Aug 9

Building of the Week - 26th Ed.

 
Timber House
670 Union St, Brooklyn, NY  11215

If you regularly use overhead lighting, I simply cannot trust you. I hate overhead lighting so much that my apartment is strictly lit with sconces and lamps. Overhead lighting can go kick rocks with open-toed shoes. In the living room where I type this very newsletter, I have 4 different lamps. I only use the fridge light and the vent light over the stove in my kitchen. If I can’t see it with that lighting then it doesn’t fucking exist. If you turn on my overhead lighting, it’s on sight. And I would’ve died by this opinion… until I saw… her.

I was walking around Park Slope with my friend Kerstin, as one does, when the warmest glow was suddenly cast upon my face. I turn to my left. Who’s there? A beautiful amber vision of stone and timber. A Scandinavian princess. Her. Where is that light coming from? No.. th-this can’t be. The ceiling? I fell to my knees. Could it be? This whole time… I just needed… recessed lighting?

New enemies to lovers book idea, anyone? Uh yeah, so basically that’s exactly why I chose this building. Her name is the Timber House and her game is being that girl in the coffee shop who walks in and everyone suddenly stops what they’re doing. She brings her own mug because she cares about the environment (in a sexy way). Whispers of wealth surround her and as she walks by you, you get whiffs of vanilla, mandarin orange, sandalwood, and … love? Are you twirling your hair and kicking your feet while reading this too? 

“Okay Sara, we get it! You’re in love with her! She’s just a building! You could never be together! Plus you're married!” WELL TOO BAD! I’m already too committed to this bit! What? You want me to shut up and tell you at least one single fact about this place? Of course you do, you little freak. I guess we are four paragraphs deep now. I’m just procrastinating doing research tbh.

Let’s make it five! Alright baby! Fact time! Timber house is a six-story condominium with only 14 residences. If you have eyes, you might notice mass amounts of timber being used throughout the building. That’s gonna be because this is the largest building in New York with a mass timber structure! “Mass timber? What’s that?” you ask. “Wood covered in glue real thick to make strong,” I answer. 

Mass timber has been used as a common building material in Europe for a few decades now. Some benefits are that it’s stronger than steel and surprisingly meets all fire-safety standards for burn rate. Glue-laminated timber, a.k.a. GLT (sounds like my bodega order, amiright?), has actually been used since the 19th century. It’s made by layering a bunch of wood slices on top of each other, like a very crunchy birthday cake. Cross-laminated timber, or CLT, (sounds like my bodega order, amiright?) is a newer technique used in this building. Introduced 30 years ago in Austria and Germany, CLT is even stronger since it’s made by stacking the wood in perpendicular layers for extra strength. 

‘Passivhaus’ (a funky way to say ‘Passive house’) is a voluntary standard for energy efficiency in a building. That was the goal when MESH architects set out to create this Park Slope apartment complex. The wood structure as well as the triple-glazed wood framed windows provide amazing insulation. That’s what I never understand about boujee buildings with glass walls. You gotta be spending thousands just air conditioning the place! 

To really bring home the “we promise this won’t combust into flames” vibe, there is no combustion anywhere in the building. High-efficiency heat pumps are used for heating and induction ovens/stoves are used in the kitchens. Parking spaces in back feature electric charging stations and solar panels on the roof power common areas. 

As far as location goes, this is in such a sweet spot. It’s nestled between the Union St. subway stop and 5th Ave., which has a ton of restaurants and shops. Park Slope is a very beautiful place to walk around, look at historical brownstones, and pet the occasional stray cat. If you are nosy like me, here is a website with a bunch of floor plans & the prices the apartments sold at. I think if we all put our money together we could afford at least half of the down payment for one of these.

I just find this building’s design so stunning - as if my never-ending intro didn’t make that clear. By having the wood structure exposed via columns and beams in the apartments, they were able to achieve a gorgeous design while using fewer materials. With this building being all eco-friendly, the recessed lighting is all LED. I normally detest LED lights due to their cool-toned nature, but this lighting bounces off the 11-foot tall timber ceilings and creates a warm, airy atmosphere that I just eat right up! I could (and almost did) talk about these ceilings for days.

Fun Facts

New York banned timber-frame buildings in the 19th century after a slew of fires. Most buildings in NYC are steel-framed now. The Department of Buildings began to warm back up (pun intended?) to the idea of using wood structures in the late 2010s. Now there are only a handful like this and most of them are in Brooklyn.

The exterior is made of handmade clay bricks from Denmark. Seems a little bit unnecessary if we are trying to keep a low carbon footprint, but oh well!

So I couldn’t find much information on this but it doesn’t seem like there are a lot of amenities. I don’t even know if there is a doorman. Someone get me the inside scoop on this because I’m too lazy to do it myself.
 
Sorry this one is coming in so late in the day! I have a baseball-sized knot in my shoulder from sleeping slightly weird, so tbh I’ve been rolling around on the floor all day trying the get rid of it. I am in a constant battle with my own body that so desperately wants to fall apart all the time.

Anyways… see you next week! Toodaloo!
 
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