Gran Kriegel Associates designs two new schools at 283 Adams St.

A project to convert a former court house located at 283 Adams St. in downtown Brooklyn into two 500-seat high schools has been completed.   The project was designed by Gran Kriegel Associates on behalf of the New York City School Construction Authority.  The original court building, dating back to 1951, contains 140,000 s/f built around a central core.  The interior was completely gutted and reconfigured to accommodate the new schools, the Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice, and Urban Assembly School of Math and Science for Young Women. Gran Kriegel established two primary goals in the design process for the project:  to respect the surrounding character of Brooklyn's Civic Center and create a distinct identity for the schools while visually linking the new with the old.  The design solutions that were implemented to accomplish this include a new double-height glass building entry to express the identity of the school at street level.   "We removed a small part of the second floor, creating a two-story space within the existing red granite frame," said Warren Gran, a principal at Gran Kriegel Associates.  "The scale communicated to the outside is more in keeping with the size and sense of entry for 1,000 students.  The lobby announces the new life given to the old Brooklyn Family Court." The lobby features re-installed bas-relief stone panels salvaged from the original courthouse.  The building was re-clad with lightweight limestone panels to aesthetically complement the institutional character of the Civic Center.   All mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire-protection systems throughout the building were replaced. Elevator shafts were combined to accommodate larger, ADA-compliant cars.  Coordination of the new systems within the existing structural system required creative solutions to achieve the necessary ceiling heights.