M512A / Oak Passive House
This three-story brownstone built in 1905 on a beautiful tree-lined street in Bed-Stuy retained its original two family designation—with a one bedroom apartment on the garden level. The top duplex has ample space for this family of four—with three bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs. We created a new kitchen location on the Parlor level, with a generous island and a large family dining area. We inserted a small office between the two spaces that also houses the single HVAC unit above it—allowing ceilings to remain their original height everywhere else. The Passive House envelope extends into the cellar—with the cellar stair and a portion around it enclosed with a high performance envelope.
We call this house the Oak Passive House, as it boasts beautiful locally sourced oak flooring by Tri-Lox throughout, the windows are aluminum-clad oak windows by Optiwin in Austria, and the main parlor kitchen by Reform has oak fronts. Other finishes are kept simple and pared back; white dominates the tile, countertop and wall finishes, with accents of subtle black.
CO Adaptive Building started out by carefully removing all the existing wood details from the house, to be stored in an elevated tent that had been set up in the rear yard. At the same time, the roof went through an asbestos abatement process, and a new roof was installed over mineral wool insulation.
CO Adaptive refinished a significant portion of the existing wood details, and repaired them on site. The original wood shutters were manipulated in our wood shop in the Navy Yard for re-installation; careful detailing and fabrication allowed the historic trim pieces to fit around the new high performance windows—a moment that CO Adaptive is particularly proud of. We also reused wood studs coming out of the project to make all the bathroom vanity fronts throughout—upcycling the framing lumber for finished wood. The plethora of original details in the house is merged with a modern and clean aesthetic—emphasizing the duality of respecting the past while bringing this beautiful home into the future.
MEP Engineering: ABS Engineering
Structural Engineering: Bergan Design Lab Engineering
Carpentry: CO Adaptive
Plumbing: Dao Mechanical Corp.
Electrical: Denmar Electric
HVAC: Aamway Service Co.
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Type: Residential
Values: Creative Reuse, Low Carbon, Healthy Materials, Energy Efficiency