{"id":495180,"date":"2026-01-05T23:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T23:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/495180\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T23:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T23:38:12","slug":"architect-brent-buck-on-designing-his-first-condominium-in-brooklyn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/495180\/","title":{"rendered":"Architect Brent Buck on Designing His First Condominium in Brooklyn"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tFor New York City<\/a> architect\u00a0Brent Buck<\/a>, good architecture<\/a> starts with how a place feels to live in. That conviction has shaped years of work on townhouses across Brooklyn<\/a>\u2014and now it\u2019s guiding his first ground-up condominium project, 110 Boerum Place, a 21-residence building in Cobble Hill that borrows more from the neighborhood\u2019s historic brownstones than from the usual brand-new condo<\/a> playbook.<\/p>\n

\n\tBuck didn\u2019t come up designing flashy residential towers. After graduate school at Yale, he spent a decade working with the illustrious Todd Williams Billie Tsien Architects<\/a>, where he cut his teeth on highly detailed cultural, institutional, and residential projects before launching his own studio eight years ago. Early commissions were small\u2014single-family homes and townhouses\u2014and set the tone for everything that followed. As Buck puts it, \u201cThose projects become really specific and about the detail and about the user and our clients and their hopes and interests in design.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSo when it came time to design a multifamily building, Buck approached it less like a conventional condo tower and more like a bunch of individual homes stacked together. \u201cWhile this project has 21 residences,\u201d he says, \u201cwe tried to approach the design of each [unit] through the lens of the individual spirit and characteristic of that unit within the building.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED:<\/strong> How Whisper Listings Are Reshaping the Luxury Real Estate Market<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tAn aerial view of 110 Boerum Place, in the heart of Brooklyn\u2019s historic Cobble Hill neighborhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDarcstudio<\/p>\n

\n\tOne thing Buck was determined to avoid was what he describes as New York City\u2019s \u201crectangle problem.\u201d Many multifamily buildings, he notes, are limited to a single orientation. \u201cThey have an exposure on the front and an exposure on the back,\u201d he explains. \u201cSome apartments take advantage of both of those. Some of them all face one direction.\u201d At 110 Boerum Place, developed by\u00a0Avdoo<\/a>, the building\u2019s massing is carved into a series of corners, giving most residences at least three and in some cases as many as five exposures.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat shift fundamentally changes how an apartment functions and feels to be inside. Buck points to the way daylight moves through a space over the course of the day, shaping where bedrooms and living spaces feel most natural and reinforcing the sense of a residence that evolves with daily life rather than remaining static.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tOutdoor space was another priority. Many of the residences open directly onto loggias or private roof terraces, allowing living, dining, and kitchen areas effortless connections to the outdoors. While the project had to contend with a complicated zoning envelope\u2014it straddles two different zoning districts\u2014Buck embraced those limitations. \u201cAs architects, one of the great facilitators of solutions is a set of rules,\u201d he says. \u201cWe thrive on the constraints of projects and think that the best solutions come from and address those constraints.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: <\/strong>William Sofield on Creating the Priciest Condo on New York\u2019s Upper East Side<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tA rendering of the fireside living room in the light-filled penthouse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDarcstudio<\/p>\n

\n\tEvery brick on the exterior was hand placed, allowing subtle imperfections to remain visible, with Buck describing the goal as to create a building that \u201cfrom the outside, appear[s] to be handmade.\u201d The material and the high level of artisanal craftsmanship help break down the building\u2019s scale and connect it to Cobble Hill\u2019s historic brownstones.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe taut balance between expert craftsmanship and scale is something Buck continues to explore elsewhere, including Frame 122, one of New York City\u2019s first mass-timber residential projects approved under current building codes. Bigger projects may be on the horizon, but his priorities remain consistent: designing multi-family buildings that still feel personal, detailed, and deeply tied to the nuances of how different people live. Pricing for homes at 101 Boerum Place starts at $2.975 million.<\/p>\n

\n\tClick here<\/a> to see more renderings of the Brooklyn condo. <\/strong><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDarcstudio<\/p>\n

\tAuthors<\/p>\n