogue between other venues near it such as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Barclays Center. With the diversity of the district, the architecture will strive to become a part of an intregrated cultural hub.

Downtown Brooklyn Cultural DistrictCorner of Flatbush and Lafayette

Brooklyn

Manhattan

The CutThe site is broken up into two sections. This diagonal shear between the building was denoted by the collision of different grid patterns that originally created the site. The condition of the cut is a room inside a room. Inviting one in front the sttreet corner, it is a place for impromptu conversation and meetings. Cropped views allow one to view the street as a performance. Multiple trees provide a thick canopy making one feel protected and comfortable. The environment of the plaza is reminiscient to the neighborhood street.

Traditional Brownstone Traditional Brownstone Flat Facade Hanson Place Brooklyn Academy of Music

Boundary and the City

Rather than being marginal-ized in quasi-institutional set-tings, formerly homeless ten-ants live alongside a diverse group of low-income profes-sionals, and entrepreneurs. In addition to making it pos-sible for at risk individuals to renew their lives, the afford-ability, security, and prime location enables opportuni-ties would not otherwise be financially feasible to con-tribute to the unique char-acter of the Big Apple. Some are young people newly em-barking on an independent life, while others are wind-ing down their careers or cutting down on expenses.

Boundary is not just a line, it is a bridge that interlinks entities.

Define RevealTransition

Boundary and the City

Rather than being marginal-ized in quasi-institutional set-tings, formerly homeless ten-ants live alongside a diverse group of low-income profes-sionals, and entrepreneurs. In addition to making it pos-sible for at risk individuals to renew their lives, the afford-ability, security, and prime location enables opportuni-ties would not otherwise be financially feasible to con-tribute to the unique char-acter of the Big Apple. Some are young people newly em-barking on an independent life, while others are wind-ing down their careers or cutting down on expenses.

Boundary is not just a line, it is a bridge that interlinks entities.

Define RevealTransition

Rather than being marginalized in quasi-instituational settings, formerly homeless tenants live alongside a diverse group of low-income professionals, and entrepeneurs. In addition to making it possible for at-risk individuals to renew their lives, the affordability, security, and prime location enables opportunities would not otherwise be financially feasible to contribute to the unique character of the BIg Apple. Some are young people newly embarking on an independent life, while others are winding down their careers or cutting down on expenses.

1

2

3 4

5

1 Long Island University2 Brooklyn Academy of Music3 The Watchtower4 Atlantic Yards Shopping Mall5 Barclays Center

ResidentialCommercialIndustrialPark Space

25k to 45k45k to 65k65k to 85k85k to 105k105k or higher

Analysis of Zoning One of the critical aspects of the site is its adjacency to Flatbush Avenue, the major traffic corridor into Manhattan. This highway is a link between the cultural heart of downtown Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Barclay’s Center and the rest of the city.Flatbrush also divides a largely residential area in two with a commercial corridor expanding towards the Manhattan Bridge. Our proposal is to create an architectural bridge between these typologies, making a building that fosters more foot traffic through the area, and a place to inhabit at street level.

Subway Station

Bus Stop

Public Park

Sports Arena

Theater

Art Gallery

Cafe

Shopping

Grocery Store

University

Library

Restaurant

Bar and Night Life

The corridor along Flatbush Avenue has a dense network of subway stations and other modes of public transportation in a short distance. Due to its proximity to downtown Brooklyn and DUMBO, it is also a blossoming commercial area. The recent completion of the Barclay’s Center along with several other large-scale projects at Atlantic Avenue and Flatbush Avenue marks a turning point for the region, creating a large demand on the existing infrastructure and local businesses, causing an increased need for amenities such as restaurants, entertainment, and housing.

Directly opposite the historic Watchtower and the Brooklyn Academy of Music is a triangular parking lot. This empty plot of land has the potential to answer the needs of a growing community by providing a sense of “Place,” assuaging not only the need for affordable housing in the area, but to also enhance the neighborhood with large public spaces, resturants, cafes, and a place for budding businesses to plant their roots.

The Missing Ingredients

SIte and the City



habitat ny

What is a Dwelling?In today’s world of high-density residential design, the default model takes to position that the site always takes second fiddle to the individual unit. This condition is the direct result of a viewpoint of economy. However,e the quality of place is disregarded in lieu of higher occupancy.

Instead, placemaking should be critical aspect in design that capitalizes on a com-munity’s assets, inspirations, and potential. How these people meet, interact, and live throughout a place should be facilitated by the architecture. That architecture should ultimately create the opportunity not only for a place to live, but a place to dwell.

