Discovering Brooklyn’s Unique Waterfront Gem: Eagle and West

Breaking the Mold of New York’s Luxury Towers 🏙️

Not all of New York’s luxury apartment towers need to be skinny, super tall skyscrapers. A stellar example of innovative architecture can be found in the borough of Brooklyn. Standing at the northernmost section of Greenpoint, is the striking Eagle and West. The tower looks like a jumble of textured blocks, with a second tower serving as its negative mirror image.

A Puzzling Project with Purpose 🧩

This architectural marvel is the culmination of a years-long push to rezone Brooklyn’s industrial waterfront. The goal: to restore a broken link between neighborhood residents and the river. Transformed by the architecture firm OMA, the sprawling redevelopment covers 1.6 miles of waterfront along the East River. This redevelopment has resulted in acres of new parkland and thousands of units of new housing.

A Dual-Perspective Design 🌉

One of the most impressive features of Eagle and West is that it offers views both for residents and neighbors. Often, waterfront developments focus so much on the river that they end up turning their back on their own neighborhoods. “For us, it was important to make an overall form that would not feel like it was neglecting Greenpoint,” say the architects.

Architectural Constraints: An Innovation Story 🏗️

The shape of Eagle and West starts with zoning restrictions. The property offered a maximum floor plate size of 11,000 square feet, and tower heights were capped at 300 and 400 feet—translating to 30 and 40 stories, respectively. When designing within these constraints, they realized that the towers could end up being only 40 feet apart.

To resolve this, the architects implemented cuts and step-backs to achieve a wider separation. At first, 40 feet felt too close for comfort. The towers, therefore, turn away from each other as they rise, resulting in 60 feet of distance between them. Each tower swivels along its axis, creating cantilevers that open up as terraces.

Breathtaking Views and Design Details 🌇

One fascinating detail is the visual alignment of the stair cut up to the plaza courtyard level. If you follow the sightline across the water, it leads directly to the Empire State Building. While this may be more of a happy accident than an intentional design choice, it’s hard to deny how stunning it is.

Further enhancing the tower’s unique form is its precast concrete facade, designed with a corduroy texture thanks to two-inch deep grooves. Each block is shingled and oriented in such a way that their patterns rotate, mirroring the towers’ movements. The result offers a visually stunning, pixelated effect from afar.

Neighborhood Integration Through Green Spaces 🌳

The Waterfront Esplanade surrounding Eagle and West is a noteworthy project itself. Designed by James Corner Field Operations, it connects different blocks of Greenpoint Landing with a new, publicly accessible promenade and seating areas.

On the building itself, the architects collaborated with Marmol Radziner to develop a landscape strategy. This plan extends green space and active spaces onto the terraces of the building, encompassing elements like a pool deck and green roof areas.

An Anchor for the Community

Eagle and West is more than just a luxury development. It’s contributing significantly to the community by incorporating a substantial share of affordable units. “About 40% of the units in the shorter tower are affordable,” and all 108 units in the podium are designed to be affordable as well. In total, Eagle and West includes 745 apartments.

The Future of Brooklyn’s Skyline 🏢

With such thoughtful integration into the neighborhood and careful consideration given to the design, Eagle and West is poised to be not just a striking visual addition but a meaningful lifestyle upgrade for the community as well.

Whether you find yourself living there or simply visiting the modern waterfront esplanade, Eagle and West in Greenpoint stands as a testament to innovative urban design. It’s an architectural puzzle that brings New York luxury to Brooklyn, all while staying grounded in a commitment to community and accessibility.

Strolling along the Brooklyn waterfront now offers more than just scenic views; it’s a journey through an architectural masterpiece that tells a story of revival, innovation, and community interconnectivity. Eagle and West has undoubtedly etched its place in the ever-evolving skyline of New York City.