KICKSTARTER Location COMMERCIAL HEADQUARTERS New York, USA
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KICKSTARTER Location COMMERCIAL HEADQUARTERS New York, USA Project Address 58 Kent Street, Brooklyn, NY 11222 Project Type Commercial, Class A Office “The outside spaces were designed for work and Square Feet leisure alike. I think a lot of designers make the 29,000 sq ft obvious mistake of designing the outdoor spaces as a place to ‘get away’, I strongly believe the Year of Completion feeling of getting away from work is passé and 2014 that one can make any work environment a Occupant place one wants to go to and not get away from.” Kickstarter – Ole Sondresen Design Team Ole Sondresen Architect PROJECT SUMMARY Keywords Kickstarter is a global crowd funding platform whose mission Historic building, renovated factory, is to help bring creative projects to life. When looking for a greenroof, natural landscaping, new building that captures the heart of the company’s culture, reclaimed materials, central Kickstarter chose a former pencil factory in Brooklyn, NY. courtyard Designed by local architect Ole Sondresen, the commercial Features of Note office fills out the entire 29,000 2ft space, including a large green roof. “The existing building was deep, dark and partially Architectural Digest Arch Paper below grade, which meant it had very little daylight or potential Inhabitat for fresh air.” Ole Sondresen noted, “The solution was to carve out a courtyard, a very ‘renaissance palazzo’ idea, as this Biophilic Patterns building is surrounded by industrial buildings. It was in need of Non-Rhythmic Sensory Stimuli a sense of interior relief for the user to connect to the outside.” Material Connection with Nature Connection with Natural Systems Prospect & Refuge By intuitively employing several patterns of promote a healthy, dynamic work environment Prepared by Cory Nestor and Terrapin biophilic design, Ole Sondresen Architect with a strong connection to nature. Bright Green; All images © Ole Sondre- created a dramatic, contextual commercial sen Architect. office and headquarters with daylight, natural This case study explores the strategies used materials and textures, and views to outdoor to establish a biophilic experience, including: gardens. material choices, alterations to the building’s existing form, and thoughtful exterior green With floor to ceiling curtain walls, high spaces. The design creates an engaging ceilings, a two story central courtyard with a space, one that supports Kickstarter’s Above: The rooftop garden includes Refuge spaces rain garden, and an 8,500 square foot rooftop strengths and culture, while promoting the off the main path for occupants to use. The garden landscape mimicking the region’s natural creativity, productivity, and well-being of its has edible plants, as well as species that support ecology, the space has been reconstructed to employees. migratory birds and butterflies. P1 P3 P6 P7 P11 P12 www.terrapinbg.com Kickstarter P11 P1 NATURE IN THE SPACE [P1] Visual Connection with Nature. Views to the outdoors from all three floors and every work desk [P2] Non-Visual Connection with Nature. Moving grasses, edible berries, edible garden plots [P3] Non-Rhythmic Sensory Stimuli. Native landscaping sets the stage for non- rhythmic sensory stimuli, with occupants on each floor with direct view of native landscaping [P4] Access to Thermal & Airflow P7 Variability. Glass garage door connecting sunroom and greenroof porch, operable windows in the office [P5] Presence of Water. Weather responsive water retention courtyard and downspout [P6] Dynamic & Diffuse Light. SECOND FLOOR PLAN Natural light from the courtyard, sunroom, and exterior refurbished windows [P7] Connection with Natural Systems. The central courtyard and greenroof’s native landscaping rainwater capture and retention in the courtyard P1 NATURAL ANALOGUES [P8] Biomorphic Forms & Patterns. Fractal patterns in the reclaimed heart pine finishes [P9] Material Connection with Nature. Interior doors and details as well as desks and seating are made of salvaged or local materials P1 [P10] Complexity & Order. P11 Library bookshelves NATURE OF THE SPACE LATERAL SECTION [P11] Prospect. Views into the central [P7] courtyard and over the greenroof CONNECTION W/ NATURAL SYSTEMS provide prospect conditions with focal ranges greater than 20 feet Throughout the design process, Ole Sondresen The tiered courtyard and rooftop gardens were [P12] Refuge. Reading nooks, cubbies, and his team worked to connect the building designed to mimic lost habitats that were once and high-backed chairs and its occupants to the natural environment. so plentiful throughout Brooklyn. The lowest [P13] Mystery. Not significantly The design highlights natural processes, court is actually a shady rain garden where