Brooklyn, NY

Court Street separates a nineteenth-century residential area from Brooklyn’s downtown civic and business center. Rather than make a high-profile architectural statement, our design integrates the building with its surroundings, minimizing its 210-foot height.

A large bookstore occupies the two-story base, which is covered with two colors of brick and a decorative cornice. Its detailing and height echo the architecture of neighboring brownstones.

Rising from the base is an 11-story tower containing a 12-screen cineplex. The first two stories of the tower’s east and south sides are sheathed in glass, revealing activity in the cinema lobbies. The building’s windowless facades are enlivened by horizontal bands of color and a series of setbacks.

CLIENT: Forest City Ratner
COMPLETION: 2000
SIZE: 141,000 square feet
CONSTRUCTION COST: $14.5 million