Greenlight Bookstore Renovation Blog: Week 9

This is the ninth installment of a weekly blog hosted at Brownstoner chronicling the design and construction of the Greenlight Bookstore at 686 Fulton Street in Fort Greene. Written by project architect Frederick Tang of deFT Projects. See the first eight posts here.

As we inch towards the finish line, it seems like a good week to discuss the design concept for the air shaft millwork, which the contractor is installing as we post…

The air shaft for the building runs through the middle of our bookstore and interrupts what would otherwise be a single continuous space. Initially, this seemed like an impediment since we were left with an odd hallway on one side of the air shaft, but as the design progressed we felt that we could turn the central air shaft into a feature piece for the store. Our intention was to treat the surfaces of the air shaft as an extension of the ceiling—as if the ceiling dipped down like a stalactite.

The walls of the airshaft are covered with built-in millwork and since it is so prominently located in the center of the store, these shelves are prime real estate for display. The vertical elements of these shelves are curved at the top to transition towards the ceiling, making the air shaft feel more sculptural. We also liked that the curved top ties this millwork thematically to the arches of the storefront window. Once the installation is complete, they will be painted white to match the ceiling and to differentiate it from the surrounding perimeter millwork which is stained wood.