7 Bell Slip was the first residential building to be built as part of the new Greenpoint Landing development in Brooklyn. Located on 22-acres of waterfront in Brooklyn, Greenpoint Landing transformed a formerly industrial area into a new multi-building development. The plan reestablished the neighborhood’s waterfront connection through the creation of new streets, new housing, new waterfront parks, and a new public school, all designed to integrate into Greenpoint’s already thriving, diverse community.

7 Bell Slip is a 6-story building on a newly energized Commercial Street, at the intersection of Franklin Street. It contains 93 permanently affordable residential units, 2,500 square feet of ground level retail, and a private landscaped garden. The building is a mix of brick and exposed steel, and includes expansive casement windows, evoking the factory buildings of historic Greenpoint.

The red brick for the building has horizontal and vertical accent bands that provide articulation. The basic field brick was carefully selected to be in keeping with the character of the existing industrial buildings in the Brooklyn waterfront; it is a slightly irregular and hard fired in a carousel kiln. Given this process, each brick develops its own rich color tonality ranging from red through brown and some purple.

The courtyard is inspired by the local river ecology. A meandering path defines a central grassy hill, while an oval terrace sits among a grove of birch trees, and layered perimeter plantings screen views to and from adjacent apartments and the street.