516 Bergen is designed to create the largest practical number of affordable housing units within the context and character of the surrounding neighborhood. The program includes a mix of studio, one, two and three bedroom apartments in a nine story volume. More than 50% of the units will be two and three bedroom family units. The building includes active ground floor program elements that serve the community including supportive services and community facility space.

The building organization and circulation strategy uses a combination of double and single loaded corridors to allow the maximum number of apartments with south exposures while creating the largest possible distance between required windows and adjacent building elements.

A holistic design approach that simultaneously addresses community and resident health, safety, comfort, and convenience has guided all design decisions. Drawing from the small scale and diversity of Brooklyn’s early twentieth century building fabric the building form expresses four towers of different height and masonry hues to the street-scape. Each tower ends with an occupiable terrace given over to different activities including children’s play, exercise, and relaxation. These terraces give the building its identity as they reduce the scale of the street front and speak to the surrounding masonry colors, textures, and scales.

Façade scale and detail have been carefully developed to create visual interest and texture with three patterns that diminish in size as they proceed vertically.