caliper studio: nitehawk cinema and apartments, brooklyn

‘nitehawk cinema and apartments’ by caliper studio, williamsburg, brooklyn, new yorkimage © ty coleall images courtesy of caliper studio

a total design by local firm and fabricator caliper studio, ‘nitehawk cinema‘ is williamsburg’s only first-run movie house. the creative hub, located in the westernmost portion of brooklyn, new york, has experienced astounding development in recent decades, both from an influx of creative professionals and consequential gentrification. the movie theater keeps with the metropolitan need for vertical density and mixed used buildings by primarily offering new yorkers a cinema eatery, complete with bars, cafes and a commercial kitchen topped by three floors of residential apartments.

all the dwellings have access to outdoor space through a shared courtyard or private roof deck at the penthouse level, a rarity in an area with such highly sought realty. the cinema has managed to change local culture, having been the force that single-handedly overturned a new york state prohibition era law that disallowed the consumption of alcohol in movie theaters. the independent theater also sought to make a mark on the landscape while integrating the area’s local brownstone architectural typology. while the turn-of-century style favors triassic sandstone masonry, the nitehawk’s facade breaks a strict orthogonal brick storefront with a zinc, LED and glass facade. caliper studio fabricated the skin of patterned, manually cast glass lights and CNC milled 247 unique zinc panels. the result is an exuberant architectural gesture that begins to hint at the ever-changing but always shared cinematic experience.

the cinema and apartments total about 23,000 square feet of space image © ty cole