In 1915, Brooklyn New York, the Austin, Nichols and Company building on the docklands was completed. Designed by american architect Cass Gilbert, (architect of the Woolworth building, New York 1913) it was utilised as a food and drinks manufacturing plant until the mid 1900's and subsequently as a warehouse. This building is a strong example of the precarious situations that historic buildings find themselves in, especially those whose merit is under appreciated or misunderstood and often written off as mere relics of a former age. Toward the end of the 1900's, movements were under-way to redevelop the site which included demolitions and drastic transformations. Luckily, many people recognized the importance of the building, both culturally, architecturally and historically, and undertook steps to have the building listed for protection. The pro-retention side eventually won out after years of lobbying and petitioning and in 2005, the former warehouse was designated as a protected and listed building.
Facade prior to restoration - forgotten-ny.com
In recent years, SLCE Architects were employed on behalf of the warehouses owners to sympathetically restore and adapt the building for re-use. The restoration work included restoring of the entire facade, new waterfront pathways and promenade and streetscaping, interior green courtyards, roof-top beach, interior gardens and boardwalks as well as modern residential units. The scheme won the 2011 award for adaptive reuse (Brooklyn Awards)
Restored facade : Flickr user - JOSH
Internal courtyard - bevanddara.wordpress.com
2008 video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNGcR21x7xQ
http://saveindustrialbrooklyn.org/pdf/austin_nichols.pdf
http://www.slcearch.com/adaptive-reuse/184-kent-avenue/
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