Boerum Hill is typical of Brooklyn residential neighborhoods, with tree-lined streets of historic brownstone and brick townhouses neatly pressed up against one another. Once an immigrant community, the last few decades have seen an influx of buyers purchasing historic homes and renovating them into modern apartments and single-family homes.

To the west, a swath of four city blocks makes up the Gowanus Houses, a public housing project maintained by The New York City Housing Authority. Here, concentration moves vertically, with imposing brick structures ranging from 4 to 14 stories high.

To the south, the rapidly changing neighborhood of Gowanus borders the Gowanus Canal. Once an industrial hub, the famously polluted waterway’s recent environmental rehabilitation and rezoning have created a housing boom.

At the intersection of these sits 450 Warren, an experiment in city living and an exercise in rebuilding the relationship between urban society and the natural environment. Prioritizing outdoor space in the design creates abundant opportunities to introduce nature as a defining fabric. Working in partnership with The Brooklyn Grange, an urban rooftop farm in the nearby Brooklyn Navy Yard, and the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, extensive native greenery is introduced in the courtyards and atrium to naturally purify the air. A passive irrigation system irrigates the gardens using rainwater. The resulting space, as functional as it is naturally beautiful, is anchored in sustainable practice. A fervent response to the shortcomings of past urban development, the project models thoughtful, future-minded design for improved quality of life alongside environmental stewardship.