STATUS
IN DESIGN
CLIENT
Two Trees Management
TYPOLOGY
Residential
SIZE M2/FT2
118,637 / 1,277,000
SHARE
The Brooklyn waterfront is continually evolving. What was once a soft shoreline of wetlands, marshes, shallows, beaches, and tidal flats, is now a series of elevated piers, bulkheads, and physical barriers, compromising the relationship between water and city.
In collaboration with Two Trees Management and James Corner Field Operations, BIG’s design for the mixed-use River Ring development on the Williamsburg waterfront, provides a total of 1,000 units of market-rate and affordable housing while seeking to enhance the connectivity of the public waterfront, restore natural habitats, elevate the standard for urban waterfront resiliency, and transform the way New Yorkers interact with the East River.
METROPOLITAN GATEWAY
— Opening the site footprint towards the river creates more public waterfront space for the community and a gateway from Metropolitan Avenue to the water.
BRINGING THE CITY TO THE WATER
— Continuing the Metropolitan corridor with a loop extending beyond the bulkhead invites the city out to the East River, offering opportunities to interact with the water.
SOFTENED SHORELINE
— Deconstructing and re-naturalizing the built shoreline brings the East River to the city, and introduces an opportunity for people to walk down and directly engage with the water.
PANORAMIC COVE
— A walkable path connects both city and park, providing 360° views of Manhattan, Brooklyn and inward to the public cove.
PROTECTIVE BREAKWATERS
— Extending landscape-piers to large concrete caissons, once used to anchor large ships, creates protective breakwaters. These dissipate wave action from the river to create calmer waters for in-water recreational activities while adding a level of protection during storms.
A NEW WATERFRONT PARK
— Inspired by the opportunity to create a living waterfront, River Ring seeks to enhance the connectivity of the public waterfront, restore natural habitats, elevate the standard for urban waterfront resiliency, and transform the way New Yorkers interact with the East River.
River Ring intends to complete the continuous public waterfront that stretches from Bushwick Inlet Park to Domino Park, addressing a major missing link in the public route from Williamsburg to Greenpoint. Located at an important junction where Metropolitan Avenue terminates at the East River, the masterplan extends the urban connection from the city grid out toward the water, encouraging people to explore the ecological park.
“Our proposal closes one of the last remaining gaps in the continuous transformation of the Williamsburg waterfront into a post-industrial natural habitat. Rather than stopping at the hard edge of the old dock, Metropolitan Avenue is split into a pedestrian loop extending all the way into the river, connecting the dots of the concrete caissons to form an urban archipelago of recreative islands while protecting a beach and body of water for water sports and wetlands. The radical transformation of Copenhagen’s port into a swimmable extension of the public space that we helped pioneer two decades ago, now seems to be knocking at the door in Williamsburg and the entire East River. The River Loop will be the first of many invitations for New Yorkers to dip their toes in the water.”
By deconstructing and re-naturalizing the built urban shoreline, the water’s edge is expanded into the city, creating a beach that brings people out to the water. A circular path frames a protected cove, providing 360° panoramic views of Brooklyn and Manhattan. By extending landscape-piers to the concrete caissons existing today, breakwaters are created that dissipate wave action from river waves and wakes from boats. This protected cove will support in-water recreation such as swimming and boating, while mitigating the effects of storm surge on the neighborhood.
The expanded and enhanced shoreline creates six acres of new park space (including three acres of in-water programming), featuring an outdoor tidal classroom, tidal pools, picnic and hammock grove, and a nature walk. Habitat restoration addresses the biodiversity gap on the East River and builds off other initiatives in the region. This encourages the return of wildlife to the East River that we are already beginning to see today.
The building footprint results from expanding the public realm, significantly increasing public park space while minimizing the building area at the ground level. Framing the new park are public facing programs – a new 47,000 sq ft YMCA; 30,000 sq ft of neighborhood-oriented retail space; and 4,500 sq ft of community occupied kiosks.
The residential towers are oriented to limit view obstruction from the neighborhood and maximize the Metropolitan Avenue view corridor. Blending the towers with the landscape softens the relationship between building and park, forming a gateway that welcomes the community to the water.
“We investigated the opportunity to stretch the Williamsburg waterfront landward with a circular pier and protected cove for water-based activities, inviting New Yorkers to take back and enjoy the river as a social and ecological public amenity. Surrounded by a necklace of recreation, educational and commercial programs, we envision the historic piers to be renewed and teeming with life. The masterplan proposes splitting Metropolitan Avenue into two diagonal pathways that connect to the waterfront promenade, resulting in triangular building footprints with views to the East River. Two towers inspired by Williamsburg warehouses are injected with neighborhood-oriented retail at its base, while the traditional podium is replaced by cascading terraces that frame and soften the relationship to the park.”
Bjarke Ingels Daniel Sundlin Beat Schenk Adam Poole Agla Egilsdottir Andreea Gulerez Dominyka Voelkle Jamie Maslyn Larson Kevin Pham Max Moriyama Melissa Jones Melody Hwang Neha Sadruddin Nicholas Reddon Oliver Thomas Paulina Panus Stephanie Hui Shane Dalke Terrence Chew Tracy Sodder Xi Zhang Bell Cai Yushan Huang Tony-Saba Shiber Carlos Castillo Christian Salkeld Chris Tron Danna Lei Janie Green Jeffrey Shumaker Ji-Young Yoon Bernardo Schuhmacher Douglass Alligood Jakub Kulisa Jordan Felber Yeling Guo Yerin Won Charlotte Chan Siobhan Finlay
AWARDS
ASLA New York Honor Award for Unbuilt Project, 2021 AIA NY, Citation Award in Urban Planning, 2021
COLLABORATORS
James Corner Field Operations | Fried Frank
