Beach Green Dunes III

Organization Name: Bernheimer Architecture

Project Title: Beach Green Dunes III

Project Location: Rockaways, Queens

Project Description:
Beach Green Dunes III is an all-affordable, intergenerational multi-family housing project in the Rockaways. The building contains 146 apartments, multiple amenity spaces, and is built for passive house certification. The design incorporates a number of important resiliency and sustainability initiatives that have resulted in a high performance building capable of withstanding the many challenges posed to urban coastlines by the increasing frequency and intensity of storms as well as long-term sea level rise. Reducing operational energy consumption was a design priority. In addition to the passive house design, which minimizes heating and cooling loads, the building is fully electric and uses a geothermal system for all heating, cooling, and hot water production. A large photovoltaic array crowns the two main roofs and is capable of offsetting a significant proportion of the building’s energy usage. The building is composed of two masses set at an acute angle to one another in response to the site’s unusual geometry: an eight-story wing faces the beach and a four-story wing faces the bay. The taller wing frames a new public plaza adjacent to the Beach 36th Street elevated train station.

Community Impact:
After World War II, this area of the Rockaways faced economic decline as its popularity as a beach vacation destination ebbed. In response, this part of the peninsula was targeted by the city for slum clearance and urban renewal. Bungalows and resorts were demolished but the redevelopment came in fits and starts and remains only partially realized more than fifty years later. More recently, the Rockaways took the brunt of Superstorm Sandy and saw extensive flooding, fires, and other damage.
Beach Green Dunes III is the last of a trio of projects developed by L+M Development Partners, The Bluestone Organization, and Triangle Equities to help revive the neighborhood, deliver much needed affordable and senior housing, and demonstrate that it is possible to create ecologically sensitive and resilient housing for New York’s vulnerable coastline. Building off the prior phases, the project sets a new standard in high-performance, high-quality residential construction and serves as a new beacon for the neighborhood.

Organization Description:
Bernheimer Architecture creates dignified spaces through contemplative research, simultaneous with consideration for the pragmatics of building. Our studio is committed to designing sustainable and resilient architecture by crafting productive environments for people and their communities. In 2022, BA labor formed the first private sector union at an architectural practice in the US in over 90 years - and that union was voluntarily recognized. Our first contract was ratified in 2024.

Team Members:

L+M Development Partners, The Bluestone Organization, Triangle Equities, Local Office Landscape & Urban Design, Flux Studio, Gace, Skyline Engineering, VHB, Steven Winter Associates, L+M Builders