Bleecker Street House
A comparative before-and-after elevation precedent demonstrating the careful restoration of historic brickwork and the opening up of urban storefront glazing.
- What we like about this project
- The upper window boards are entirely replaced with continuous single-lite picture windows, dramatically increasing upper-level transparency.
Materials
- brick
- glass
- wood
- steel
Visual identifiers
- before-after
- brick-facade
- storefront-restoration
- stepped-parapet
Style tags
- historic
- restoration
- contextual
- vernacular
Visual tags
- renovation
- historic-preservation
- urban-infill
- facade-restoration
- adaptive-reuse
- Geometry
- Symmetrical three-story urban townhouse facade with a stepped parapet, comparing a dilapidated pre-renovation state to a restored, transparent condition.
- Facade system
- Load-bearing masonry exterior wall with large single-pane timber or steel-framed storefront and upper window assemblies.
- Structural guess
- Load-bearing brick masonry walls with wood floor joists
- Spatial scale
- Three-story residential/commercial street frontage at human pedestrian scale.
- Lighting
- Direct, flat daylight capturing the exterior masonry and window conditions uniformly.
- Atmosphere
- A clear chronological transition from neglected urban decay to refined historical revitalization.
- Environmental context
- Urban streetscape with neighboring historic brick facades and sidewalk tree foliage.
- Spatial experience
- The facade transforms from a dark, boarded-up barrier into an open, welcoming storefront and light-filled upper levels that connect the interior directly to the street.
- Composition rhythm
- Balanced vertical window bays and horizontal belt courses divided into a split side-by-side comparative frame.
- Style reading
- Contextual historic preservation and urban restoration
- Program
- Mixed-use urban townhouse with ground floor retail
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- brick, glass, wood, steel
- Visual identifiers
- before-after, brick-facade, storefront-restoration, stepped-parapet
- Style tags
- historic, restoration, contextual, vernacular
- Visual tags
- renovation, historic-preservation, urban-infill, facade-restoration, adaptive-reuse
- Geometry
- Symmetrical three-story urban townhouse facade with a stepped parapet, comparing a dilapidated pre-renovation state to a restored, transparent condition.
- Facade system
- Load-bearing masonry exterior wall with large single-pane timber or steel-framed storefront and upper window assemblies.
- Structural guess
- Load-bearing brick masonry walls with wood floor joists
- Spatial scale
- Three-story residential/commercial street frontage at human pedestrian scale.
- Lighting
- Direct, flat daylight capturing the exterior masonry and window conditions uniformly.
- Atmosphere
- A clear chronological transition from neglected urban decay to refined historical revitalization.
- Environmental context
- Urban streetscape with neighboring historic brick facades and sidewalk tree foliage.
- Spatial experience
- The facade transforms from a dark, boarded-up barrier into an open, welcoming storefront and light-filled upper levels that connect the interior directly to the street.
- Composition rhythm
- Balanced vertical window bays and horizontal belt courses divided into a split side-by-side comparative frame.
- Style reading
- Contextual historic preservation and urban restoration
- Program
- Mixed-use urban townhouse with ground floor retail
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture