No More Trips to the Drawing Board for Domino

By Nichole Altmix 

After being ordered back to the drawing board earlier this year, the design for the Domino Sugar Factory Refinery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn has finally been approved by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.

The design submitted in March 2008 (left) was rejected by the Landmark Preservation Commission. The recently approved design (right) incorporated the historic Domino Sugar sign, rescaled the building’s height and addressed the bulkhead and chute issues, all major concerns which thwarted approval in March. Renderings courtesy of Community Preservation Corporation.

After LPC rejected the initial design in February 2008, and then again in March, the developers, Community Preservation Corporation and CPC Resources (managing partner of Domino site owner Refinery LLC), along with architects for the restoring and reusing the Refinery building, Beyer Blinder Belle, submitted designs for approval yet again on June 24, 2008.
 
At the suggestion of the LPC panel, the new design for the landmarked Refinery incorporated the historic Domino Sugar sign, rescaled the building’s height and addressed the bulkhead and chute issues, all major concerns which thwarted approval in March.
“The new design is distinctive, contextual and responsive. It has an industrial feel, creatively reflecting the building’s history and character,” said Michael Lappin, president of CPC and CPC Resources.  

The design also calls for the building to be lower than in previous efforts—a split level with three and four stories instead of five, Lappin added. The chutes that formerly connected the refinery to other structures are also recalled in the design and the iconic Domino Sugar sign will also be restored and featured on the roof.

The developers and Beyer Blinder Belle expressed reluctance to scale down the Refinery at the March hearing, but the project team is now ready to move forward. “The reduction in size translates into a loss of more than 20,000 square feet of residential space or over 20 apartments,” said Lappin after the approval. “This presents an economic challenge that we must meet to fulfill our firm commitment to develop 660 affordable housing units.”
The refinery is the only section of the Domino Sugar Factory that is landmarked and will be the centerpiece of the planned 11.2-acre, mixed-income residential community on the Brooklyn waterfront.

The overall project design by Rafael Vinoly Architects features pedestrian and visual corridors along the upland blocks to the East River allowing waterfront access. A 1,300-ft waterfront esplanade will also be added, as well as three acres of open space on the river-side of the refinery for public use. Retail and community space were also included in the design proposal. The residential component includes 2,200 apartments in the South Williamsburg area—660 will be set aside as affordable housing for low and moderate-income families.

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