Brooklyn, NY Just one year after breaking ground on its multi-million high-tech office development project at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, a joint venture partnership of Boston Properties, Rudin Development and WeWork, along with architect S9 Architecture and landscape architect MPFP, have been recognized for its work at Dock 72 by New York City’s Public Design Commission (PDC).

The Annual Excellence in Design Awards, which celebrate excellence in remarkable designs that create sustainable spaces, enhance neighborhoods and even preserve New York City history, announced that the joint venture partnership is being honored for its work at Dock 72 for its technological innovation and smart building design. The awards ceremony took place on Thursday, May 11th at city hall.

With Dock 72, the project team is undertaking one of the largest New York City commercial buildings to be constructed outside of Manhattan in decades. The heart of the project centers around the maritime and industrial history of the Navy Yard and is designed to drive innovation and collaboration between tenants. 

Inspired by the forms of the ships that were once built here, the building’s design features V-shaped structural columns that lift the ship-like structure above the floodplain and form dual water and land access, according to Navid Maqami, co-founding principal of S9 Architecture. “The typical rectangular office massing was transformed and sculpted, stepping down toward Wallabout Bay, creating terraces with views of the surrounding Navy Yard, the East River, and Manhattan,” he said. “The building’s exterior facade is also punctuated by a composition of common social spaces that reveal the “ant farm”-like movement of the members inside, and expresses the importance of random collisions amongst people that can lead to serendipitous connections and collaborations.” 

WeWork will anchor the new building with a 222,000 s/f lease in addition to acting as co-developer and curator of the amenity spaces, which include a health and wellness center, specialty food and beverage offerings and a rooftop conference center. The joint venture broke ground in May 2016 and the project will be ready for tenant fit-out late this year and will be completed in mid-2018.

Dock 72 is raising the standard for modern class A office development and exemplifies the theme of intersecting technology and urban life.  The building features:

• Target LEED Certification.

• 30% active vegetated open space.

• 18,000 s/f of outdoor work space.

• A design that withstands the new 100-year flood standards.

• Nantum, a building-wide operating system.

• Lifestyle amenities for mind and body.

• Recycled content and regional materials.

“We are honored to be recognized by such a prestigious group representing the city’s architectural and design community,” said Samantha Rudin, senior vice president of Rudin Development. “Working in close collaboration with our esteemed partners, Boston Properties, WeWork, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation and S9 Architecture, we believe that Dock 72 will redefine the modern office environment in Brooklyn and transform how people do business.”

“Dock 72 represents a great partnership between Rudin Development, WeWork and Boston Properties working to develop a unique building in a unique and dynamic location,” said Rob Schubert senior vice president – Construction of Boston Properties’ New York Region. “We look forward to topping out steel this summer and opening the building next year.” 

The awards ceremony comes on the heels of a blockbuster year for commercial activity at the Navy Yard. Earlier this year, several newcomers signed leases at Building 77, a one million-square-foot property that is currently undergoing a $185 million renovation by the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. They include venerated New York City-based food institution Russ & Daughters, which signed a 14,000 square-foot lease to anchor the new public food hall and manufacturing space at the property, and tech incubator and seed fund 1776, which is taking 30,000 square feet on the top floor. In addition, Netherlands-based B. Amsterdam, Europe’s largest business incubator, signed a long-term, 100,000 square-foot lease at Building 127, and Brooklyn-based chocolate maker Mast Brothers Chocolate leased 65,000 square feet at the Yard’s Green Manufacturing Center, a LEED-certified manufacturing facility and former ship building center which also counts New Lab, a modern manufacturing and innovative co-working space, as an anchor tenant. Wegmans, a family-owned, Rochester-based grocery chain, is also set to open at the nearby Admiral’s Row.