Now the territory of the former enterprise can become a new landmark and architectural ID of Brooklyn, and with it the whole of New York. Development company Two Trees has big plans for this piece of land. She bought it out last summer from its previous owner, Community Preservation Corporation. That firm acquired the site back in 2004 and invited Rafael Vignoli to design a multifunctional complex. This concept was not liked by the locals and hardly passed public hearings, but then the Community Preservation Corporation practically went bankrupt and the project was canceled.
Two Trees brought other architects to the East River site - SHoP and Field Operations. Their version has one fundamental difference from the proposal of Rafael Vignoli and his colleagues: the building line has been moved away from the water into the depths of the block, so about 60% of the embankment area is freed up, where an attractive public space can be organized.
In the new interpretation, the complex consists of five high-rise buildings, which will have almost 60 thousand m2 of offices and 2,000 apartments. The project provides for the reconstruction of the coastal area: the creation of a park and berths, attractions and picnic areas there, as well as the arrangement of the area for holding fairs, performances, concerts, etc. It is noteworthy that the project of the new space will use fragments of buildings and mechanisms of the former sugar factory …
The box of the refinery will be reconstructed and given to the offices of companies associated with high-tech production, and, most likely, a glass and steel superstructure will appear at the top of this volume.
SHoP architects have tried to match the height of the buildings to the scale of the existing development: the "growth" of high-rise buildings decreases from south to north, because in the south there is the high Brooklyn Bridge, and in the north - ordinary multi-storey residential buildings. Another advantage of the general plan is the preservation of the spatial and visual connection of the adjacent quarters with the river. For this purpose, the buildings are provided with through openings at different levels. The construction of the complex is expected to begin in 2014.
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