SUGAR HILL DEVELOPMENT
New York, USA
Architect: Adjaye Associate
Sugar Hill is a mixed-use development in Manhattan’s historic Sugar Hill district of Harlem featuring affordable housing, early education programs and a new cultural institution. This community development, which challenges the traditional typology, was initiated on a tight budget by non-profit developer of supportive housing, Broadway Housing Communities (BHC). Unusually, the scheme incorporates a public program. The children’s museum and early childhood centre resonate with Adjaye Associates’ commitment to a wider urban and cultural responsibility. Through a series of workshops and planning meetings, the practice worked closely with the client and the local community to ensure the design tied into the site’s history as well as practical and aesthetic requirements. The brief called for a modern design complementary to its surrounding environment of Gothic revival row-houses.