Smart Design Studio in the Brooklyn Navy Yard
Aesthetic
Smart Design engaged KGA to design a new and expansive studio workplace located in the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Building 127, the last of the Yard’s historic buildings to be restored. Built in 1904, this building originally housed makers of wooden boats, as a United States Navy shipbuilding facility, and in a sense, it is returning to its roots as a location for makers. Incorporating and not modifying existing construction materials into the new design adheres to the preservation and adaptive reuse approach. Defining a design aesthetic that draws on both the historic industrial context and new construction technologies creates a space that is timeless.
Awards
- Retrofit Magazine - Metamorphosis Awards Winner 2024
Statistics
- ◦Total of 20,000 usable sqft - 17,000 existing usable sqft on the main floor with the addition of a mezzanine of 3,000 usable sqft
- ◦Dimensions of entire space are 96’ W x 180’ L x 48’ H (at the highest pitch of roof) and 22’ (at lowest pitch of roof/bottom of trusses)
- ◦The entire space is 564,460 cubic feet -Similar to six Olympic size swimming pools
- ◦20 windows each measuring 12’ W x 11’ H
Function
Smart Design’s new studio workspace will address how employees collaborate in a new hybrid-working world with colleagues and clients. This agile new workplace will bridge the divide between remote and in-office interactions to optimize collaboration and connectivity. Rather than reducing their footprint, Smart Design’s new space will offer a variety of meeting, collaboration and maker spaces, and events