SIte and the City

Initial Building Massing

60%

22%

18%

Single Apartment

L Block Apartment

Double Apartment

Residential

Affordable Housing

Commercial

Greendesk

60/40Percentage of Young Entrepeneurs to Affordable Housing

Entrepeneurs Median Income Professionals Low-Income Working Adults

The Inhabitants

An Affordable TypologyThe current typology of New York City is a model that cannot be conducive to affordable housing. In order to create an environment that is both affordable and desirable for the everyday New Yorker, the revenue must be made in a new way. Greendesk is a monthly desk rental agency which alllows people to rent various sizes of space at a premium. While affordable housing can only be rented at a monthly rate of roughly $2.50/sf, Grenndesk can be rented at $11/sf. Thus, the lost evenue can be recovered through Greendesk.

The opportunity for a live/work reisdential building creates a demand from a specific type of possible resident: the young entrepeneur. By pair-ing the young entepeneurs with those who need affordable housing, a new typology can be created where both parties benefit in a symbiotic relationship.

60%

Young Entrepeneurs

40%

Inhabitant and the City

Low Income Tenants

Affordable Housing

60%

Young Entrepeneurs

40%


Low Income Tenants

Affordable Housing

60%

Young Entrepeneurs

40%


Low Income Tenants

Affordable Housing

Distribution of Affordable Housing

Young Entrepeneurs Low-Income Inhabitants

Low Income Tenants Young Entrepeneurs

Affordable Housing

Opened in 2009, the Schermerhorn is Common Ground’s latest construction project.The building has 217 units which are a mix of low-income working adults from the arts and entertainment industry and formerly homeless single adults. The program supports services provided by The Actors Fund and the Center for Urban Community Services. The Schermerhorn is a green building with a series of rooftop gar-dens, a high efficieny boiler system, and a glass façade.

The total cost of the project was $59 million, and it is a sustainable business model.

Precedent Study: The Schermerhorn

Arrangement of ProgramThe program is separated into three critical parts: the commercial, the residental, and the public space. Each space, respectively, is originally blocked out as a portion of the building. The program is then reunited through the medium of the public space.

Thus, the atrium at the center of the building acts as a buffer space between the living areas and the working area, much like the cut in the bottom floor of the building acts as a similar streetscape buffer for pedestrian traffic along Flatbush Avenue.

Commercial

Greendesk

Micro-Apartments

Publilc Space

The UnitThere are three unit typologies: the single height space, the L block, and the double height space. Each unit type caters to a different type of individual, and is based on the same 9’x27’ footprint.

The single height apartment comprises 60% of the total aparments, and is designated “affordable housing.” A small portion of the single height apartments are connected to exterior verandas created by neighboring L-blocks.

The L-block apartments are apartments with a kitchen on the lower level and a lofted bedroom area. The bottom portion of the “L” leads to an outdoor communal terrace which is shared by 2-3 other apartments.

The double height apartments make up the smallest percentage of the total apartments, and are designed to accommodate the demands of a higher income clientele, or a two-person household. Like the L blocks, the bedroom is lofted above the kitchen and living areas. Typically, the double height spaces are clustered at the end of the hallways, and a large cluster is facing the southern exposure, with a direct view of the Barclay’s Center.

Axonometric ViewPlan of the L-Block Apartment

Apartment Typologies (3 Types)-Photographs/documentation of models-photomontage of renders/people looking out the window boards

Axonometric View Plan of the Single Height Apartment

Axonometric View Plan of the Double Height Apartment

1 2 3

4

5 6

Model Photographs in Numerical Order: (1) A typical cluster of apartments with the L-Block creating an exterior balcony condition (2) Two single-height apartments together with inner facade (3) A perspective inside the L-Block (4) The secondary glazing system with operable louvers (5) I-beam detailing (6) Interior I-beam detailing

Typical Floor Plan AScale: 1/32”=1’

Enlarged 50%

A

A

B

B

Typical Floor Plan B

A

A

B

B

AA Longitudinal Section

BB Transverse Section

In a dense urban environment where space is at a premium, the streetscape becomes a room unto itself. Healthy street environments present a continuous facade accented by storefronts, restaurants, and other amenities necessary for city living. The streetscape is harmed by interruptions to the curb, garages, and large openeings which create dead zones in the environment.

Although Brooklyn has more room for expansion than Manhattan, the urban street environment is still critical. The streetscape on the Flatbush site has been strongly impacted by the addition of an indoor shopping mall directly across the street. Instead of those stores presenting their fronts to the street and developiing an environment, the circulation has been completely internalized and the effect of the street as a room to inhabit has been harmed.

