RODE is assisting Tully Environmental Inc, of Flushing NY in the design of a new grease recycling facility in Brooklyn, NY. The project site is within the Sunset Park community and sits on the edge of New York Harbor. The site development is partially led by New York City’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) who are making significant improvements to the city’s industrial land for sustainable uses. The facility will receive truckloads of material from industrial grease-trap waste and convert it to water and re-saleable grease.
The challenges are to balance safety, truck access, and technical building requirements while being sensitive to the highly public, very accessible waterfront. Adjacent to a promenade and bike lanes that connect the city to a new waterfront park, the site presents an opportunity to celebrate this exciting mix of uses. RODE has proposed an arrangement of building masses that spread out on a long edge which serves the dual purpose of aesthetic consistency and storm surge barrier. Materials and forms simply express the technical needs within - metal for the office building, tensile fabric for processing and repair garage - each with unique pitched roofs that provide a sculptural backdrop.