Multi-family
Chestnut Commons is a 300,000-square-foot mixed-use development in East New York, Brooklyn, providing 275 affordable housing units for formerly homeless and low-income households. Developed as part of the East New York Neighborhood Plan, the project brings housing together with education, recreation, social services, and community-focused spaces under one roof.
The building includes a satellite campus for CUNY Kingsborough Community College, a black box theater, social services center, landscaped roof terrace, and rooftop planting beds for urban agriculture. Lighting supports this diverse program with an approach that responds to the character and functional needs of each space while creating visual continuity throughout the development.
Within the shared community and educational spaces, linear lighting works with the architecture to reinforce circulation and gathering areas. Fixtures integrated within the wood-slat ceilings establish a strong visual rhythm, while illuminated ceiling planes and lighting at stairs help define the building’s interconnected levels.
The result is a welcoming environment designed to support learning, gathering, and everyday interaction for both residents and the surrounding community.
Smaller study and seating areas provide places for individual work and conversation within the larger community setting. Integrated lighting complements the bold architectural finishes while providing comfortable illumination at a more intimate scale, extending the project’s lighting language from its expansive shared spaces to the places people experience one-on-one.
From expansive gathering areas to individual study spaces, the lighting design works with the architecture to support connection, learning, and everyday activity. Integrated linear lighting reinforces the rhythm of wood-slat ceilings, defines circulation, and creates a cohesive visual language throughout the shared community spaces.
This 300,000-square-foot mixed-use development brings together 277 units of affordable housing with a two-level school, health clinic, and community cultural space. Designed to meet Passive House and Enterprise Green Communities guidelines, the 24-story tower was the largest Passive House project completed in New York City at the time of its completion.
Lighting design supports the building’s ambitious energy goals while creating a welcoming residential environment. From the street and building entrance through shared interior spaces, efficient architectural lighting balances performance, visual comfort, durability, and the everyday needs of its residents.
Within the residential building, lighting helps establish continuity between the lobby, elevator landings, corridors, and other common areas. Decorative fixtures introduce warmth and character in the lobby, while integrated linear lighting reinforces circulation and illuminates textured architectural surfaces. The approach provides comfortable, functional illumination while maintaining the efficiency and maintainability required for a large multi-family development.
The residential experience continues onto the landscaped rooftop, where lighting is integrated with the architecture and landscape to support evening use without competing with expansive views of the Manhattan skyline. Together, the interior common areas and outdoor amenity spaces create a sequence of environments designed for the people who call the building home.
From arrival and circulation to shared amenity spaces, the lighting design responds to how residents experience the building. Integrated architectural lighting, decorative fixtures, and carefully illuminated surfaces bring warmth, clarity, and visual continuity to spaces used throughout the day and into the evening.
