Residential (1-2 Family)

BQDA Award of Excellence
Spungen Residence - Baxt Ingui Architects (Brooklyn, NY)
Photo Credit: Baxt Ingui Architects, P.C.
Baxt Ingui Architects transformed this historic row house into a super energy efficient “passive house” – the first to receive certification in a New York City Historic District. Many thought that passive house requirements, and the Landmark Preservation Commission’s adherence to historic window details, were incompatible. The architects successfully exceeded the expectations of both entities by designing a home that is both modern and historic.
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The creation of a nearly double height kitchen at the lower rear provides a spacious, light-filled room, and is an elegant solution to the problems all row houses face of having the kitchen and the living room on different floors. A graceful curvilinear stair connects the upper levels, addressing the client’s desire for openness in their home. Baxt Ingui deserves credit for managing the complexity of passive design and providing an attractive home for their clients.
BQDA Award of Merit
Knapp Residence - Baxt Ingui Architects (Brooklyn, NY)
Photo Credit: Baxt Ingui Architects, P.C.
In this townhouse renovation, Baxt Ingui Architects nearly doubled the size by adding a floor and a rear addition. The meticulous renovation is evident throughout, and provided the owners with a bigger home.

The ground floor has a large family room opening to the rear yard, a laundry room, and a complete private guest suite. The first (parlor) floor houses a large living room and a kitchen/dining area that has a curved staircase, leading to the ground floor. The architects removed the front stair between the ground and first floor, utilizing the found floor space for a powder room and coat closet. One flight up is the bed room floor, featuring a master suite with two walk-in closets, full bath, and a double height sky lit office. There are two bedrooms and a bath in the front of the house at this level. The third floor has a study with a bar sink and a powder room plus a roof deck. In addition, the house was renovated to passive house standards, requiring 70% less mechanical equipment and duct work. And best of all, the architects maintained the existing historic character requested by the clients.

Residential (Multiple Family/Multiple Dwelling)

BQDA Award of Excellence (BQDA Design of the Year)
78S3 - Zambrano Architectural Design (Brooklyn, NY)
Photo Credit: Evan Joseph
This reinterpretation of the urban townhouse in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn demonstrates that modern design can be as contextual as the replication of an older building. In the three family project Zambrano Architects used scale, massing and materials to create a simple and stylish alteration to an existing building.
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The warm glazed finish on the basement and first floor echoes the brownstone base often used on brick houses in the past. The traditional stoop, entrance, and front yard enclosure have been reconfigured to provide privacy for the residents while keeping a sociable facade to the street. The upper stories present a carefully detailed combination of large glass openings with vertical and horizontal bands of stucco. Glass panels at the sliding doors create “Juliet” balconies that don’t obstruct the rhythm of the front and rear façades.
BQDA Award of Merit
3030 West 32nd Street - Corporate Design of America (Brooklyn, NY)
Photo Credit: Corporate Design of America
Adjacent to the renowned Coney Island Boardwalk, this vibrant low scale residential project is an attractive newcomer to the area. Having surmounted the hurdles of the NYC Special Waterfront Zoning requirements, and the unique weather conditions (sun, salt, moisture, and wind), architect Robert Palermo and his team have designed a well-planned building that takes advantage of the great views around it.

The brick and sandy-colored EIFS facades reflect the context of nearby brick apartment houses and the beach sand on the other side of the Boardwalk. The architects took care to mitigate the sun, using balconies or overhangs and carefully planned windows. The site plan and floor plan are thoughtful and attractive.  Especially of note is the through-lobby corridor and the resulting central location of the elevator and one set of stairs. As a result the corridor lengths on the floors above are much shorter than found in most double loaded corridor projects. Overall, this playful building epitomizes everything a beach front property should be.

