The project is an innovative corner town house designed to enhance the urban fabric of Clinton Hill. The structure features a five-room triplex on the upper levels that culminates in a distinctive triangular terrace, alongside a four-room duplex centered around a private patio on the lower levels. A small garage provides convenient access from the street.
Constructed using a “domino” style of reinforced concrete, the building's form is both modern and functional. The non-load-bearing facades employ a balloon frame clad in tinted white stucco, allowing for a cohesive and elegant appearance. Each floor features strategically placed, large-format windows that optimize natural light and ventilation while framing diverse urban views. These windows are oriented from east to west, subtly influencing the spatial experience within.
The building's overall volume appears simple and unified, characterized by large solid stucco panels. However, it features a striking 45° cut at the top, creating a dynamic silhouette that responds to the intersection of the streets. One facade acts as a vertical "billboard," exploring the architectural themes of doors and windows, while the opposing facade transitions down a level on Greene Ave, echoing the scale of smaller neighboring structures. This design culminates in a peak that gradually narrows, creating a visual interplay that draws the eye and invites exploration.
The building at 272 Greene Ave is not just a residence; it is a thoughtful contribution to the architectural landscape of Brooklyn. By balancing modern design with contextual sensitivity, the project seeks to foster a vibrant community space while celebrating the unique characteristics of Clinton Hill.
Team
Architects: Inès Lamunière, dl-a, designlab-architecture, Geneva, Switzerland, in partnership with : Matthias Müller, MuNYC architecture pllc
MEP Engineer: ANZ Engineering, LLC
Structural Engineers: LMW Engineering Group, LLC, Linden, NJ, and Ivan Design Engineering Analysis, PLLC, New York, NY
Contractor: First Standard Construction, In
Gut renovation of a loft apartment at City Hall Park, New York. The 3,200sf loft was renovated from the ground up into a 3-bedroom, 3 1/2-bathroom apartment.
Architect / MuNYC architecture pllc, Brooklyn
Decorator / Maurice DoNoso, Edgewater
Contractor / GC Sterling, Pompton Lakes
This project involved the complete gut renovation of a landmarked four-family townhouse in Carroll Gardens, transforming it into an owner-occupied triplex home with a two-bedroom rental apartment on the basement level. The renovation was highly customized to meet the owner's preferences, achieved through close collaboration with Hanlin Design.
Given the age and condition of the building, the renovation required significant structural improvements. In addition, the team implemented modern, efficient systems, including central air conditioning, heating, and a new sprinkler system, and new, energy-efficient windows. Throughout the process, MuNYC worked closely with the contractor, consultant engineers, as well as provided all expediting with both the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Department of Buildings to secure the necessary approvals and navigate the sign-off procedures.
The cellar features shared storage space as well as a private recreation room for the owners. The basement includes a two-bedroom rental apartment with independent access. On the parlor floor, the layout was designed with a formal sitting room at the front of the home and a dining room at the rear, with a central kitchen connecting the two spaces. Large, highly insulated and thermally broken steel glass doors in the rear wall open onto a new steel deck, which includes stairs leading to the garden below, blending indoor and outdoor living. Outside, a serene garden patio in the rear yard offers calm, enclosed by a solid wall for privacy, rather than a typical fence, creating a peaceful separation from neighbors. The second floor houses the primary bedroom with an en-suite bathroom, as well as a guest bedroom, also with its own en-suite bathroom. The top floor is dedicated to the children, featuring two equally sized bedrooms that share a bathroom. This floor also includes a family and play room, illuminated by a large central skylight, creating a bright, open space for play and connection.
Team
Architect: MuNYC architecture pllc
Interior Design: Hanlin Design, LLC
MEP Engineer: ANZ Engineering, LLC
Structural Engineer: Jay Butler Engineering, PC
Contractor: LeeCo Construction, Inc
BKLYN CLAY is a state-of-the-art ceramics studio offering membership with all-day access, classes for all ages and skill levels, and a shop for ceramic tools, materials, and clay. For its second location, housed on the ground floor of a new residential tower in Prospect Heights, MuNYC collaborated with the clients, the project’s interior designer, mechanical and structural engineers, and building management to create a modern space for this ancient art form.
Building on the experience of the first BKLYN CLAY location, the design for this much larger space required careful adaptation to the existing infrastructure and NYC building code regulations. The design team ensured full handicapped accessibility throughout the studio and navigated the complex venting requirements for the kilns, all while adhering to the client’s budget. Extensive storage solutions were incorporated, including multi-level pottery shelving units accessed by catwalks to accommodate the studio’s growing needs.
