We started working on a new ground-up project in one of our favorite neighborhoods, Greenpoint Brooklyn. It will be a 5-unit PassivHaus apartment building called Haus, and will be built on a typical Brooklyn-sized 25′x100′ lot.
The 1st floor unit has a private rear garden and all others have a generous balcony; everybody shares the roof.
...is a variation of our terrace house concept out of cast in place concrete...
7 stories, 40 apartments with exterior corridors - 30,000sf - 4 exterior stairs -4 elevators. photos by raimund koch
Passiv Haus
174 Grand Street in Williamsburg / Brooklyn
Mixed use building: private residence above retail store. This our attempt to build NYC's first new building which fulfills the strict german Passiv Haus standard.
Envelope design:
walls: load-bearing 8" concrete masonry units with 6" EPS exterior insulation
parapets: autoclave aerrated concrete blocks to avoid thermal bridging
exterior finish: EFIS with 7" EPS interior finish: CMU painted, all electric installation exposed roof: 4" concrete on steel deck covered by 8" rigid insulation windows: Walch Windows from Austria
residence entrance door: custom 4" thick wood panel
Mechanical concept:
one Mitsubishi ducted indoor unit for remaining heating and cooling demand.
Zehnder ComfoAir 350 Enery Recovery Ventilator exterior sun sail at the south facade to avoid summer overheating
957 pacific street brooklyn ny
program:
18 apartments in 5 story building / parking on ground floor / recreation room in cellar
the concept:
exterior:
We moved all circulation as stairs, elevators and corridors to the perimeter of the building to create simple rectangular floor-through apartments. The exterior corridors facing south also function as generous sized balconies, almost vertically stacked front porches.
interior:
The 18 apartments are nearly identical. They are about 800 sqft with the freestanding bathroom / kitchen unit separating the living areafrom the bedroom. The bedroom can be further divided with a retractablewall into a bedroom / home office. The front and rear windows enable
easy cross-ventilation. easy cross-ventilation.
team:
Harry Knoll, Werner Morath and Sam Bargetz
interior by Funda Duruka
sample apartment by GGrippo
structural: Murray Engineering
MEP: Klein, Levin Engineering
expediting: Joseph Fellner
photos by Marc Lins
renovation and conversion of existing commercial building for retail use plus addition of duplex single family home above
1. energy concept
the design is an attempt to create a passive solar house to minimize heating and cooling costs.we achieved this by constructing a well-insulated building shell out of the ICF building system and a large south-facing triple-insulated glass facade which leads to a roof garden on top of the retail space.
the 4' roof overhang and the 3rd floor balcony provide shading for the glass facade in summer while the low angle of the sun in the winter will provide heat for the interior.
as a supplement to the passive solar concept, we utilized an HVAC split system with a heat pump rather than a typical furnace and A/C unit.
the heating cost is further reduced through an energy recovery ventilator, which uses the warm exhaust air to preheat the incoming cool fresh air.
in the summer months, the ventilator works in reverse.
2. design concept:
the design of the openings on the street-facing facade did not take place until halfway through the construction process when we were able to meet with the clients onsite to determine where certain openings could be placed to respond to light conditions, views of the skies and exterior, and to maintain privacy.