Institutional

BQDA Award of Excellence
Primary School 330Q - Murphy Burnham & Buttrick Architects (Queens, NY)
Photo Credit: Ty Cole/Chuck Choi
The design of this primary school in Queens elevates institutional architecture, which can often be dreary and monotonous, into a dynamic and joyous place. The building intentionally engages the street with extensive glazing and an ample lobby that leads to the common spaces. The lobby, furnished with benches, serves as a social space for parents and children. The basement gymatorium is bathed in natural light and can be seen from the street as well as the lobby above. In addition, the corridors and stairwells on the upper floors have natural light as well. Although the materials and furnishings are appropriately durable, the architects cleverly used wood slated ceilings and bold color to create warm and lively spaces throughout.
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Together with an intelligent site plan and a LEED Certified Equivalent, this new school has proved very popular with area parents and has a wait list for kindergarten this year.
BQDA Award of Merit
The Noguchi Museum - Sage and Coombe Architects (Queens, NY)
Photo Credit: Sage and Coombe Architects
This is an appealing project on many levels: it’s a  museum  for one  of  the  greatest  sculptors of  the  20th  century,  Isanu Noguchi,  who  himself  began  the museum at this  location;  it   was  a  long  term  project  with  three  phases;  and it was incredibly challenging. Sage Coombe Architects have  done exactly  what  Noguchi  would  have  done  had  he  had  the funds  during  his  lifetime.

Much of the space feels raw and untouched, albeit heated, lighted, fire-rated and structurally sound on 900 new piles. The new insertions - a cafe and gift shop, a new entry pavilion, and an exquisite upper gallery - are sensitive and respectful. The clients: The Noguchi Museum, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the NYC DDC, were stalwart partners in this project but, the real clients are the hundreds of Noguchi sculptures that are fortunate to have this museum as their home.

Commercial/Industrial - Small Projects

BQDA Award of Excellence
Belle Harbor Chemists - New York Design Architects (Queens, NY)
Photo Credit: Deborah Matlack
This project is an inspiring collaboration between a local business owner and a perceptive architect who understood that architecture is more than simply making a building. Belle Harbor 
Chemists, a long-time fixture in Rockaway Beach, needed to  relocate. Joseph Smerina used the apothecary store and the history of Rockaway Beach asinspiration for the design which in many ways is the anti thesis of the modern drugstore.

This handsome brick structure, with industrial steel glazing and a large canopy, successfully evokes the materials and craftsmanship of an older aesthetic. A passerby can see into the building from the street, and once inside is not dwarfed by a towering maze of tall shelves found in many chain drug stores. The interior is furnished with corrugated steel, polished concrete floors, reclaimed wood and large historic photos of Rockaway   Beach. Mr. Smerina merits recognition for creating a “place” in the community.
BQDA Award of Merit
Lot 5 Lounge - David Cunningham Architecture Planning (Brooklyn, NY)
Photo Credit: David Cunningham Architecture Planning
Lot 5 Lounge is a nightclub that was created within a windowless plumbing warehouse. Located one block from Domino Sugar - a large waterfront project, architect David Cunningham and his team have created a multi-level experience with interesting views. The design of the project was a process of subtraction: the removal of a portion of the front wall to create a swinging window. This revealed the inside spaces while giving customers a sidelong view of the Williamsburg Bridge. Roof rafters were removed in order to create an outdoor experience visible from the bar, at the street level. The rafters were milled and repurposed as wall and ceiling finishes.
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The clients discovered a painted tag on one of the rafters indicating it was from “Lot 5. ” The label was preserved and used at the entrance, and became the inspiration for the name of the lounge. The red color was adopted for the bar stool cushions and the sprinkler pipes. A comfortable, and quirky space, Lot 5 Lounge is a satisfying amalgam of hip and gritty.

Commercial/Industrial - Large Projects

BQDA Award of Excellence
The Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club - Andre Tchelistcheff Architects (Brooklyn, NY)
Photo Credit: Travis Magee
As the first shuffleboard club in New York and the largest indoor facility in the country, The Royal Palms inhabits a former die-cutting factory in Gowanus,  Brooklyn. The building was dilapidated and had little in the way of modern infrastructure. The task of outfitting 17,000 square feet, even at the most minimal level, can quickly strain a budget. The architects designed a wooden perimeter platform containing plumbing, mechanical and electrical elements. It was a strategic move that dramatically reduced construction costs but, more importantly, provided a viewing platform and social space for eating and drinking. The minimal vertical separation gives the shuffleboard courts a special focus in what had been a large, undifferentiated factory space. Mr. Tchelistcheff and his team delivered a chic and thoughtful project for their client - on time and within budget. And, according to Instagram and Facebook, Royal Palms is a highly popular place to go!
BQDA Award of Merit
Genesis Renal Services - Zambrano Architectural Design (Queens, NY)
Photo Credit: Patrick Lee, AIA
People who need renal dialysis typically go three times a week for about three  hours for their treatment, all too often to a dreary  poorly  designed  facility.  Genesis Services engaged Zambrano Architects to design a dialysis center that would contribute to patients’ well-being during their treatment. Dialysis centers must be designed to New York Department of Health standards. One  of  the  critical requirements is that all patients must be visible from all nursing stations. Zambrano Architects began by planning for the large treatment area and situated it to take maximum advantage of the natural light on both sides of the building. Two strategically placed nursing stations  ensured  full  visibility  of every patient.

