“I used to think New York was a red brick city, and it is in many places,” says Morris Adjmi. “But if you look at the neighborhood around 45 East 7th Street, or the Lower East Side in general, you see a lot more of that lighter brick.” He notes the influence of the white buildings at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair in the whitening of Manhattan. “A lot of the architects who were in Chicago were either New York architects or they were Chicago architects who came back to New York.” And he points to the white buildings of the Ladies’ Mile, a Manhattan shopping district popularized in the late nineteenth century, as an example of their work and influence on the city.

MA uses a light-toned brick in the 34,000-square-foot, 7-story, 21-unit 45 East 7th to reflect the tenement buildings in its locale. Responding to the neighborhood was a necessity, as the site is within the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District and so had to reply to certain codes. But it was also a matter of sensitivity, as the boutique condominium building is located on the site of a deadly gas explosion that leveled 3 tenement buildings previously occupying the corner of 7th and 2nd Ave. A plaque on 45 East 7th commemorates the two people who died in the event.

The bricks define familiar tripartite facades in a new way. The unconventional use of hand-laid brick creates an incredibly dynamic play of light and shadow that changes throughout the day, lending the bricks a multi-tonal quality. The building’s cornice resembles those of adjacent structures but is composed of a perforated metal panel - simultaneously fitting in and standing out. “It is an abstraction, but it’s a very literal application in that we created a modern version of some of the buildings that you see in the historic district by using different patterns of brick.” The ground level has brick piers in a single corbel pattern. The middle portion sets a custom L-shaped brick in a checkerboard pattern, which was often used below windows or in banding courses on neighborhood buildings. The frieze at the top of 45 East 7th uses a brick pattern with a double corbel. Adjmi seems little concerned that this light, now pristine, surface will weather over time. He talks about the authenticity of materials. “You think about cars—old Jaguars had a waxed wood dashboard, and now they’re dipped in acrylic or Lucite or something, and there’s wood back there, but does it really matter? It doesn’t smell like wood. It doesn’t really look or feel like wood.” He continues, “Coming back to bricks, they’re real, they get dirty, they get dusty, and they get better with age.”

On June 13, 2008, flood waters crested in Cedar Rapids at 31.12 feet, 19.12 feet above flood stage, inundating the Central Fire Station with 11 feet of water. The building was declared a total loss.

A new 67,140 square foot Central Fire Station was constructed with two-stories above grade and one below. It has eight apparatus bays, seven of which are drive-through. The first floor is occupied by the firefighters and contains seventeen dorm rooms, weight and cardio rooms, kitchen and dining room, day room and library. The administration occupies the second floor with offices, conference rooms and an emergency operations center. The basement houses parking for the staff vehicles, mechanical and storage spaces. A wing on the end of the apparatus bay contains training, storage and support spaces for the firefighters.

Glen-Gery brick was selected as the primary cladding material in an effort to pay homage to the original Central Fire Station, a masonry structure that served for nearly 70 years, from 1917-1985, and later as the city’s Science Station until the 2008 flood. Selecting brick from the Glen-Gery Marseilles Plant meant not only was the product selected going to be beautiful, but it was also mined and fired within the LEED Certification requirements, which contributed to this building receiving LEED Platinum Certification!

The expansive deep red brick building gives the city a landmark at a busy city block on the main avenue.

The Fire Department stated these requirements for the design of the new fire station: “Built of durable and maintainable materials, achieve LEED Platinum Certification, and act as a reminder of the proud history of the Cedar Rapids Fire Department.” And it did just that! The building achieved LEED Platinum Certification, and at the time of writing it is the largest fire station in the United States to achieve LEED Platinum Certification.

This project is a shining example of what happens when an architect’s vision comes together with quality workmanship and great materials!

This project is two blends: Dark Grey is a 3-way blend of Norman Klaycoat. The Light Grey blend is a 3-way blend of Norman S56 Oyster Grey, S72 Smoky Quartz, and S181 Dolomite Grey.

Originally constructed in 1960, Briarwood Elementary maintained its neighborhood school image well into the 21st century. Many decades and two additions later, the sprawling footprint of the building could not keep up with a growing enrollment. The design team was tasked with designing a replacement school on the same site, while improving the parent drop-off route, providing a dedicated bus lane and increasing on-site parking. Additionally, the team had to maintain a proper neighborhood context to the smaller scale neighboring houses.

The land-locked school required a complete building demolition in order to erect a new two-story facility that could effectively accommodate the growing enrollment and other school needs. 

Because of its neighborhood context, Briarwood Elementary needed help minimizing its near 40’ tall presence of the classroom wing. Though the site has a natural depression from the nearby houses, norman size Glen-Gery brick were selected to help elongate the overall form rather than help elevate it.

Additionally, to add some relief on the building, every fourth course was stepped in to help further accentuate the horizontal rather than the vertical on the classroom wing. With many schools having the stereotype of red brick buildings (in addition to not many adjacent houses being red brick) the design team selected a light grey 3-way blend and a dark grey klaycoat 3-way blend. The level at which the blends change on the classroom wing is 9’-4” which represents the elevation of the eaves of the former Briarwood Elementary.

The district had an established history of success using Glen-Gery brick on multiple buildings over the years and insisted the use of Glen-Gery products again to maintain success and consistency amongst the district - a decision that did not disappoint.

While the new facility is within 3% of the same total square foot size of the former facility, the usable space to hallway ratio was significantly improved thus making the new facility better equipped for the growing enrollment than the former facility. The compact footprint and approach to traditional application of space went a long way into helping the project come in on time and on budget.