Austin Nichols Warehouse

Brooklyn, NY

This project involves a massive renovation of an existing waterfront warehouse designed by Cass Gilbert - an icon on the East River waterfront. The project scope includes the design of the adjacent waterfront pathway, shoreline restoration, and streetscapes, as well as two interior courtyard gardens and a rooftop beach. Inside the building, SCAPE has created a garden on the existing slab of the third floor. The deep floor slab of the warehouse will be cut out above this rectangular courtyard garden, which is conceived as a  continuation of that boardwalk over low plantings with scattered groves of  trees. The project also includes an intimate “stone & river birch garden” on the second level, and a rooftop “beach” for sunning, socializing, playing, and enjoying views of the East River and Manhattan. This project, because of its complex waterfront location and planning requirements, has involved coordination with not only the project design team, but extensive interaction and approvals processes with Federal, State, and City Agencies, including the US Army Corps of Engineers, the NY State DEC, the NY Dept of State, NYC Dept of City Planning, NYC Dept of Parks and Recreation, NYC Dept of Transportation, as well as the adjacent property owners.

Credits:
SLCE, Slade Architects, Langan Engineering