Brooklyn Law School

BKSK partnered with Washington, DC-based SmithGroup to complete a two-phased study and subsequent expansion for Brooklyn Law School’s downtown Brooklyn campus, including an initial evaluation of existing facilities and future needs report and the master plan.

Phase I included a comprehensive report based on several months of intensive interviews with faculty, administrators and students; and an analysis of existing conditions and benchmarking of Brooklyn Law School’s space use compared to other Law Schools, with an emphasis on comparable urban schools. Focused sessions were conducted on instructional spaces, the law library, faculty areas, legal clinics, administrative areas, and student journal and organizations and events spaces. An in-depth presentation on current developments in law school design was conducted for the law school faculty and staff. This process elicited a productive discussion in regards to meeting the needs of a leading institution in twenty-first century legal education. Phase II included site evaluation of 250 Joralemon in response to the school opting to sell its facility at One Boerum Place and the resulting need to relocate current programming to a new location.

The recently-completed expansion in an adjacent building on Livingston Street includes a variety of instructional spaces, administrative areas, and student work spaces on two floors connected by an inner stair. The new location consolidates and exposes efficiencies by housing student services and other collaborative workspaces while maintaining a collegiate environment within an office building.