Brooklyn Residences

For a brand-new six-story residential building in Brooklyn’s bustling Williamsburg neighborhood, Edmonds + Lee oriented the units vertically, creating two discrete town-house-style apartments. Rather than attempting to obfuscate the narrowness of this typically-scaled New York lot, the designers explored the power of multi-level living, creating double-height living rooms and integrating extra space by introducing balconies and roof terraces. On the interior, seamlessly-articulated open areas are interrupted by industrial-chic staircases and mezzanines, while built-in details like bookshelves and kitchen cabinetry blend into a visually continuous background. On the exterior, an abstract geometric expression of these vertically-arranged residences appears through a close reading of the metal cladding, which not only serves to differentiate the interior but also as a visual and material link to Brooklyn’s industrial history. On the street level, warm wood paneling delineates the entrances, providing an intimate human scale and a clarity of rhythm, seen in the perfectly-detailed wood slats, that speaks to Edmonds + Lee’s ability to shift scales, focal points, and architectural attention.