New York skyline: The Brooklyn Tower

New York has a new landmark: the Brooklyn Tower. With a height of 325 metres, it is Brooklyn’s first super-tall skyscraper. A building is called ‘super-tall’ when it reaches three hundred metres. The city has nineteen super-tall buildings. Most are in Manhattan: the tallest is One World Trade Center in the Financial District, at 541 metres.

NEIGHBOURHOOD

The Brooklyn Tower is one of the newest. Brooklyn is an old neighbourhood, but it is also modern — just like the new tower. Located at 9 DeKalb Avenue, it is in the heart of downtown Brooklyn. It incorporates the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn, built in 1908. The old bank inspired the creators, SHoP Architects. They used its shapes, patterns and finishes in the tower’s design. Like the bank, it features interlocking hexagons. White marble is used at the bottom. Black stainless steel is next. Then, it changes to copper and bronze shades, as the building ascends. 

The tower sits on a triangular plot. The broad base makes it very stable. Some skinny skyscrapers in New York have been affected by wind. However, the new tower had issues in the winter. Ice broke off the sides and fell to the pavement.

FEATURES

The tower has 93 floors. At the bottom is a shopping centre in the Dime Savings Bank. Then, there are rental apartments. A third are designated as affordable housing. From the 53rd floor, there are condominiums, with incredible views of Manhattan, Brooklyn, the East River and New York Harbor. Prices range from $875,000 to $8 million. The bank’s rooftop has three swimming pools, accessible from the seventh floor. The Sky Deck on the 66th floor has the highest residential basketball court in the world, as well as a dog run, a children’s playground and a football court. Residents can also use the Sky Lounge on the 85th floor for open-air dining and entertaining. 

GOTHAM GOTHIC

The Brooklyn Tower proudly faces Manhattan’s skyscrapers across the river. Its dramatic design demands attention. New York magazine described it as “a new kind of Gotham gothic,” with “Batman-ready ledges.” Gregg Pasquarelli, founder of SHoP Architects, had his own description. He called it, “brooding, elegant and badass”