Francis Cauffman has designed the New York Hotel Trades Council’s Brooklyn Health Center located in Brooklyn, New York.

This flagship health center, designed by Francis Cauffman for the New York Hotel Trades Council and Hotel Association of New York City, Inc. Health Benefits Fund, Health Center, Inc. (NYHTC), is a dynamic mixed-use building. It was designed not only to provide a progressive, top-of-the-line patient-centered environment, but also to engage with the culturally vibrant neighborhood in which it’s located; an arts hub in the heart of Downtown Brooklyn, abutted by a dense and revitalized business core.

The building’s design takes advantage of its unusual teardrop-shaped site to create a lively façade that reflects the eclecticism of this culturally diverse neighborhood. The swooping, triangular shape of the building positions alternating patterns of fritted glass and fins to catch the sun at different angles over the course of a day, so the look of the building seems to transform as shadows, light, and reflections of the surrounding neighborhood fluctuate across its surface. When the sun sets, the glazing disappears to reveal the circulation corridors of the health center, an illuminated red band that frames the movement of patients and staff as an avenue of activity, mirroring the busy streets just outside.

In response to the various needs of its surrounding community, the building brings together a dynamic mix of space types under one roof; the Health Center occupying 65,000 SF, which serves the membership of NYHTC, as well as commercial and retail spaces that help stitch the building’s healthcare programs to the daily life of the neighborhood residents.

NYHTC wanted their members to enjoy an umatched healthcare experience. The building does not have physician offices or waiting rooms – all appointments are handled electronically through online scheduling and registration programs that link patient records and medical history with the appropriate treatment programs. Members simply walk into the building, right into their treatment spaces. The goal is for 85% of patients to be treated in less than an hour.

The urban moves of the building design are further reinforced through the building’s key feature; a dematerialized curtain wall whose high transparency combines with a wave pattern of frit and projecting metal fins that render the position of the wall itself ambiguous. The Brooklyn Health Center, replacing a smaller former location, supports NYHTC’s progressive approach to patient care and, at the same time, serves to integrate and connect public spaces in and around the building.

Architect: Francis Cauffman
Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
MEP/FP Engineer: Jaros Baum & Bolles
Photography: Bjorg Magnea