Brunswick Shelter for adult families
LOCATION: Far Rockaway, NY
PROGRAM: Temporary Shelter for Adult Families
TOTAL AREA: 25,900 SF
CLIENT: Brisa Builders LLC
PARTNERS: MWB Engineering, Rodney D. Gibble Consulting Engineers, GZA GeoEnvironmental
The Brunswick Shelter project is a 26,000 SF, three-story plus cellar, 72-unit, temporary accommodation shelter for NYC’s adult families with supporting service offices. Located in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of NYC. Paul A. Castrucci Architects (PCA) provided complete design services for the new building with communal recreational terrace. The new construction, purpose built shelter will provide temporary accommodation to 144 individuals.
The energy efficient project will be certified to Enterprise Green Communities standards by decreasing building energy use and operational costs, while providing superior occupant comfort and best-practice indoor air quality.
The project balances cost effective design methodology to deliver a welcoming and comfortable experience for the occupants. Utilizing a trauma informed design approach, the Brunswick Shelter’s interior integrates ample natural light and interior planting into a peaceful color pallet with noise reducing, soft, durable materials. The building provides a variety of common spaces with diverse characteristics to give place selection agency to the residence including a classroom, a library, a grand recreational hall and 3 accessible exterior terraces. The exterior of the building features a vertical planting facade to soften the building’s edges to seamlessly integrate into the neighborhood’s context. Elevated accessible design is featured throughout the building to deliver specifically suitable and comfortable accommodation for occupants ranging in physical and mental abilities.
PCA is proud to support NYC’s continued dedication to housing by providing greater access to quality shelter for NYC’s most vulnerable populations through the design of the Brunswick Purpose Built Shelter.