Take one step into the new Urban Outfitters located at Space Ninety 8 in Brooklyn, NY, and you’ll quickly learn it’s far from a traditional retail space.
Along with delivering retail space for Urban’s unique products and apparel, Blue Rock also constructed a full restaurant and bar with a rooftop deck for outdoor dining. The breakdown of this exceptional space includes:
- Basement – Features a pop-up retail space, plus storage area, office space and a prep kitchen
- Ground Floor – Known as The Market Space, showcases the best of Brooklyn-based creators, plus an extensive collection of Urban Renewal Vintage items.
- Second Floor – Home to Urban Outfitters Women’s apparel and accessories
- Third Floor – Men’s apparel, the Vinyl Shop, electronics and home goods
- Third Floor Mezzanine: ESH Brooklyn (formerly The Gorbals), the restaurant and bar headed by Top Chef and host of Esquire TV’s Knife Fight, Ilan Hall
- Rooftop Deck – An extension of the restaurant and bar with outdoor dining with city views
Blue Rock completed the project within six months, which turned into an aggressive schedule considering the many challenges an old, dilapidated building offers. Featured work and challenges met by Blue Rock include:
- Reinforcing the building structurally, running steel from the basement to the roof deck
- Building steel stair components, including platforms and railings
- Constructing a four-story dumbwaiter connected to the restaurant and rooftop deck
- Installing a central skylight on the rooftop deck, plus six secondary skylights
- Installing all restaurant equipment, including a state-of-the-art, wood-fire pizza oven
- Adding all new plumbing for the restaurant and bar on the third floor
- Constructing an ADA platform lift for wheelchairs on the third floor for access to the restaurant
Along with the many new structures and features, Blue Rock maintained the character of the original building.
The building previously stood as an unsightly industrial space begging for adaptive reuse. The space highlights architectural elements of its industrial past, from repurposed glass windows to stripped-down iron trusses, falling perfectly in line with the aesthetic expected from URBN brands.
