THE HEGEMAN
The Hegeman provides permanent, affordable housing for single adults in the under-resourced neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn. The five story sustainable building offers studio apartments for formerly homeless individuals with special needs, persons with HIV/AIDS and low-income residents, many from the Brownsville community. COOKFOX Architects designed the LEED Silver building for Common Ground, a non profit developer aimed at ending homelessness.
Terrain designed the courtyard, entry landscape, green roofs and future urban farm community garden. The courtyard provides flexible, shaded outdoor space to the building's 160 residents while the gardens negotiate the grade change up to the urban farm and street level. The slope is dealt with subtly, eliminating railings and other visual distraction to give a lush, expansive backdrop to the main seating area. At turns along the serpentine, small intimate spaces are created. A 3,400 square foot roof garden and permeable paving help the landscape manage its own water. Phase two of the project will provide residents with garden plots for food production and an exercise deck to promote healthy living.
