Building New York communities and empowering its neighbors since 1916, Grand Street Settlement is renovating its 80 Pitts location to expand its space and better provide for the myriad New Yorkers who walk through its doors daily. Currently housed in a 1970s brutalist building, the heavy masonry allows limited natural light to infiltrate the settlement’s interiors. To bring the spaces to life, KSS is proposing a communicating staircase and clearstory features to brighten the interiors and impare transparency.
The design transitions the daycare from the second floor to the first floor, granting more flexibility in space and increasing capacity in community spaces and classrooms. On the lower level, Senior Services programs will be activated with a dedicated Senior Art classroom and two flex classrooms. The Early Head Start Childhood (EHS) and Single Stop programs will prominently occupy the first floor with six EHS classrooms and a common space in a separate, secure wing. The second floor will be home to the Youth Service program and the building’s administrative team. An expanded clubhouse and Project Speak Out Loud (PSOL) program spaces, shared dance classroom, computer lab, flex classroom, and offices will be grounded by the central open hub acting as commons space.
