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Building Brooklyn Awards Showcase Green Design

Building Brooklyn Awards Showcase Green Design

The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce recently hosted the 11th annual Building Brooklyn Awards, recognizing 13 buildings for innovation in expanding and preserving Brooklyn’s built environment. Awards covered a variety of categories including adaptive re-use and historic preservation, mixed-use, education, interior renovation, mixed-use, open space, and affordable housing. In addition to the building awards, the Chamber of Commerce honored Deb Howard, Executive Director of the Pratt Area Community Council and Jed Walentas, Principal of Two Trees Management for their work in restoring and revitalizing neighborhoods Bedford-Stuyvesant and DUMBO respectively.

Noteworthy projects include Brooklyn Bridge Park by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Myrtle Hall at the Pratt Institute by WASA/Studio A, Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility by Ennead Architects LLP; Greeley and Hansen; Hazen and Sawyer; and Malcolm Prime, and Brooklyn Ecopolis by Simino Architects. Each building has been recognized because of its sustainable preservation of and attention to public and private space.

Brooklyn Bridge Park Piers 1 and 6 were awarded for design in the Open Space category. From the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, “Pier 1 is the only park pier to built on landfill, rather than a pile-supported structure, which allowed for the construction of dramatic topography. The monumental Granite Prospect offers stunning harbor views and utilizes granite salvaged from the reconstruction of the Roosevelt Island Bridge.” The pleasant greenery along the waterfront is complemented by its sustainable features and innovative management systems.

The Chamber of Commerce recognized Myrtle Hall at the Pratt Institute in Clinton Hill as an example for Education building. Listed as the first LEED Gold certified academic building in Brooklyn, the 120,000 square foot structure “brings design integrity back to the street, along with foot traffic and increased retail vitality.”

The Newton Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility completed its first phase of a 25 year master plan in Greenpoint. As the Chamber of Commerce noted, “The site addresses the community’s concerns about a large and expanding facility of its kind through integrating excellence of design, a phased approach; and providing public art and waterfront park space.” Also, visually interesting because “the entire plant is covered in blue light at night, uniting the disparate elements of the facility and providing a glowing visual element against the skyline.”

The Mixed-Use award goes to Brooklyn Ecopolis, a family-owned five story building designed for different sustainable projects. Currently, “a sustainable coffee shop at the ground floor level, Brooklyn Ecopolis, a non-profit sustainable resource center on the second floor, with the owners living on the residential floors above.” The LEED Gold certified project is hoped to inspire the community of Cobble Hill as an example for other structures of its kind.

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