The 1869 coffee warehouse fronting along the wildly successful Brooklyn Bridge Park – is now home to retail stores, office space, restaurants, a beer garden, and an outpost of the Brooklyn Historical Society. Future Green’s landscape for the iconic structure comprises a 7,000-square-foot rooftop public park (the first of its kind in the landscape repertoire of Brooklyn Bridge Park), 50,000 square feet of green roofs planted with wild meadow species; and a streetscape of charred cedar planters echoing the building’s working past.

The design concept amplifies the simple forms and powerful voids that operate at multiple scales throughout the site, from its position along the waterfront framed by two archetypal bridges to the abandoned work spaces of another time. Angular, diamond-plate steel planters and reclaimed-wood seating echo the dynamic rip-rap shapes along the nearby river’s edge. The carefully selected greenery stitches all the different architectural and natural elements together. The multifaceted space attracts locals, tourists, and visitors daily.

Website: www.futuregreenstudio.com/design/empire-stores/

Other designers involved in the design of landscape: S9 Architecture

Project location (Street, City, Country): Brooklyn, NY

Design year: 2014

Year Built: 2016

Manufacturer of urban equipment: AGA