With an emphasis on green design, the new Perry Avenue building, designed by Stantec Architecture, will be the first-ever multi-story, multi-tenanted LEED Silver Industrial Building in the US, according to a prepared release. The New York City-based Kratchman firm has been asked to design and unify the new SurroundArt campus with an emphasis on sustainability.

A SurroundArt source tells GlobeSt.com that sustainable elements at the new Perry Avenue building will include plentiful bike racks, an energy star rood with high insulation materials, and waterless urinals. They also note that low volatile organic compounds will be used, there will be high energy windows, and wind turbines on the roof. "Alternative energies will be evaluated," the source explains.

This will be the third major waterfront development project for architect and urban designer Steven Kratchman. Before establishing his own firm in 1999, Kratchman served as lead designer of the now world-renowned Chelsea Piers recreational complex. Prior to that, he also designed the Hudson Park mixed-use waterfront development in Yonkers, which consists of residential, retail and office space, as well as a waterfront pedestrian esplanade and park.

"Most people do not of think of 'green' and 'urban industrial design' in the same sentence, but we have made a commitment to combining the two at the Navy Yard and that's exactly why we selected Steven Kratchman," notes Michael Murray, CEO of SurroundArt. "Our new Museum Resource Campus will provide everything the arts industry needs within a green, cutting-edge design built for 21st century sustainability."

Kratchman adds that "this is a tremendously exciting project for many reasons, not the least of which is the commitment SurroundArt has made to green design and sustainability. As the architects, our team will have an opportunity to create a design that integrates the old and the new for a new era of mixed-use, clean urban industry and waterfront development at the Brooklyn Navy Yard."

Brooklyn Navy Yard president and CEO Andrew Kimball says that "the SurroundArt expansion is powerful affirmation of the mayor's commitment to expanding industrial activity in the Navy Yard and our confidence in putting up new multi-story industrial buildings on spec. Whether it is film, food, furniture or fine arts, the Navy Yard is aggressively tapping into industrial growth sectors in New York City, and particularly Brooklyn, that capitalize on the creative talents of the local work force."