Harral Security Wheeler/Downtown North Bridgeport

1955 ~ 2016

Beinfield Architecture collaborated with Spinnaker Real Estate and Viking Construction on the Harral Security Wheeler building in Downtown North Bridgeport.
The Harral Security Wheeler development is a historic preservation and adaptive reuse of a former office building that dates to 1904.  It has been converted to residential use with street level retail and office space.
Located in the heart of downtown Bridgeport, it is walk-able to transit, restaurants, hotels, banks and attractions.

Uncovered during the redevelopment were several surprises, including an elaborate pattern engraved in cast iron around the main entrance of the building. The pattern had been hidden in a 1970s-era renovation.

Adaptive Re-use/National Sawdust

Every 10 minutes the L train thunders below National Sawdust music venue in Brooklyn. 

The design team Bureau V architects hired for the project, had not yet designed a building. They needed to create an acoustically perfect system to absorb and reflect sound and have it be customizable to the diverse disciplines of the musicians performing there.

Sound manipulation was accomplished by creating a skin with the combination of reflective metal panels and acoustically transparent fabric that can be drawn or retracted within an 18” space between panel and wall.
"The entire building is essentially floating on dozens of enormous steel springs and isolation joints. The springs absorb outside vibrations from trains and other sounds, creating a silent space ready for music. A vacuum for sound."

The lobby is like standing at the base of a crevasse

The project is adaptive re-use of a sawdust factory producing sawdust which was used for heating.

Metal panels reflect sound back into the room

Read Barbara Eldredges' review here:

http://www.brownstoner.com/interiors-renovation/national-sawdust-williamsburg-brooklyn-80-north-6th-street/