Zambrano Architects transformed the former brick industrial building into a pleasing experience for patients by the use of color and graphics, playful lighting design with a glowing floating ceiling and with ample natural light. Particularly notable is the striking façade renovation that showcases Genesis Renal Services. The project was completed in a short time period and within budget.

Additions/Renovations

BQDA Award of Excellence
PorcHouse - noroof architects (Brooklyn, NY)
Photo Credit: Chuck Choi
Traditionally, Brooklyn was the borough of stoops - the exterior masonry stair that led to the parlor floor. PorcHouse, a two story wood house dating from 1879, is an example of the use of a covered front porch, more commonly found in suburban and rural dwellings. The architects carefully restored the front porch and used it as an inspiration for a “back porch”- a new enclosed double height space leading to the south facing rear yard. The exterior siding that wraps around and into the new porch helps blur the distinction between inside and outside.
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The floor plan is thoughtful and flexible, providing spaces that could be used for different purposes. The architects have successfully combined historic and modern details to create a comfortable living space. The second floor contains three bedrooms, a study overlooking the porch, a laundry and two bathrooms. The architects, in a gutsy move, ran the exterior metal chimney up the rear passing in front of the master bedroom, framing the view in a unique manner.
BQDA Award of Merit
South Slope Townhouse - Etelamaki Architecture (Brooklyn, NY)
Photo Credit: Etelamaki Architecture, PLLC
A limited budget does not have to be a deterrent for good design, as architect Jeff Etelamaki has proved with his design of this Brooklyn townhouse. Located in an area known as South Park Slope, the surrounding context is a mix of industrial and eclectic townhouses with more than a sprinkling of vinyl or aluminum siding. The clients wanted an airy modern house but were on a strict budget.

The existing three family house was transformed into an owner’s duplex and a ground floor rental apartment. The façade is a combination of corrugated steel, perforated aluminum panels backed painted red panels, and windows of varying sizes. The result is a visually balanced and striking street presence. Inside the building, Mr. Etelamaki managed to provide a three bedroom, three bath owner’s apartment with a full living room that is not part of the dining room and kitchen - an amenity that has become rare in developer real estate world.
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The master bathroom features a custom steel and glass door to the bathroom, allowing for an open feeling to the suite. The judicious use of some original building features adds to the lively design, echoing the previous incarnation of the house. This project should be an inspiration to anyone seeking an economical, livable and well-designed home.

Urban Planning/Design

BQDA Award of Excellence
The Brooklyn Strand - WXY architecture + urban design  (Brooklyn, NY)
Photo Credit: WXY architecture + urban design
The Brooklyn Strand was commissioned by the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership to develop design strategies to enhance the connectivity between Downtown Brooklyn, the Brooklyn waterfront, and the surrounding neighborhoods. WXY architecture + urban design’s task was to evaluate and assess the existing conditions as well as engage the stakeholders. The study area is situated at the nexus of Brooklyn’s transportation systems, and the team has taken up the challenge of creating a strand.

In Phase 1 of the project, WXY studied three nodes along the Strand for possible interventions. As an example, Borough Hall Park is currently not experienced as a park or a gateway to downtown because it is a parking lot for Supreme Court judges. The WXY team proposed putting the parking below ground and creating a new iconic structure that will serve pedestrians, area workers, and residents more suitably.
BQDA Award of Merit
The Queensway Plan - DLANDstudio Architecture + Landscape & WXY architecture + urban design  (Queens, NY)
Photo Credit: DLANDstudio Architecture + Landscape Architecture, PLLC
QueensWay was envisioned as an exciting opportunity to convert an abandoned elevated railroad corridor that stretches from Ozone Park to Rego Park in Queens. The Trust for Public Land commissioned DLANstudio and WXY to develop a vision plan for a new linear park corresponding to the abandoned elevated Long Island Railroad right-of way.
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The planning and design team studied the entire length of the site and created a vision that responded to the three major geographic segments of the railway which will be developed into a 47 acre park. It was necessary to identify the physical characteristics of the railroad structure as it threaded through various neighborhoods. Additionally the team collected data on topography, ecology, and land uses as well as stakeholder and NYC agency outreach. This compendium of information generated a two stage design process that identified programmatic strategies for the park. Their concept was to create moments of pause, of ecology, of connection, and of exercise along the Queensway spine.

