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RICHMOND TERRACE HOUSES COMMUNITY CENTER

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Staten Island, NY

10,000 SF

Passive Design Features

Completed 2011

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“At the Richmond Terrace Houses in Staten Island, pivoting stainless-steel screens will allow the glass wall to be exposed when there are activities at the center and protected at other hours.”

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- “Community Centers Open-up, with Glass and Air,” David Dunlap, The New York Times

     

This community center addition and renovation is located within a dark brick housing project, facing its interior grounds. The challenge was to create a welcoming and open addition for the users of the Center while also enhancing its existing interior.

 

APT’s concept was to open the new addition to the adjacent, verdant grounds and to create interconnected interior spaces filled with light and air. A circulation spine with a translucent, illuminated ceiling demarcates the addition from the existing Center.

 

A stainless steel roof and a band of glazing wrap the new building, while, inside, modular red storage units separate the new classrooms and multipurpose room from one another. Glass partitions, some movable, are used parallel to the glass facade so that natural light can filter deep within the new spaces.

 

Although the client did not target LEED certification, the team designed the project to strict sustainable guidelines, incorporating abundant natural light and views to the lush grounds, materials with recycled content, and low VOC for all finishes.

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