Located in a Brooklyn neighborhood undergoing cultural and economic revitalization, this five-story condominium building offers 45 contemporary one, two and three bedroom apartments created for first-time homebuyers. The creative architectural move was to orient the masonry-bearing walls perpendicular to the street and run the concrete plank flooring parallel to the street. This economically permitted floor-to-ceiling glazing in the apartments, located sonically impervious walls between apartments, and created a delicate pattern of brick piers with glass infill. These effects break the scale of the building down to be in context of the neighborhood fabric of row houses.  

To help foster the community within the building, the architects designed a community roof terrace, rear yard garden, a fitness room, a day-lighted entry, and typical floor lobbies. By creatively using creative construction and architectural techniques, the architects were able to make affordable, beautiful homes. 475 Sterling was written up in the New York Times as a prime example of a successfully social building.