represented in design especially seasonal and temporal the building captures water from the rooftop [P14] Risk/Peril. Views from the third changes characteristic of a functional to create periodic flooding. By capturing the story sun room into the courtyard ecosystem, which reinforces occupants’ roughly 4” inches of rain that the building cultural appreciation of the environment and receives monthly, the courtyard recreates the positively affects their health. wetland habitat once common to the region. Leveraging this temporal event is a practical In the same way the building is responding to and effective application of the Connection its local ecosystem, the ecosystems of the with Natural Systems pattern. Using the unique courtyard, terrace, and rooftop were chosen form of the courtyard as a rain reservoir to respond to the specific solar orientations. lets occupants witness site-specific natural P7 Species at the base of the low light courtyard processes and cycles, while supporting natural include river birches, ferns and other shade and habitat and biodiversity. water–loving species, while the rooftop plants Plan: The office includes many patterns of biophilic are native, sun-loving varieties. The mid-level With operable windows and doors on each design. The courtyard and green roof are significant terrace has tall deciduous bushes which provide floor of the building, occupants have both architectural design strategies that promote both shading for the office interiors in the summer. visual and physical access to these natural visual connection with nature and dynamic and The landscape design further encourages systems. While these landscapes are man- diffuse light within the interior. seasonal interactions with an edible garden that made, their function mimics that of a natural helps keep occupants connected to where food ecosystem, offering lower maintenance and Section: A central courtyard cuts through the building and provides dynamic and diffuse natural comes from. bringing greater awareness of seasonality and light and access to the outdoors. dynamism of natural systems. Kickstarter www.terrapinbg.com [P3] [P9] [P11+12] NON-RHYTHMIC SENSORY STIMULI MATERIAL CONNECTION W/ NATURE PROSPECT & REFUGE A benefit of supporting local ecosystems on Natural materials play an important role in Understanding that Kickstarter needed an every floor is connecting occupants to the the structural elements and design finishes office with an assortment of spatial conditions dynamic characteristics of these systems. of the building. Innovative reuse of materials to respond to office and occupant needs, the The use of native, site-specific vegetation from the existing site provided opportunities designers distributed a mix of open office provides habitat for local and migratory for incorporating materials that, through floor plans and small, sheltered work and species, including birds and insects. minimal processing, reflect the local study spaces throughout the three floors. ecology and geology, creating a distinct The stochastic and ephemeral movements sense of place. The building geometry supports a hierarchy of the flora and fauna add complexity and to the prospect condition, with a variety of intrigue to the experience of the environment. Reclaimed wood from the previous building unimpeded views over a distance for Moving grasses, falling leaves, fluttering had been local in origin. “Barns in this area surveillance and planning. The open floor butterflies, and the occasional birdsong create were constructed of a medley of woods as plan on the main floor provides views out brief distractions for building occupants the settlers would clear the land for the fields over the interior work environment, and to providing periodic for the eyes and mind. and use the different species of trees for what the courtyard in the center of the building. they served best. For instance, hardwoods On the second floor, there are views into Floor to ceiling curtain walls allow occupants like oak were used for the structure, rot the main work areas, the balcony terrace, to experience this changing landscape from resistant woods like hickory and cedar were and across the central courtyard. Finally, the their desks and common spaces. Every space, used for the siding, and so on.” rooftop has extended prospect with sightlines except the blackbox theater, is designed to down into the courtyard and work space, as have either a direct or oblique relationship with Where wood was required to be dimensionally well as out to the surrounding buildings and at least one of the courtyards or the rooftop. stable (doors, window frames, etc.), skyline to connect occupants to the larger Sondresen and his team specified locally- neighborhood. Speaking to Sondresen on the importance of sourced salvaged heart pine (old