After a stretch of waterfront in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint and Williamsburg neighborhoods was rezoned in 2005, a crop of residential towers bloomed in what was previously an industrial area. One of them—The Bellslip, developed by Brookfield and designed by Handel Architects—is set along the banks of Newtown Creek as it empties into the East River. (The area is now called Greenpoint Landing.) Leong Leong joined the project to lead the design of The Bellslip’s amenities. The effort included the building’s ground-floor lobbies, workout spaces, a shared dining area, a pool lounge, co-working suites, and exterior terraces.
A sunlit, publicly accessible urban room greets all visitors. “When we developed the project, we were thinking through questions like ‘Who’s going to use this building?’ and ‘How do we really make this public space?’” Christopher Leong, partner at Leong Leong, told AN Interior on a recent visit. (He leads the office with his brother Dominic Leong.) Large, pill-shaped partitions with integrated seating rotate, offering flexibility. Tailored to the project, the pills can be moved by one person to resize the room for gatherings of different sizes, additionally supported by furniture from Muuto and a curving Osaka sofa designed by Pierre Paulin for La Cividina. Long, tubular custom light fixtures designed by Dot Dash run overhead. On the opposite side of the entry, a coffee shop features a lively stone counter with a fluted red back wall.
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