Webster Avenue

Webster Avenue is a new residential community for low-income families and formerly homeless individuals in the Tremont neighborhood of the Bronx, New York. Developed by Breaking Ground, an innovative non-profit organization dedicated to ending homelessness, the two residences are designed to provide healthy and sustainable housing by incorporating high-performance building systems and biophilic design. Supporting Breaking Ground’s innovative programming and essential services, the residences meld social and environmental sustainability, creating a safe space from which to build positive change.

The community is located on an empty, formerly industrial site, sandwiched between Metro-North’s Harlem Line and the busy, residential thoroughfare of Webster Avenue. The two adjacent buildings occupy 411 East 178^th Street (Webster Residence), which includes supportive housing with on-site social services, and 4275 Park Avenue (Park House), providing a mix of affordable efficiencies to three bedrooms. Designed as a seamless composition, the two buildings blend into one another, filling the gap in the urban fabric. To create a more pedestrian friendly street and enliven the neighborhood, the street wall is restored using brick and stone and a deep façade inspired by the neighboring early-20^th-century buildings. The simple, elegant façades are a combination of warm red and dark rich-oxide brick, and alternate rows protruding and receding by half an inch, creating an undulating biomimetic surface reminiscent of ocean sand or tree bark patterns. The heavy masonry conveys a sense of permanence and allows a highly efficient exterior envelope, qualifying for Zone Green benefits that allow additional floor area for affordable housing.