Myrtle Hall was conceived to be a mixed-use building and a flagship for sustainability on the Pratt campus. The building serves as an asset both to Pratt and the larger Clinton Hill community in Brooklyn.
For such a large building in a mostly residential neighborhood it was important to be conscientious about the building’s integrity with the surrounding context. There were many challenges, and zoning requirements played a role in the final form. However, breaking up the facade with different materials and working with the local vernacular helped to address the position of the building within the community. The brick wall is seen overlapping the glass curtain wall, which has sun shade devices as one of the many methods used to create a sustainable building.
The atrium creates transparency for the building, both at the scale of the community, by creating a visual connection from the campus side of the building to the street side, and it helps unify the interior spaces by creating a focal gathering point and bringing light into the building’s center. Uniting the program spaces together the vertical atrium space, or ‘ribbon’, extends through the full height of the building.
The work spaces were designed to maximize light, space and flexibility of adding and moving workstations and connections. Leaving the spaces with a more unfinished feeling allows for the users to adjust and add to the space as needed.
2008 / Completed 2010 / WASA - Studio A