GOING ALFRESCO IN BROOKLYN
GUBI JOINS TANKHOUSE’S MISSION TO RETHINK URBAN LIVING AT 450 WARREN STREET
In the heart of Brooklyn, at the threshold between the up-and-coming ex-industrial neighborhood of Gowanus and the leafy residential hub of Boerum Hill, something new is taking shape. Here, the design-driven development firm Tankhouse is unfolding its vision for urban housing in the area.
A SENSE OF COMMUNITY
On the site of what was a nondescript building housing a church, 450 Warren Street is now a cluster of 18 homes consciously created to foster a sense of community while restoring the qualities often missing from New York housing developments: light, air, outdoor space, and privacy.
“The chunky and organic nature of the Pacha Chair balances the geometry of the building in a way that is interesting. The chair is soft and curvilinear, and the building is strong, and very angular, but then it relaxes a lot in the atrium where the walkways are curved and organic.”
Sebastian Mendez, co-founder, Tankhouse
NEW TYPOLOGY FOR MULTI-UNIT HOUSING
Standing idiosyncratically but sympathetically among the surrounding brownstones, 450 Warren Street is part of the ongoing transformation of Gowanus into a thriving culturally rich and creative neighborhood. This extraordinary building is the most recent milestone in Tankhouse’s quest to develop a new typology for multi-unit housing in dense urban environments.
BALANCING INDOOR AND OUTDOOR LIVING
With an open façade, mesh-encased walkways, expansive windows, and views in multiple directions, it is a porous structure, allowing the building to be experienced from the street and the surroundings to be explored from within.
450 Warren Street embodies a balance between public and private space, indoor and outdoor living, preserving privacy while making use of transitional communal spaces and human-scale architecture to cultivate a sense of connection and community.
RELAX, SOCIALIZE, AND WORK OUTDOORS
Crucial to the success of 450 Warren Street is the inclusion of extensive outside space including covered open-air walkways and lushly planted courtyards, offering residents opportunities to relax, socialize, and even work outdoors whenever they wish. Lightwells, patios and loggias are woven into the fabric of the building, maximizing its exterior circulation while creating shared spaces for communing with neighbors – improving quality of life through exposure to nature and opportunities to socialize.
GOING ALFRESCO IN BROOKLYN
When it came to furnishing one of the roof terraces, Tankhouse co-founder and architect Sebastian Mendez turned to GUBI’s Alfresco Collection, recognizing that the Pacha Lounge Chair would be ideal for creating an ‘outdoor living room’ concept in keeping with the development’s goals.
“The aesthetic and usability of the pieces in GUBI’s Alfresco Collection make them so flexible that they could be used inside or outdoors; it could be a fun and relaxed set-up as well as quite sophisticated in a living room. Both the building and these designs have a feel which is very comforting, and optimistic.”
Sebastian Mendez, co-founder, Tankhouse
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