The Ice Cream Factory, 347 Berry Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 347 Berry Street by Carter Horsley

This very distinctive, 6-story residential building at 347 Berry Street directly north of the Williamsburg Bridge in Brooklyn incorporates a former ice cream factory, hence its name, and the protruding façade of that smaller structure has been delightfully festooned with black-and-white “glyphs” painted by Brooklyn artist, Katie Merz.

The project, which was developed the Pilot Real Estate Group and Horrigan Development in 2016, was designed by Standard Architects.

It has 23 rental apartments.

The building’s logo is a cone with three scoops of ice cream.

Bottom Line

Modern and artsy, this 6-story project next to the Williamsburg Bridge in Brooklyn encompasses a graffiti-like temple of black-white “glyphs” by artist Katie Merz that lends it a fine air of mystery.

Description

The “glyph” façade of the original brick ice cream factory building is almost “swallowed” by the considerably larger “vanilla” precast panel façade of the project and the contrasting juxtaposition of the smaller details of the “glyph” façade with the relatively modern plainness of the rest of the structure is not only striking but fascinating.

More colorful “glyphs” adorn some of the building’s interiors such as the lobby but the exterior ones conceivably could be interpreted by some master visionary like Egyptian hieroglyphics or Sumerian cylinder seal symbols to reveal Brooklyn’s codex.  Certainly, from the adjacent roadway of the Williamsburg Bridge, they are blurry footprints of the Brooklyn genome.

The building, which is also known as 95 South 5^th Street, has a coffee shop on the ground floor.

The larger, pre-cast panel façade has a jaunty randomness of its light and dark colors that very nicely enliven its modernity and verticality.

Amenities

The building has a recreation room, a landscaped roof deck, and on-site parking.

Apartments

Apartments have 5-inch wide bamboo floors, washers and dryers, 9-to-11-foot-high ceilings and kitchens have Calcutta gold marble countertops and Blomberg and Summit appliances.  Bathrooms have beige tiles and rain showerheads.

Apartment 2E is a two-bedroom unit with an entry foyer that leads to an open, windowed kitchen with an island and the living room.

Apartment 6A is a one-bedroom unit with an entry foyer that leads past an open kitchen to a slightly angled living room with a large terrace and a bedroom with a larger terrace.

Apartment 4C is a one-bedroom with an entry foyer that leads to a slightly angled living room with an open kitchen and a small balcony that it shares with the bedroom.

Apartment 2A is a studio with a long entry foyer that leads to an angled living room with an open kitchen.