The program for a Community Center for the Breukelen Houses, built in 1951 in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn, includes: sports, daycare, library, performance space, classrooms, food service, reception area, game room, computer center, etc.
The goals of the project are as follows:
1. Create a visible center for all the residents of the Breukelen Houses.
2. Create a safe, warm, and inviting gathering place for the community not available within the local business and community infrastructure.
3. Provide facilities, such as state-of-the-art computer center, for the education, entertainment, and general benefit of the community.
4. Provide a place for children with working parents to go after school.
5. Provide adequate staff working space.
6. Provide athletic facilities for all ages [including gym, weight room, and fitness area].
7. Provide adequate restrooms and locker/shower rooms for all users.
8. Provide spaces for educational, artistic, and creative activities.
9. Provide adequate space for large gatherings and special events.
The Breukelen Community Center is composed of two main volumes enclosing programs connected by an atrium for informal gathering and circulation. The southern volume encloses the gym, and is transparent both to the atrium space and to the street. The northern volume is composed of a translucent curtain wall enclosure within which various freestanding rooms for administrative, classroom, eating and gathering functions are interconnected by a bridge-like circulation system on the second level. The space between these program volumes serves as a flexible place for undefined program activities that can occur in a more informal setting. The three exterior walls are made of aluminum-frame curtain wall with translucent glass to allow for light to enter while keeping a sense of privacy. The interior glass wall that opens to the atrium is made of transparent glass.
