thread collective’s three partners always imagined designing a home for themselves, a chance to inhabit their vision of a sustainable, elegant architecture integrated with the landscape and the city. After years of looking at property throughout Brooklyn and many intensive design conversations, with the help of some fortuitous timing, the Brooklyn architecture + urban design firm now owns and occupies Trouthouse, a three unit LEED gold building. Introduced to Bushwick’s stealth charms while working with several artists in the neighborhood [long before Roberta’s made it a destination], thread purchased an empty lot on Troutman Street in 2007. That same year, thread moved their studio a few blocks away, making the indispensable daily trips to the site during construction possible.
In addition to the building being a showcase for their ideas, the experience of being owner, developer, and architect has proved to be invaluable to the firm. They understand the design process from the other side of the table, having navigated the many complex decisions and calculations that they must guide their clients through, from property assessment to fastidious material decisions to weighing costs related to sustainability. thread’s airy offices are on the ground floor, with lush views into the cultivated wild of a backyard through the floor to ceiling windows. A spiral staircase connects to the second floor with a treehouse feel, and is home to partners Mark Mancuso and Elliott Maltby. Floor through apartments on the third and fourth floor have long views over the skyline of Bushwick and Manhattan. A large solar array canopy at the bulkhead creates shade and generates enough electricity to power the thread duplex year-round. A deck and green roof, built by the thread partners last summer, is open to Trouthouse residents and an increasing number of beneficial insects. Sunset parties extend late into the evening, local mumblers’ pigeons and the New York skyline captivating friends, colleagues, and clients.
Building details :
+ 5,600sf residential building : 3 units, with ground floor office
+ LEED for Homes, Gold / Energy Star rated
+ highly insulated envelope, energy efficient fiberglass windows
+ high efficiency mechanical systems [heating + cooling]
+ passive cooling, continuous low flow ventilation
+ 5.5 KW solar array / shade structure: year round production sufficient for duplex unit electrical needs
+ energy efficient lighting [80% of interior fixtures]
+ low flow water fixtures
+ 200 gallon rainwater collection
+ 95% drought tolerant planting in rear yard + green roof
+ no impervious surfaces in rear yard / no grass
+ on site composting : combination bokashi + vermicomposting
+ native meadow green roof [mainly hampstead plains vegetation]
+ gaia soil : engineered soil for green roof 10lbs dry/ cf, 30 lbs wet/ cf. locally made
+ re-use of coney island boardwalk wood [ipe] on facade, kitchen backsplash, roof deck
Material Used :
1. Art work installation: Josh Lutz, Sara Eichner, Jens Veneman
2. Custom vanity: Jens Veneman Fabrications
3. Facade and backsplash salvalged IPE wood from the Coney Island Boardwalk: Old Good Things
4. Orange bike rack: Dero
5. Green roof system: Conservation Technologies
6. Custom cast concrete conference table: Jens Veneman Fabrications
7. Windows: InLine Windows
8. Residence: vintage furniture
9. Plants: Greenbelt Native Plant Center
10. Rain water catchment: Rain Hogs
11. Handrail / brackets: 522 Industries
12. Recessed lights: US Light