Adaptive Reuse/Historic Preservation

BQDA Award of Excellence
The Dudley - NV/design.architecture  (Brooklyn, NY)
Photo Credit: NV/design.architecture, PLLC
Built in 1902 as a student nurses residence for Long Island College Hospital, The Dudley was an important structure in the Cobble Hill Historic District. Later it was renamed the Lamm Institute and served children with disabilities. Eventually it was abandoned by the hospital and sold to three individuals who wished to create residences within the existing structure. The architects’ brilliant solution was to divide the building vertically into three “townhouses” which made it easier to preserve the historic exterior features while creating three unique residences within.
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The facade was cleaned and new historically appropriate windows were installed. The center unit is entered through an existing doorway for which a new door was fabricated based upon a historic newspaper sketch. The other two units have their entrances on the sides of the building. The fact that most people don’t realize that the building has a new use shows the success of this project and an example of historic preservation at its best.
BQDA Award of Merit
Liberty View Industrial Plaza - Zambrano Architectural Design  (Brooklyn, NY)
Photo Credit: Patrick Lee
In the category of “they don’t build ‘em like this anymore,” Liberty View Industrial Plaza (formerly The US Navy Fleet Base Storehouse No.2) was built in 1921 as a military storage and distribution warehouse that takes up an entire city block. It is located in the heart of Brooklyn’s former industrial waterfront adjacent to Sunset Park, an area that is being revitalized for diverse, dense, and environmentally sustainable industry.
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Zambrano Architects was retained to restore and adapt the building for light manufacturing and retail. The owner, Salmar Properties, sought to develop and preserve the building in order to be eligible for historic tax credits. After careful research, the architects restored the important historical features, such as the façade, its large industrial windows (which were replaced with energy efficient ones), and mushroom columns. The new public lobbies and elevators are modern in design and restrained enough to allow the robust architectural feature of this industrial giant of a building to shine.

Small Firm/Small Practitioner

BQDA Award of Excellence
House in the Woods - Khanna Schultz   (Water Mill, NY) - Beyond BQDA Subcategory
Photo Credit: Scott Frances
The House in the Woods is an object lesson in impeccable site design when the site lacks an iconic view. Architect Robert Schultz created a new landscape using a carefully sculpted mound and distinct views - to the house, through the house and from the house. Its plan is deceptively simple; a main living block with two angled wings - a garage and guest complex at the entrance to the site, and the other wing housing the bedrooms. The subtlety of the design emerges through the use of materials, the window placement, and the roof design. The major fenestration is in common living areas, oriented to an outside terrace and an elevated pool and pool house beyond. However, the so-called “secondary windows” have been precisely designed and placed for maximum effect, naturally reinforcing the complexity of the site design. The selection of materials, mainly cedar and limestone, suggests but does not mimic the outdoor surroundings and are used on the exterior and interior seamlessly. Their considerable restraint in this project results in a style that is both contemporary and timeless.
BQDA Award of Merit
NASA Orbit Pavilion - Studio KCA   (Multiple Locations) - Beyond BQDA Subcategory
Photo Credit: Studio KCA
Studio KCA was commissioned by NASA to design a travelling pavilion where the invisible sounds and trajectories of 19 NASA satellites orbiting the Earth could be experienced. NASA wanted a structure that is easily demountable and could travel around the country as a teaching tool to demonstrate NASA’s mission in space.
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Architects Jason Klimoski and Lesley Chang envisioned a giant chambered nautilus that would convey the sounds of space, much as a natural shell conveys the sound of the sea. They designed a pavilion that has a 30 foot diameter “room” with an oculus at the center. A structural frame holds 72 laser cut aluminum panels that are scribed with over 100 orbital paths. Twenty-four speakers inside the sphere broadcast sounds assigned to each of the 19 satellites that are orbiting the earth. The beauty and the science of this project make it very special.

