The concept was for the brand new ground-up townhouse to be an oasis in the city. This approach was based upon the issue that while the property resides on a quaint street in Brooklyn Heights it nevertheless, sits near a highway entrance ramp. This was achieved by orienting the house not towards the street but towards a rear courtyard garden. Architecturally, the primary living spaces are focused towards the garden through a 17’ double height glass wall. In contrast, the three garden perimeter walls, finished in buff colored stucco that matches the rear façade, are structurally and visually solid and clearly define the edges of the 25’ x 30’ garden as an outdoor room.
The main spatial effect is of a three-tiered landscape with its watercourse cascading from the garden into the living space of the house. Major excavation was required in the rear portion of the house and garden to create the double height living space due to zoning height limitations. The living room resides 7’ below street grade. From this low point the garden steps up as it rises up from the building to the original street level (of the earlier building’s slab on grade).
The walls of the original building which were built full to the lot were kept and reinforced to retain the higher earth of the surrounding yards. In addition, a structural colonnade had to be added to the rear wall to support a much higher grade on its opposing side. The rear portion of the existing concrete slab was kept since it was structurally tied into the rear wall. Paved in bluestone the slab was transformed into the upper patio. The two rear steel roof beams of the former factory were kept both as a memento to the former structure and to create a trellis for hanging vines over the dining patio. Consistently, other elements of the former building were also re-used within the house itself.
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