Along one of Crown Heights' quintessential tree-lined streets, an energy-conscious Passive House building at 852 St. John's Place is poised to rise. Designed by Zakrewski + Hyde Architects (ZH Architects), the team announced work began in earnest on the project this past July. The development will alter an existing 3-story rowhouse and integrate its structure into an eventual five-story, seven-unit multi-family building. The expanded building will total nearly 6,000 square feet, and will have two units per floor on floor 2, 4 and 5; and one unit apiece on the ground floor and level 3.
The new air-tight exterior will sport an entirely new and modern aesthetic of expansive strip windows and dark cladding. The rear, garden-facing units will be provided balconies and trellises for plantings.
According to ZH's project page, a strong network of Passive House specialists allowed them to "quickly optimize the energy performance, cost, schedule, and aesthetics of the project while maintaining the highest quality in design and construction." The project was used as a case study project by Passive House International (PHI) to push the performance standards even higher. Also, the building will also be a pilot project with NYSERDA in order to study the performance of Passive House in relation to NYSERDA’s own energy and building targets.
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