In addition to architectural services, MuNYC facilitated all NYC Department of Buildings approvals and sign-offs, ensuring compliance and timely project completion. The result is a spacious, well-lit, and welcoming environment where ceramics enthusiasts of all skill levels can thrive.
Team
Architect: MuNYC architecture pllc
Interior Design: Hanlin Design, LLC
Mechanical Engineer: ANZ Consulting Engineers, PLLC
Structural Engineer: IDEA, LLC
Contractor: Evergreen Construction
A country home for two retired Brooklyn aesthetes. This home was carefully situated to sit lightly on the hillside while embracing the views. The design offers a sleek modern take on simple materials, while still fitting within the Homeowners’ Association’s Design Guidelines.
DeForm ReForm experiments with power and precision of machinery using a six-axis robotic arm, to incrementally form copper sheeting into a structural building material. Viewers trace their fingertips along toolpath striations, leaving their alterations via skin oils providing a natural patina.
DeForm ReForm was a sculpture to explore the boundaries of what was possible when incrementally deforming copper to harden it into a structural building material.
Using a six-axis robot to stretch the copper panels, this experimental project coupled the precision and power of machinery with the whimsy of design.
As project manager for a team of six people, I generated the toolpaths for 31 unique copper panels, managed the files and labeling system, maintained the fabrication and construction schedule, and kept constant communication with the team.
The renovation of this West Village apartment, located in a pre-war building, involved a complete gut renovation of a corner two-bedroom unit. The layout was transformed from a cramped two-bedroom to a spacious and open one-bedroom design, including the addition of a powder room hidden behind a concealed door and a washer/dryer.
The apartment’s layout was reimagined by using custom millwork units in place of traditional partitions, maximizing space and storage. These built-ins include a desk, closets, seating, and an entry wardrobe, all designed with both functionality and aesthetics in mind. Keeping every detail in mind, MuNYC’s designer, Phoebe St John, collaborated closely with the client to create these custom pieces and select finishes, fixtures, and appliances, all while carefully managing the project’s budget.
MuNYC also facilitated all necessary approvals with the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Department of Buildings to ensure full compliance with local regulations.
Given the building’s interior wood framing, extensive soundproofing measures were needed to address inadequate noise insulation between apartments. Working with an acoustic consultant, MuNYC implemented soundproofing for walls, floors, windows, and building pipes, ensuring effective decoupling of the apartment from the surrounding units.
The result is a thoughtfully designed, bright, quiet, and comfortable home that blends modern convenience with pre-war charm.
Team
Architect and Interior Design: MuNYC architecture pllc, Phoebe St John
Contractor: GC Sterling Contractors, Inc
Designed and built with stainless steel fence posts and custom tension cables. Aquaponics by OKO Farms.
Occupying a portion of the courtyard to the carriage house of the Stuyvesant Mansion. This grand manor now hosts community organizations, acupuncture, and a local bakery, Bread Love.
The Greenhouse provides not only a place for growing
plants, but a space for the local community to mingle
and children to interact with agriculture and culinary
arts.
chainlinkGREEN is a system of construction designed to realize urban gardens, shade canopies, parks, benches and other urban, social condensers using only materials common to an abandoned lot, including chainlink fencing, standard 90°, steel pipe, rubble, reclaimed lumber, and concrete debris. chainlinkGREEN’s distinct geometry and aesthetic is borne from three concerns: (a) to develop an efficient, 3-dimensional structural system using only the 90° angles common to chainlink fencing, (b) to realize a construction system that is simple to build without the aid of expensive tools or trained professionals, and (c) to offer an intensely elastic environment that is capable of accommodating the wide variety of programs, materials and uses needed by our urban environments. chainlinkGREEN’s lightweight, easily constructed structure, realized through a simple distortion of the common fence typology, offers great utility, elasticity, and beauty within a very simple palette – creating a work that is affordable, accessible and at home in most urban settings. From an environmental standpoint, the elasticity of chainlinkGREEN’s potential material and programmatic palette offers opportunities to create sustainable urban gardens, storm water retention systems and animal habitats using only discarded materials and sites.
chainlinkGREEN was one of the first built projects of Philadelphia's Green Citys, Clean Waters Initiative to add permeable surface to existing hardscape conditions in an effort to reduce stormwater runoff into the city's overtaxed combined sewer drainage system. The International Design Clinic team designed using materials found typically at one of Philadelphia's many vacant lots. I sourced all the materials, many of which were reclaimed. We diverted truckloads of concrete rubble from a neighborhood sidewalk reconstruction, and I personally visited dozens of local woodworking shops over several months to divert their wood scraps from the landfill. We led high school students and prison work-release participants through the construction process. Eight years later, it is still a site for congregating, which is a testament to its structural integrity and
usefulness.
