Van Sinderen Plaza Affordable Housing runs parallel to the L train, on the border of East New York and Brownsville. Against the wall of the elevated train tracks, a very narrow, 5-foot-wide sidewalk creates an undesirable pedestrian experience.

At ground level, the new buildings respond by stepping back: with one move, the sidewalk becomes three times wider, the walk three times as pleasing. But if the street widens, the site and the footprint of the buildings become narrower, compromising the layout and the viability of the apartments upstairs. To allow for the maximum number of high-quality, 100% affordable apartments on a double loaded corridor scheme, the upper floors of the building then thrust forward, back to the property line.

This balanced push-pull ensures quality residential space and sculptural forms provide relief from the large scale of the project: two sister buildings face each other and establish a paired outdoor space—the bustling new plaza—at the intersection where they meet. Whether from the moving train cars above or at street level, the project announces, from the oblique, a new gateway plaza for the community.