Matthias Hollwich of HWKN | 25 Kent in Brooklyn | Offices Beyond Office Districts
Courtesy of HWKN
Matthias Hollwich on 25 Kent
The first guest in the American Building series is Matthias Hollwich, Founder and Partner of the architecture firm HWKN (“Hawk-in”). This episode takes a deep dive into 25 Kent, HWKN’s recently completed commercial building on the Williamsburg waterfront in Brooklyn.
Totaling 500,000 square feet, the development is divided among office, light manufacturing, and retail. It includes 1.8 acres of open space and, for grateful dog owners, a pop-up puppy spa and camp. The owners of the project are Heritage Equity Partners and Rubenstein Partners. This project exhibits the kind of positive impacts a project can have on a community when developers and designers work side by side to envision something new.
“Your have to break with rules that you’ve learned before in order to create something that is emotional, that becomes unforgettable for people, and becomes something for the future of our industry. You cannot do that in a typical box anymore.”
Courtesy of HWKN
Starting His Design & Architecture Firm
Matthias started his firm in 1999 after working for the world renowned architect, Rem Koohaas. He knew before setting out on his own that he would need to take time to understand his individual design point of view instead of simply replicating the style he learned from Rem. He experimented with teaching at ETH in Zurich, founded an architectural tech company at the height of the dot com bubble, and traveled through Europe before moving to the US. Only then did he found his firm, HWKN.
Matthias describes HWKN as more than an architecture firm. It is “a collection of design, construction and communication specialists led by an architect and tech entrepreneur”. Particularly in the early days, Matthias knew that he didn’t want his work to be defined by one thing. Instead he used experimentation to take on many different projects, clients, and theories. It was that same sense of curiosity that drew him to Toby Moskovitz of Heritage Equity Partners.
Courtesy of HWKN
Finding the Right Development Partner
When Toby Moskovitz called Matthias about the opportunity to design a large project in Brooklyn, HWKN jumped at the chance. It was clear, however, that Toby wasn’t the typical development partner. Although she specialized in tech investment out of Israel, she wanted to make a name for herself in New York real estate. She had a vision to create a building that embodied the future of real estate while acknowledging the DNA of the location, in this case, Brooklyn. Together, Matthias and Toby walked the waterfront of Williamsburg, admiring the old warehouses that have come to define the neighborhood. It was the warehouse aesthetic that surfaced as the primary inspiration for 25 Kent after multiple design workshops completed together.
Courtesy of HWKN
Designing for the Future
The design of 25 Kent established more than an aesthetic, it created an intent for how the site should and would be used. By breaking away from the typical office dimensions, structure, and materials, Matthias was able to design a site that feels more like a campus where the ideals of collaboration, the collective, and cross-pollination could flourish. This shift in thinking about 25 Kent as an asset for the future means Mattihaus believes it will not suffer from criticism surrounding open office and coworking. He believes 25 Kent can adapt to the needs of workers now and long into the future. It can also easily accommodate uncommon tenants such as Brooklyn Flea and Smorgasburg. This flexibility will make it a site designers and developers admire and draw inspiration from for years to come.
Episode Timestamps
1:30 – What was going through your mind, and your heart, in deciding to make the leap to start your own studio after working for Rem Koolhaas?
8:07 – How did you get to your eventual design of an 8 story, 2-wing building with 15-foot ceiling heights, shaped like a pyramid, ziggurat-style, and with a ground floor pedestrian avenue? What concepts did you consider but pass on?
13:30 – Besides the physical connectivity to the outdoors, you emphasized visual connectivity. You chose to include a curtain wall on the east-west facades facing the water and Williamsburg and punched windows on the north-south facades. Could you talk about how you developed the design strategy for the facade?
16:36 – This sounds like a departure from the way that office buildings are traditionally conceived. Do you imagine there would be any hesitation or confusion on the part of office workers that would occupy this environment?
19:44 – The design timeline for 25 Kent was almost 10 years. Two of the core aspects you described in your design strategy are open plan office floors and shared co-working spaces. How do you respond to an avalanche of negative opinions recently about open offices and co-working? What are your thoughts on open office and coworking?
22:17 – Your team for 25 Kent included Robert May, Brad Engelsman, Andrew McBride, Adam Hostetler, Valentina Mele, Gregory Nakata, Matthew Hoffman and many more. How did you organize your team?
30:18 – Besides 25 Kent, there is Dock72 by Boston Properties and Rudin nearby. Who do you think is going to tenant outer-borough office buildings and where are they coming from, if not Manhattan?
37:34 – 25 Kent is “a next generation workplace for the next generation of leaders” and “a social campus for innovators, start-up founders, and tech leaders.” How will you measure whether it has lived up to those ideals?
40:02 – What does 25 Kent mean to you personally as the architect who originally imagined it?
About your host:
Atif Qadir is the Founder & CEO of Commonplace, a technology company making it easy for commercial real estate professionals to find and use the $100B of real estate incentives given out every year in the US.
His work has been covered by Technology Review, The Real Deal, Commercial Observer, and Propmodo. He’s also a frequent speaker on the future of buildings and cities on popular industry podcasts and at conferences, including this past year at the Commercial Observer National DEI Conference, Yale AREA Conference, Columbia Real Estate Symposium, Open Data Week NYC and Austin Design Week.
About Commonplace
Commonplace is a founding sponsor of American Building. It is a 100% minority-owned, real estate technology company founded in 2020 to make financing social impact development projects across the US easier. It is funded by venture capital investors Hometeam Ventures, Park West Asset Management, New York Ventures and Shadow Ventures.
About Michael Graves
The world-famous design firm Michael Graves is also a founding sponsor of American Building. Its namesake, the iconoclastic designer Michael Graves, FAIA was a fierce advocate for people-centric design. His work defines a generation of American architecture and includes the Portland Building, the Humana Building and the Denver Public Library. The 1st season of American Building was filmed live at The Warehouse, his historic home in Princeton, New Jersey:
Rate, Review, & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
Did you love this episode? Let us know by rating and review our show on Apple Podcasts. It’s easy - simply click this link, click on Listen on Apple Podcasts, scroll to the bottom of the page, and select “Write a Review”. Let us know what you liked best about the episode, and what others can expect when they listen to our show.
While you’re at it, consider subscribing to American Building. When you subscribe, you can guarantee you never miss a conversation with one our renowned designers, architects, and developers. Subscribe now!
