Following the 2016 redevelopment of Newlab‘s industrial headquarters at Brooklyn Navy Yard, the company is expanding, and New York City-based creative studio CIVILIVN has been commissioned to redevelop a nearby 1930s building into a co-working space. The industrial brick building originally served manufacturing purposes and measures approx. 30,000 sq.ft. (2,787 sqm.) spread across six floors. Much of the original architectural features have been retained and meticulously paired with new interventions to create contemporary workspaces. As such, conference rooms bisect the building’s open floors, creating distinct zones that remain flexible enough to accommodate company growth. A mix of individual workstations, informal breakout areas, and private conference rooms is available for both collaborative and independent work. In order to optimise interaction with the neighbourhood, the ground floor has an intentional inviting lay-out, featuring large windows which allow in floods of daylight and expose the interior, while the divisions between the lobby, conference area and private garden have been emphasised to create distinctive spaces. Upon entering the premises, tenants and visitors are met by a custom-designed reception desk made of aluminium laminate mounted on painted plywood tubes, offering a contemporary element set against the building’s original floors, masonry walls, and exposed ceiling girders. Carefully sourced Art Deco-era furniture pieces have been tweaked using highly durable materials, including Kvadrat/Raf Simons fabrics. Interestingly, desks can stand alone as individual workstations or be grouped into team pods that read as a single, and the premises are dotted with pieces inspired by artists Donald Judd and Isamu Noguchi reference New York City‘s iconic creative heritage. The building also features assembly areas, lounges, kitchenettes, private phone booths, and a secure bike storage.
Newlab
Brooklyn Navy Yard, 77 Washington Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205
Telephone: +1 718 4887005
Mon-Fri 9am-6pm
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
