Common
Ground Community Design intentions for Schermerhorn
House include defining a new architectural paradigm for low-income housing.
Common Ground and the Actors Fund of America are developing the project
as supportive housing for members of the entertainment community, particularly
those who are elderly, disabled or HIV-positive. The 197,000 square foot
building is part of an overall block development on the edge of downtown
Brooklyn, in Boerum Hill. The building design responds to two distinct
contexts on the north and south: the north face marks the verticality
of the dense urban fabric that it faces, while the south responds to the
horizontal nature of the low-scale residential neighborhood by stepping
down and extending into a terrace on the second level. The building’s
rhythm and exterior have evolved as an extension and vertical expression
of the highly organized program within. The 9-story building has 216 units
and incorporates offices for tenant services on the second floor and retail
on the ground level, making the facility open and accessible to the public
and adding transparency and luminosity at the street level to enliven
the Schermerhorn streetscape. |
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