Morris Adjmi Architects

Across its architecture and interiors, 601 Union seeks to establish a new relationship between Gowanus’s industrial legacy and its future as a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood. Carefully considered massing, crafted masonry, and interconnected communal spaces transform a once-inaccessible industrial site into a place for living, gathering, and creative exchange—adding a new layer to the community's evolving character.

Serving as an intermediary between the neighborhood’s historic fabric and its rapidly changing urban context, the project was conceived as a cohesive composition of distinct volumes, scaled and articulated to create a welcoming presence at the street while maintaining a strong sense of identity across the site. The building’s massing transitions upward from a highly articulated brick base to a more restrained penthouse expression. Hand-molded red brick forms the primary façade, referencing the robust masonry construction of Gowanus’s industrial buildings. But rather than relying on a single brick expression, the façade is enriched through eight custom brick profiles and a variety of bonds to articulate the base, window surrounds, corners, and cornices. Upper levels step back into charcoal-gray metal panels with subtle reveals and angled window surrounds. Dormer-like elements establish a rhythm along Union Street, and a light corrugated-metal bulkhead recedes into the sky, giving the uppermost portion of the building a lighter presence.