Bedford Green House is Project Renewal’s two-phase development occupying a through-way lot bound by Jerome and Creston Avenue. The project was envisioned as a sustainable, socially integrated, mixed-population and income community bolstered by biophilia-inspired amenities promoting socialization, safety, and healthy living practices. Cross-pollination between the two building populations is facilitated by a shared, landscaped courtyard with a covered walkway feeding directly into each building’s communal and supportive services floor. The courtyard is designed for multiple uses and includes a soft surface area for yoga / children’s play, a grill station, gardening area, and several seating options. While designed to integrate sensitively with their surroundings, the two buildings also give back to the wider community through a public playground in Phase I and a 2,200 SF health clinic in Phase II.

Phase II on Jerome Avenue is a 17-story, 88,000 SF building providing 116 permanent, affordable, and supportive apartments. Over half of the units are reserved for low-income seniors, the rest are designated for affordable housing. To encourage interactions between residents, the exercise room, recreation room with warming pantry, and the Molly B. Kronick Library and Resource Center are grouped together on the 2nd floor and have views and direct egress onto the rear courtyard. The Molly B. Kronick Library and Resource Center is defined by custom-milled plywood casework that wraps the library in continuous curves, creating pockets of soft, playful seating tucked throughout the space. Adjacent to the 11th floor laundry room, a north-facing, covered terrace with picnic tables and planter boxes provides another outdoor gathering space with sweeping views of the Bronx to the Hudson River, beyond. Apartments for the different populations are distributed throughout the building to prevent population silos.

The building’s mass is articulated into two distinct volumes. A faceted brick façade seamlessly blends with the scale and identity of the neighborhood, while a recessed cast-in-place concrete volume adds height to the building. The building is targeting LEED Gold.