77 Washington
Brooklyn, New York
Completed 2020
Design Team
Max Worrell, Jejon Yeung, Yunchao Le
Collaborators
Structural Engineer: Silman
Landscape Architect: Michael van Valkenburgh Associates
Mechanical Engineer: Engineering Solutions
Near the Brooklyn Navy Yard, this adaptive reuse of a 38,000-square-foot cluster of five buildings draws from the neighborhood’s rich history and design typologies. A historic six-story masonry factory from the 1920s anchors the overall complex, bordered on the right side by three one-story structures connected by a private, verdant central courtyard. A garage located to the factory’s left was removed and transformed into a lush garden, where the original yellow wood gates and exterior brick walls were left untouched to reveal a ghost imprint of the previous structure.
Thoughtful juxtapositions between old and new highlight the complex’s history.
Inside, concrete floors and unfinished steel railings and doors echo the site’s industrial character. Working with Navy Yard–based woodworker Bien Hecho, the wood from the timber joist floors was salvaged and reconstituted as a conference room table and lobby bench. Textured brick walls with layers of old paint were cleaned, sealed, and complemented with clean, uniform concrete floors and white walls. In the lobby, a large window draws light from the courtyard, and industrial references appear in the diamond-plate steel floor, the glass block elements, and the distinctive plywood wall.
Photographs
Naho Kubota