Wyckoff Exchange

What were the circumstances of receiving the commission for this project?

The Wyckoff Exchange was commissioned as an economical and adaptive re-use of two abandoned warehouses to create 10,000 square feet of retail and cultural space in Bushwick, Brooklyn. This place is marked by the strong traces of a gritty industrial past, and is rapidly transforming into a center of art and creativity. The developers have multiple similar warehouses and see this project as a prototype for future adaptations.

Can you describe your design process for the building?

We wanted to create an iconic building to speak to the neighborhood’s emerging future as a center of art and creative energy, so we designed a unique façade that is dramatic, inventive and inspired by the industrial qualities of the neighborhood’s past. And with cutting-edge technologies and construction techniques, we were able to look forward and transform this 100-foot-long, eighteen-foot-tall and two-inch-deep façade into a contemporary mural of light and texture.

The design solution is highly inventive, relying upon motorized scissor door technology adapted from airplane hangars and factory buildings. The five pairs of moving façade panels create an ever-changing expression of tectonics and purpose. By day the panels fold up to create awnings for the stores and to shelter pedestrians. By night they secure the shops behind them and create an artful façade defined by a glowing abstract gradient pattern of internally illuminated laser-cut Cor-ten and stainless steel. This enigmatic work of art, executed on an urban scale, defines the Wyckoff Exchange as more than just a commercial structure.

How does the completed building compare to the project as designed? Were there any dramatic changes between the two and/or lessons learned during construction?

We chose materials for this façade that are both industrial and artistic. Our focused use of just two materials was deliberate to define this building and elevate the urban quality and character of the neighborhood to something more. When we completed the building we realized just how appropriate those materials are -- at dusk, the surface quality of the raw Cor-ten steel is elegantly transformed into a Rothko-like canvas by the setting sun, while at night the shimmering layer of perforated stainless steel just two inches behind it forms a perfect complement (when the internal LED lights are illuminated).

How does the building compare to other projects in your office, be it the same or other building types?

The project is representative of Andre Kikoski Architect’s style -- it is dramatic and highly tactile, and is executed with an extreme economy of means. At once both simple yet complex, the design uses a modest kit of parts to create a highly sophisticated yet perfectly playful building. And with a richly textured material palette and carefully considered details, Andre Kikoski Architect transforms references to the neighborhood’s industrial character into an artistic statement that is bold, fresh and different.

E-Mail Interview conducted by John Hill