Fireboat House Renovation

Client
Lower East Side Ecology Center
Designer
Andrew Berman Architect

Can a building embody, or better yet, communicate an organization’s mission through its design? That is the goal of the green building renovation of the historic fireboat house on the East River, the Lower East Side Ecology Center’s new home. The boathouse was built in the 1930’s for the fireboat company that patrolled the East River in the vicinity of Grand Street.

The Lower East Side Ecology Center is an organization working towards creating a more sustainable New York City by providing community-based recycling and composting programs, developing local stewardship of green space, and increasing community awareness, involvement and youth development through environmental education programs.

desigNYC connected Andrew Berman Architect with the Lower East Side Ecology Center to assist in the refurbishment of the boathouse, making it a better fit for the needs and ambitions of the LES Ecology Center, including staff, volunteers and visitors. The goal of the Center is to make the building part of the process of learning about sustainable technologies and the local environment through interaction and discovery.