The New York office Perkins Eastman joins developer/builder Caro Enterprises in celebrating the completion of the unique 69-unit Wythe Confectionery apartments at 390 Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The conversion has restored the building’s original beauty, with plentiful exposed brick, original wooden beams, and wooden ceilings.
Principal in Charge Shawn Basler AIA says of the building’s transformation, “It has been very gratifying to be part of the effort to retain the architectural heritage in such a vibrant and diverse neighborhood.”
Originally built to house the Matchett Candy factory at the turn of the 19th century, the pine framed brick building was one of the few candy factories in Williamsburg. The building is a testament to the area’s flourishing industrial past, and as a physical example of the commitment to the preservation of the neighborhood character and our vital connections to its heritage. As a piece of Brooklyn history, Perkins Eastman and the developer went to great lengths to preserve and restore original architectural features, while reclaiming and reusing materials when possible in the studio, one- and two-bedroom loft apartments.
The team retained architectural features like the brick barrel-hinge corner, a corbelled brick cornice, arched windows, massively scaled ground floor openings, and decorative brickwork punctuated with unique decorative iron ties across the facade. Brick and timber columns have once again been exposed and highlighted, cast iron column straps and capitals have been brought back to life, and the original heavy-timbered plank flooring was restored and retained as ceilings--all combined with modern fixtures and finishes throughout. Other native materials, including extra timbers and slate flooring that were not used during the restoration, were reclaimed for reuse in the public and shared spaces of the building, designed by Visconti Architecture.
Related Stories
| Jul 10, 2014
Berkeley Lab opens 'world's most comprehensive building efficiency simulator'
DOE’s new FLEXLAB is a first-of-its-kind simulator that lets users test energy-efficient building systems individually or as an integrated system, under real-world conditions.
| Jul 10, 2014
Steinberg SF Studio launches in San Francisco, plans to transform its own office space
Grant and Saheba left their previous architectural firms, AECOM and Handel respectively, because they saw the opportunity to bring their agile, provocative design aesthetic to clients in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Oakland.
| Jul 9, 2014
Dragon-inspired hotel conveys Vietnamese hospitality [2014 Building Team Awards]
An international Building Team unites to create Vietnam’s first JW Marriott luxury property.
| Jul 9, 2014
Harvard Business School to build large-scale conference center
Expected to open in 2018, the facility will combine the elements of a large-scale conference center, a performance space, and an intimate community forum. The new building will be designed by Boston-based William Rawn and Associates.
| Jul 9, 2014
Top U.S. cities for design professionals
Though New York and Los Angeles are often seen as the sole hubs for design jobs, other design epicenters are scattered between the coasts.
| Jul 9, 2014
The one misstep that could be slowing your company’s growth
Change. It’s inevitable. And success for any professional may very well depend on how well we adapt to it. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Jul 9, 2014
First Look: SOM's design for All Aboard Florida Fort Lauderdale rail station
The lightweight and luminous design "responds to its setting and creates a striking infrastructural icon for the city," said SOM Design Partner Roger Duffy.
| Jul 8, 2014
Fast-track naval hospital sparks sea change in project delivery [2014 Building Team Awards]
Through advanced coordination methods and an experimental contract method, the Building Team for Camp Pendleton’s new hospital campus sets a new standard for project delivery.
| Jul 8, 2014
Does Zaha Hadid’s Tokyo Olympic Stadium have a design flaw?
After being criticized for the cost and size of her stadium design for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, a Japanese architect points out a major design flaw in the stadium that may endanger the spectators.
| Jul 8, 2014
Frank Lloyd Wright's posthumous gas station opens in Buffalo
Eighty-seven years after Frank Lloyd Wright designed an ornamental gas station for the city of Buffalo, the structure has been built and opened to the public—inside an auto museum.