Ample Hills Creamery
This rebuilding of a humble utilitarian retail building resulted in a remarkable improvement of the urban gem that is Bartell Pritchard Square, at the southwest corner of Prospect Park West. This site, next door to the new Nighthawk Cinema, was occupied in the 1920s by an ice cream parlor that subsequently was bricked up and dumbed down to become a grim, off-putting box. Working with owner Hidrock Properties and the staff at the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, we researched the history of the site, uncovering records of a charming ice cream parlor in a one-story structure; peeling back the layers on site we found scant, precious reminders of this past.
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Our design faithfully reconstructs this curved 4,000 sq.ft. building, restoring the decorative ironspot brick and bluestone pilasters, wood storefront, and sheet metal cornice. Deep canvas awnings, prominent in historic images, were also restored.
And as before, ice cream is a key feature: Ample Hills Creamery is the tenant for the part of the building facing the park, with a roof terrace offering spectacular park views available to customers.
Client: Hidrock Properties
Location: 192 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY
Category: Retail - Historic Preservation
Completion Date: May 2021
Team: Jeff Moos
Photography: Liz Clayman
Historic Preservation
When it comes to the delicate, nuanced process of restoring old buildings and finding new uses for them, experience counts. Building Studio Architects specializes in prioritizing the unique needs of each historic site we work on.