Williamsburg

Williamsburg

Ole Sondresen's Bird Williamsburg to Bring LEED-CI to Brooklyn

Mon

Feb

What's on track to be Brooklyn's first LEED for Commercial Interiors-certified project had its grand opening on Saturday night in Williamsburg. Bird Boutique at 203 Grand Street was designed by Manhattan-based Ole Sondresen Architect and is aiming for a LEED Gold certification from USGBC. Mr. Sondresen was kind enough to invite us to Saturday night's event and share a few remarks about the project. 70 percent of the materials used to fit out the space were sourced in Williamsburg and various wood paneling was actually salvaged from a dumpster in SoHo. The space also includes LEED-standard features, ranging from efficient water and lighting fixtures to natural daylighting, as well as a basement shower that will earn the project one LEED credit. The front half of the store (facing Grand Street) will offer a variety of eco-friendly merchandise, ranging from clothing to jewelry, while the rear will continue to serve as an art exhibition space (Saturday's event featured photography by Shaniqwa Jarvis and Ignacio Parodi). The project team also included contractor William Dorvillier; check out an interview with Bird owner Jennifer Mankins below.

Progress Towards Platinum: Update on Mark Helder’s 439 Metropolitan Avenue

Thu

Mar

by Stephen Del Percio

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Next Monday, March 10, Brooklyn Independent Television will air an episode of Brooklyn Review featuring the Reclaimed Home blog’s interview with architect Mark Helder, whose 439 Metropolitan Avenue project in Williamsburg is aiming for Gotham’s first mixed-use LEED Platinum rating. The segment will be part of the news magazine program’s A Walk Around the Blog series, which profiles different Brooklyn bloggers. We presented Mr. Helder’s project a few weeks ago here at gbNYC in relatively little detail, noting that it will house his architecture studio, as well as two duplex condominium residences, a ground-floor art gallery, and feature passive solar design, radiant flooring, photovoltaics, and indoor air quality reaching HEPA standards.

Williamsburg’s Green Edge Stays on Silver Track, Seeks Retail Tenants

Tue

Jan

by Stephen Del Percio

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We briefly mentioned Brooklyn’s The Edge early last summer after it appeared at #12 on New York Construction’s list of the top twenty projects started in 2006-2007 (ranked by dollar value). Construction on the $390 million, mixed-used development along the East River waterfront at Kent Avenue between North Fifth and Seventh Streets in Williamsburg is on schedule after breaking ground last April and should wrap up between sixteen and eighteen months from now (in the summer of 2009), according to Jeffrey Levine, head of general contractor Levine Builders and principal of owner Douglaston Development.