Interiors

BQDA Award of Merit
Cumberland Packing Offices - CWB Architects   (Brooklyn, NY) 
Photo Credit: Rachael Stollar
Cumberland Packing is a corporation that has operated in Brooklyn for over fifty years, its most notable product being Sweet n’ Low. Changes in manufacturing caused the company to close its core business. Brendan Coburn of CWB Architects was hired to provide a master plan for converting their five story historic warehouse into new corporate offices, with an accessible green roof, and a museum showcasing industries within the Brooklyn Navy Yard. This project - three floors for corporate offices - was designed to acknowledge and celebrate the building’s past, while introducing a modern sensibility and up-to-date infrastructure. The offices have been thoughtfully planned to take advantage of natural light. To the extent possible, materials and products were sourced from local manufacturers and vendors, continuing the notion of ‘Made in Brooklyn’ into the 21st century.

Local Firm/Local Project

BQDA Award of Merit
Lift Next Level Floats - 590BC  (Brooklyn, NY) 
Photo Credit: 590BC
Lift Next Level Floats is a sensory deprivation spa that utilizes salt water tanks (float rooms) in which clients experience weightlessness and darkness for a period of an hour. Architect Bronwyn Bretiner was engaged to research this type of therapy and to provide a vision and branding through the design of this new prototype in Brooklyn. The second floor location of the space presented structural and acoustical challenges that the architects were able to overcome.
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The design theme reflects the program in which there is a progression from the bright windowed reception area to the private rooms. A blue light at floor level marks the circulation path and becomes brighter as one comes closer to the darker private rooms. After emerging from the flotation tank, clients spend time in a decompression lounge which provides a gentle transition back to the stimuli of life.

Unbuilt

BQDA Award of Excellence
Tensegrity Bridge - Atelier Architecture 64  (Salford Meadows, United Kingdom) 
Photo Credit: Atelier Architecture 64
This bridge project was a competition entry for the Salford Bridge Competition held in 2013. Salford is a town in the United Kingdom located in the borough of Manchester. It is situated on the meander of the Irwell River and the competition’s aim was to provide a connection between the town center and a large green space called the Meadow which sits between two sides of the oxbow formed by the river. Mr. Anazalone produced an elegant tensegrity structure which combines tension cables and isolated structural compression members that act biomechanically. Buckminster Fuller and sculptor Kenneth Snelson were the first to employ tensegrity as a construction form.
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The unique design needed only one pier on each side of the riverbank, thus fulfilling the requirement that the waterway remain untouched. Its light airy appearance is an effective counterpoint to the nature of the Meadow and the surrounding Victorian townscape.
BQDA Award of Merit
1/9d - SYNQ  (Queens, NY) 
Photo Credit: 1/9d
The project is an entry to a competition sponsored by Emerging New York Architects (ENYA) for the redesign of an abandoned elevated railway station in Ozone Park, Queens. The impetus for the competition was the QueensWay project, a plan for a linear park along the entire length of the unused rail line. The elevated station is wide at this location, providing an opportunity for a variety of activities and design schemes.
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This entry, mysteriously called SYNQ, provides several distinct entry points: two ramps at an open market area, one that meanders and the other direct. In the central portion of the project, the designers proposed a wide landscaped “waterfall” stair. Wisely, the programming is left flexible with spaces for music, performance and various cultural activities. A sinuous perforated metal skin on outer ramp and the upper level is an effective “sign” to announce its presence in the community.

Pro Bono

BQDA Award of Merit
Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center - Andre Tchelistcheff Architects  (Brooklyn, NY) 
Photo Credit: Travis Magee
There are certain commissions that an architect might find hard to refuse even when there is little or no fee involved. The design of a new dance studio and performance space for the Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center is an example of a creative project that can be very satisfying for a designer. Andre Tchelistcheff and his team adapted spaces in a converted DUMBO warehouse that had been used as a retail furniture store and an adjacent playhouse.
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The playhouse stage, an attractive existing amenity, was not large enough for the client’s needs. The folding door system expands the length of the stage for rehearsals or performances. At other times the doors can be closed to create additional studio spaces. The build-out also included a lobby area, changing rooms and administrative offices. This inventive project resulted in a flexible, bold, and utilitarian solution for its owner.
Jury: Manuel Andrade, AIA, LEED AP; John Cutumpas, AIA, NCARB; May G. Kirk, AIA; Michael Shilale, AIA, LEED AP; Jaclyn Taylor, AIA, LEED BC+C