RKTB Architects selected for major NY affordable housing project

by sadia_badhon | December 1, 2020 6:01 am

[1]

Architecture, design, and planning firm RKTB Architects[2] has been selected for a new, 135-unit housing development for low-income seniors on a prominent site in Brooklyn, New York.

Described by Brooklyn Daily Eagle as a “sleek brick-and-glass building” planned with environmentally conscious design features including rooftop solar panels, the new eight-story structure, dubbed Catholic Charities Loreto Apartments, brings the needy borough about 80 apartments for formerly homeless seniors, as well as affordable independent residences for seniors, or AIRS as they are locally known, for tenants at 40 and 50 percent of area median income (AMI).

Sited where a historic Brownsville church once stood, the new apartment building design will add much-needed housing to the area. The city’s Housing, Preservation, and Development (HPD) department committed a few years ago to build 2500 new affordable homes in this area.

RKTB has a unique social mission, working to “help neighborhoods prosper and to promote equity in society.” With a diverse portfolio in housing, educational, cultural, civic, and healthcare  projects—and specialties in façade and roof projects as well as adaptive reuse of entire buildings—RKTB has long-term relationships with public agencies and nonprofits addressing homelessness, availability of early childhood education, supportive housing, and affordable healthcare and living options, the firm said in a press release.

RKTB’s concept for increasing availability of new low-income and workforce housing in urban midblock locations, the Affordable Infill Prototype, has been showcased by regional leaders including New York City’s Public Design Commission. With Carmi Bee, FAIA, the RKTB housing team is led by managing principal Peter Bafitis, AIA, who has chaired an AIA chapter Housing Committee for a number of years and has experience on built works from Washington, D.C., to Florida and from Japan to Nigeria.

Source URL: https://www.constructionspecifier.com/rktb-architects-selected-for-major-ny-affordable-housing-project/

---