The Brooklyn Army Terminal was never designed with visitors in mind. Originally built to move goods from ship to train to truck, the Cass Gilbert-designed complex had vast parking lots, disjointed pedestrian access, and minimal signage. That made it efficient for freight, but difficult to navigate and inhospitable for workers, tenants, and the public. Despite its scale and waterfront location, the campus felt disconnected from the city around it.

  WXY’s design makes the terminal legible and livable without interrupting industrial activity. A suite of architectural and graphic interventions, from site-wide signage to custom furniture, establishes a coherent visual language and encourages public use. Yellow stripes guide pedestrians and vehicles alike, calming traffic while creating clear routes across the 97-acre site. Speed humps, reconfigured entries, and new plazas ensure safe and intuitive circulation for workers, tenants, and visitors. A former traffic circle near the ferry landing has been transformed into a major public space, anchored by circular timber seating and sweeping harbor views. 

Creating a space that serves manufacturers and the public, our design embraces clarity, creativity, and flexibility through landscaping, lighting, furniture, environmental graphics, and signage. These elements establish a spatial and visual identity that draws from the campus’ industrial legacy as a place of movement and utility.

Brightly colored signage and striping codes space for pedestrians, cars, and trucks and works with a new site-wide graphic identity that helps people navigate the 97-acre campus. Traffic calming adaptations help establish the campus as a public place with ovoid speed humps lining the edge of Annex Plaza and separating trucks from pedestrians.

The new waterfront plaza reclaims a former traffic circle as a series of monumental circular wood tree decks for sitting and lounging near the new ferry stop. Custom-designed furniture is interspersed throughout the open space, giving tenants and the public places to eat, relax, and enjoy the magnificent views. 

As of 2024, the site attracted more than 75,000 visitors and signed 17 new leases, bringing a range of businesses into the fold. NYCEDC contributed over $2.85 million in donated community event space at BAT, activating the terminal as a destination for public life. The broader Sunset Park assets, including BAT, helped create nearly 600 new permanent and temporary jobs in 2024, alongside hundreds of construction roles tied to ongoing waterfront improvements. WXY’s plan laid the groundwork for this transformation, turning underutilized infrastructure into a durable, flexible framework for growth.