Center for Community and Entrepreneurship
New York, NY
AAFE, a non-profit organization founded in the mid seventies, is a community-based group, established to advocate for equal opportunities. AAFE offers invaluable programs and services to the community such as homeownership counseling, housing rights and entitlement service counseling, civil rights advocacy, economic development, and youth development and education.
In collaboration with an award winning design practice, JCJ Architecture is working to design a building that elevates a non-profit organization, fosters a sense of community and encourages entrepreneurship on a metropolitan site with spectacular views.
The non-profit organization’s challenge was to identify the highest and best use for property owned through an affiliate. The building will consist of 4 levels of Class A office space (1 of which will be dedicated to the organization’s own offices), 1 level of community gathering/event space, 1 level of incubator office space to foster entrepreneurship, a ground-level retail marketplace and below-grade parking with mechanical lifts. The upper office block will be extruded and rotated, creating unique and exciting outdoor terraces at the community level, which will also feature dramatic, high ceilings. A ‘living wall’ adds an element of biophilia to the main stair, which doubles as auditorium style seating.
The building will serve as a physical presence to match the social presence of the organization in the community.
