Frida Escobedo creates facade for Brooklyn building that folds, stacks, and interlocks
Mexican architect Frida Escobedo has worked with DXA Studio and interior designer Workstead on Bergen in Brooklyn, an elongated condominium building that is fronted with an undulating cast-concrete facade.
Bergen is located on a former parking lot site in Boerum Hill near the Barclays Center. It contains 105 residences across seven storeys, and is composed of two, residential wings that meet via a large, central glass lobby.
Frida Escobedo Studio designed the building's facade and worked closely with master planner and landscape architect DXA Studio on its design. Local studio Workstead took the lead on its interiors, which are focused on "a sense of calm and well-being," according to the studio.
The building is accessed via the central lobby and amenity floors on Bergen Street, and also via a pocket park that leads across the block to connect to Dean Street on the other side.
Escobedo bent the facade to allow light and air to "permeate" the building.
"Through a focus on porosity and materiality, the natural masonry folds, stacks, and interlocks to form a brick lattice that allows light, shadow, and air to permeate the building envelope," said the team.
Its facade and low-lying profile also pay homage to the surrounding brownstone buildings found in the neighbourhood.
"What's really beautiful about this street is that it has that peace and quiet," said Escobedo.
"So it was a matter of preserving it in such a way that people would still feel like they're in a neighbourhood where the scale is really low, even though it's a slightly larger residential project."
"We created the massing to make it a little more light and integrated."
The team also integrated terraces along the building's facade and along the rooftop to further cut away at its large volume.
"Above, a staggered massing strategy reduces the building's vertical presence and culminates in a perforated crown, where rooftop terraces dissolve the building's mass into the sky," said the team.
The amenity floors are located in the central glass volume, dubbed The Glass House, which is accessed by a small footbridge.
The space contains double-height floors and a basement level that connects to sunken gardens that line Bergen Street and the ground level of the Dean Street park.
In the street-level lobby, glass doors lead out onto a terrace which overlooks the outdoor area.
A large, enclosed spiral stair leads to amenities below, such as a tea room and ceramic studio, and lounge spaces above.
The interior palette consists of stone, wood and other natural materials, with low-lying furniture throughout the building. It evolves vertically, according to the team, starting with lighter tones in the lower levels, and deepening into richer, jewel tones.
"Workstead translated Escobedo's architectural language into a holistic interior environment that prioritises calm, light, and sensory well-being."
DXA Studio and Patrick Cullina worked on the landscape for the project.
The outdoor area cuts horizontally through the site and contains a large "grass auditorium" that leads into the basement level, as well as curving pathways and a footbridge that connects the park to the backside entrance.
Frida Escobedo Studio recently completed a brick tower in Harlem and is also working on a limestone-clad expansion for the Met.
The exterior photography is by Ivane Katamashvili and the interior photography is by Gieves Anderson, unless otherwise noted
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