Brooklyn, New York
Owner: Pratt Institute
Completion Date: December 2010
Program: A six-story, 120,000-square-foot mixed-use building that houses Pratt Institute's digital arts department and the digital arts lab; student services, including the admissions and financial aid offices; the nonprofit housing advocacy group Pratt Center for Community Development; and a natural foods supermarket on the ground floor. Located outside the campus's gates to the north, Myrtle Hall includes galleries, studios, classrooms, a student lounge, and offices for the administration.
Design concept and solution: Working with a long, narrow site on a busy commercial street, the architects sought to reconcile two different contexts: Myrtle Avenue's late-19th-century storefronts on the building's north side, and Pratt's main campus to the south. WASA/Studio A designed two interlocking steel-framed volumes to smooth the transition from urban street to academic setting. In a contemporary take on Myrtle Avenue's smaller-scale brownstones and brick buildings, they limited the north volume to four stories and clad it in panelized masonry. The southern volume, at six stories, opens the building onto the campus with a transparent louvered curtain wall. In between, a four-story glazed central atrium connects the volumes, offering views straight through the building. The atrium doubles as a gathering space and as galleries for student work. For the interiors, the architects chose durable and neutral materials that would spotlight the artwork on display. They used polished concrete floors throughout, along with glazed interior walls to bring light into the center of the building.
Total construction cost: $45 million
Location: 536 Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11205
Architect:
Wank Adams Slavin Associates, LLP (WASA/Studio A)
740 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
Phone: 212-420-1160
Fax: 212-420-8323
PeopleOwner: Architect: Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit:
Structural Engineer: MEP: Landscape Architect: Civil Engineer: Geotechnical Engineer Environmental Engineer: Elevator Consultant: Photographer(s): CAD system, project management, or other software used: |
ProductsStructural system: Canatal Industries (structural steel fabricator) Exterior cladding Metal/glass curtainwall: FM Enterprises Inc. Concrete: RNC Industries (concrete contractor); Zito & Zito (concrete floor finishing) EIFS, ACM, or other: Total Wall EIFS Architectural Metal Fabricator: Milgo Bufkin (exterior metal cladding) Roofing Metal:Milgo Bufkin Other: Xero Flor (green roof overburden) Windows Glazing Glass Balconies/Lobby Stair Handrail: CR Laurence Doors Metal doors: Weinstein & Holtzman Special doors (sound control, X-ray, etc.): Overly (sound control) Interior Glass Doors: Leed Himmel Hardware Hinges: Stanley / Pemko Closers: Falcon / Jackson / Dorma Exit devices: Falcon Pulls: Rockwood Security devices: : Amerock / Salice / Doug Mockett Interior finishes Suspension grid: Armstrong Interior Glass Office Partition Fabricator/Erector: Walsh Glass and Metal Cabinetwork and custom woodwork: JDR Fixtures, Inc. Paints and stains: Sherwin Williams Plastic laminate: Corian / Formica Floor and wall tile: Daltile (restrooms); Meld USA (entrance lobby) Resilient flooring: Forbo Carpet: Interface Furnishings Reception furniture: Gunlocke / Herman Miller / Hayworth / KI Fixed seating:KI Chairs: Knoll Tables:Knoll Upholstery: varies Lighting Downlights:DK Exterior:Architectural Area Lighting Controls:Crestron Conveyance Plumbing |