In order to rehabilitate a streetscape, the urban interface becomes a critical aspect of design. Th increase pedestrian traffic on site, the cut space is populated with cafes and small restaurants, in addition to the Greendesk facilities and an extended sidewalk. the walls are glazed to further increase the accessibility and visibility of the businesses to the viewer on the street. Large bifolding fritted glass shutters can be openeed to blur the boundary between interior and exterior, room and street. When fully open, these shutters create sun shades for pedestrians on the street.

The Urban Interface

Atlantic Center

The Urban Interface

The Atrium The apartments are arranged in a ring around an atrium space. This atrium is elevated above the ground floor, and creates a semi-private boundary between the residential and commercial program. On the northernmost corner of the atrium, the floor slab extends outwards into the atrium on two levels, creating a raised meeting area which catches the exposure from the southern sun. Each corner of the atrium reveals a small sliver of the city through a ribbon-like opening between the apartments. These cuts in the building maintain the connection to the city, but mitigate the sound and bustle of Flatbush Avenue.

The roof of the atrium is fitted with rotating glass louvers which can be used as a source of beneficial solar gain in the winter, or as a heat stack system in the warmer summer months. The glass louvers create a buffer zone which lengthens the usability of the space throughout the year.

Facade and BoundaryThe bridge between dwelling and city becomes a critical moment when an inhabited space is so small. In many cases, the city itself becomes the “living room” of the inhabitant. To assuage feelings of claustrophobia in such a small space, a strong link to the outside world should be maintained in the architecture.

The building envelope which maintains that link is a double glazed system with an inner layer of operable casement windows for air circulation. The outer layer of the system is a series of glass louvers which rotate between two deep mullions.

This system of louvers allows the inhabitant to view different aspects of the city at the same time; in different postiions, the louvers reflect different aspects of the city. Whether the louvers reflect the image of the sky, the skyline, or the busy street below is at the discretion of the occupant. Thus, the boundary between the city and the dwelling is blurred, creating a stronger link between them.

General Estimate Cost Per S.F. Rentable Space Estimate Cost C. Interiors

1010 Apartments 664.044 62,760 41,672,640 1020 Greendesk 40 25,000 800,000 1030 Standard Commerical 50 20,000 1,000,000

Total Estimate - 108,760 43,472,640

Proforma

Cost Per S.F. % of Sub-total

1010 Standard Foundations CIP concrete pile caps .61 9.1% 30,500

Estimate CostA. Substructure

B. Shell 1010 Floor Construction Open web steel joists, slab 20.84 12.3% 3,604,486

concrete, interior steel columns

1020 Roof Construction Open web steel joists, w/ rib .45 - 1,622,018metal deck, interior steel columns

B01 Exterior Enclosure 2010 Exterior Walls Operable double glazed 130 5,850,000

C. Interiors 1010 Partitions Gypsum board & metal stud 13.63 15 % 2,183,526 1020 Interior Doors 15% solid, 85% hollow core 8.12 - 41,983 1030 Fittings Kitchen Cabinets 3.60 - 189,936

2010 Stair Construction Concrete filled metal pan 3.24 - 105,714D. Services

1010 Elevators and Lifts Passenger elevator 14.23 8.2% 15,000

2010 Plumbing Fixtures Kitchen, bath, supply drain. 15.68 12.1% 3,567,448 2040 Rain Water Drainage Roof Drains .16 - 5,000

Contractor Fees (General Requirements 10%, Overhead 5%, Profit 10%) 43.80

5010 Electrical Service/Distrib. 400 ampere service 2.22 7.6% 33,670 5020 Lighting and Wiring Fixtures, switched etc. 7.70 - 120,569

D20 Plumbing

D30 HVAC 3010 Energy Supply 7.95 10.1% 1,375,032 3040 Cooling Generated Systems Chilled water, air cooler 9.53 - 1,665,604

D40 Fire Protection 4010 Sprinklers Wet pipe sprinkler system 2.97 2.6% 675,680

D50 Electrical

5030 Security Alarms, wiring, intercom 3.10 - 47,014 5040 Other Electrical Systems Backup generator .23 - 5,000

1040 Wall Finishes Gypsum 3.03 - 689,331 1050 Floor Finishes Carpet, tile and ceramic tile 5.16 - 1,173,910

*Data collected out of RSMeans Square Footage Costs 2012.

Detail Estimate

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Documents

quality of place

apartment model

apartment typologies

double height apartment

affordable typology

default model

commercial program

individual unit