Project Description
This five-story, 5,600-square-foot rowhouse was one of two commissions on a single zoning parcel encompassing the end of a block between Strong Place and Henry Street in the Cobble Hill Historic District. The project team was hired to design four rowhouses for a developer who was dedicated to upholding the traditional aesthetic of the neighborhood. DRPILLA provided structural engineering design for this fifth building to contribute to, and be integral with, the historic neighborhood fabric while exhibiting modern aesthetics on its three visible facades.
ARCHITECT
CWB Architects
SERVICES
Structural Engineering
COMPLETION
2018
Modern Configuration
The design of the main stair funnels light from a roof top skylight down through the house’s five stories, allowing the major communal areas of the home to overlap both vertically and horizontally. Fully open from top to bottom, it connects the home’s garden, family room and kitchen to a top floor TV room with views of New York Harbor and downtown Manhattan.
A Mix of Traditional Façade Elements
On the exterior, the oversized central projection on the Kane Street façade serves to maximize the footprint of the building on its irregularly shaped lot, and to conceal the brick control joints. The rear bay and the oriel window are steel and glass. The exterior finishes, basic fenestration, and general massing work together with the modern design elements to complete an elegant statement rooted in a deep knowledge of the local vernacular and the neighborhood’s scale and materiality.
