A Quick Peek

Below is our vision of the front facade. We have been working out the details of facade materials, and construction detailing recently.  A wood or metal rain screen will be framed with a steel angle and set off from the plane of the bedroom balconies.  A hot colored tile will liven up the facade, and balance the composition.  Ideally our materials will either be from salvaged sources, or contain recycled content. We are balancing these needs with the aesthetics, cost, and ease of installation detail.   The bedrooms will have operable fenestration with a small balcony to allow air and light deep into the room.  More to come soon about wall detailing.  Construction starts up again next week! 

rendering by Oliver Dang, collage by thread.

In Praise of Bushwick!

As a record amount of snow has fallen and construction awaits better weather, we want to give some thoughts about our 'hood. 

It’s the longstanding diversity as much as the imported cool that makes Bushwick so vibrant... Financial Times

Over the last few years there has been an increasing buzz about Bushwick, our neck of the woods - literally, the name is derived from the Dutch, meaning ‘little town in the woods’.  The neighborhood has a long and complex history: an agricultural Dutch hamlet, the epicenter of beer making in New York, the site of neglect and loss in the 70’s, home to a mix of spanish-speaking immigrants. Now Bushwick is experiencing the latest expansion of the development following the L train into Brooklyn. Rising residential rents and a sense of over-gentrification in Williamsburg have pushed the creative community further east; galleries, restaurants, stores, and new housing developments have followed.  Even the Financial Times is calling it “New Yorks’s New Bohemia”. 

In need of more space, thread collective moved our studio here from Williamsburg four years ago. Traveling three additional stops on the L line, we’ve traded quiet residential for creative industrial, and losing quirky Italian cafes but gaining excellent local taquerias.  We have come to love the mix and mingle of businesses and artists, the entrepreneurial spirit, and accessibility to people who are still making things. 

Bushwick doesn’t advertise its attractions – some of the most popular parties and events are at Brooklyn Fire Proof, an arts community space on Ingraham Street marked only by a blazing mural out front. Hidden-away art galleries, such as Storefront, English Kills and Sugar, exhibit the kind of edgy emerging urban art that has disappeared from SoHo and Chelsea.  Financial Times

 

Troutman Street is well situated, within walking distance of Maria Hernandez park, several subway stops, and across the street from Tandem, a local bar. In addition to Hudson's The Knick Condominiums is under construction a few blocks away, and Roberta’s locavore restaurant and garden, several urban farms, including Bushwick City Farm, are easily accessible. 

For more local information about events and businesses, check out the great local blog,  bushwickbk.com