AFTER THE STORM
23 Sep 2015
A new design for a tech complex slated for South Brooklyn has been revealed. With a focus on storm surge resiliency, the planned development is set to overhaul the waterfront area that was damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
New York-based Raft Architects recently unveiled some beautiful new renderings for what will hopefully become a new tech complex on the Red Hook waterfront in South Brooklyn. Working with the Italian development company Est4te Four, the firm’s design for the 1.1 million-square-foot project is expected to create oodles of green space for the Hurricane Sandy-effected nabe, while also implementing a number of storm-resilient features.
Raft’s project will complement an adjacent plan for a waterfront creative zone by NBBJ. The new renderings by Raft focus on creating a more expansive green space along the waterfront, as well as office and hotel space, a marine education institute, and a manufacturing and sales outlet.
The Red Hook area was hit especially hard by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Since that time, Est4te Four has been quite busy buying up large properties that run along the New York Harbor. However, the developer is still looking for funding to bring the project to fruition.
From the Architect:
Our proposal focuses on the transformation of a major portion of Red Hook’s waterfront. Currently private and inaccessible to the public, Red Hook Piers will comprise a richly programmed, mixed-use extension to Red Hook’s essential manufacturing and arts-based community.
ReHoP consists of many a new manufacturing center with point-of-sale outlets for companies engaged in the design and manufacture of furniture, fashion and food; a marine education institute that physically engages and utilizes the Atlantic Basin through its curriculum; a hotel and related services that will support the tech community currently being planned to the south; and a mile-long series of interconnected public open spaces that extends the Brooklyn Greenway, creates elevated park spaces with amplified views of the Harbor, and mitigates a large portion of the neighborhood’s flood exposure through the implementation of a series of biological and constructed strategies.