Work AC‘s design for a utilitarian industrial building for the Brooklyn navy yard becomes an opportunity to explore the efficiencies of scale through possibilities of long-span structures. A two-story truss rests on four columns at the ground level, allowing the upper floor to cantilever out past the entrance, creating a dynamic entry point and a new shared entrance plaza. The stripped facade is comprised of low-cost standing seam metal panels in a variety of colors. The color palette is taken from the varied hues of the surrounding buildings as a way to tie this contemporary structure with the existing context. The form, a long rectangle with the top level shifted off center, allows space for a shared green terrace on the back side of the building while the protruding side makes the protected entry condition. The top floors are also lifted and clerestory windows inserted to provide extra natural light for the lower floors. The building’s placement on the site was studied using the assumed 23,333 sqf footprint as well as acknowledging the fact that buried 138 KV electric lines still had to be accessible.
More images and diagrams after the break.
