Architect and developer Alloy has released images of its glass-clad Brooklyn skyscraper, which has a “wedding cake-like” shape and will reportedly run on all-electric power.
The residential skyscraper, called 505 State Street after its location in downtown Brooklyn, has already topped out at 482 feet tall (146 metres).
With 44 storeys, the skyscraper is sited on a triangular block where three Brooklyn streets converge. This gives it a wedge-like plan, similar to the iconic Flat Iron Building in Manhattan. The majority of its face is clad in glass and aluminium.
“The site itself is triangular, and weirdly enough, if you draw the Flat Iron floor plan on our site, it’s almost identical. The heights are very similar,” Alloy design director Ben Meade told Dezeen, noting that the structure is the studio’s first “major ground-up skyscraper”.
“It’s a plan that references old school architecture, a wedding cake-like stack.”
On one side, the tower is flat. On the other side, it steps back from the street to maximise views of downtown Manhattan over the East River and to cohere with the street-level brownstone buildings and historic architecture, like the historic Williamsburg Savings Bank tower.
In order to blend into the surrounding architecture as seamlessly as possible, the bottom three floors of the skyscraper were clad in dark textural concrete.
“We wanted to make sure we weren’t dropping a spaceship into downtown Brooklyn,” said Meade.
“We wanted to be respectful of a landmark that’s been there for a long time, while still forming a gateway up from Prospect Park to greater downtown Brooklyn.”
Meade said that rather than creating an “imposing” tower, the team wanted to create a “backdrop” for the people of Brooklyn.
The use of aggregate on the lower levels will also help integrate the building into the remainder of the block, which is also being developed by Alloy and will include what it claims will be the first two schools to meet Passive House environmental standards in the city, designed by local studio Architecture Research Office.
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An energy-efficient approach was also taken for the skyscraper itself. Alloy claims that when completed, the 441 residences within will be powered completely by electricity.
This will require the installation of electric induction cookware in the kitchens, electrical water heaters, heat-pump dryers and high-quality glass.
The studio also said that it has filed a request to the city for the building to be powered completely by renewable energy sources.
“Alloy is the first developer to pursue such a program following a rule issuance by the New York City Department of Buildings around Local Law 97 confirming developers can comply with the law through off-site solar programs,” said the firm.
For the interiors, Alloy worked with local interior design studio INC Architecture and designer Rebecca Robertson to design all of the furniture.
The apartments feature ceilings between nine and 12 feet tall and exposed concrete mixed with oak flooring and detailing.
Currently, the cladding for the structure is almost complete, with only the bulkhead still unfinished, and the tower will be completely finished by 2025.
Historically smaller in vertical scale than neighbouring Manhattan, Brooklyn has seen a flurry of skyscraper development in the past few years, including the SHoP Architects-designed Brooklyn Tower, the borough’s first supertall skyscraper, and a skyscraper with an undulating facade by Studio Gang.
