Old Greenpoint haunt of Brooklyn Night Bazaar becomes a ‘creative incubator’

The former haunt of the Brooklyn Night Bazaar on Norman Avenue in Greenpoint will reopen after the holidays as A/D/O, a flexible work space designed by nARCHITECTS dedicated to advancing collaboration in design. A roster of programming alongside workspace at various membership levels, a design shop, a fabrication studio, and a buzzy restaurant from Scandinavian hot-shot chefs Fredrik Berselius and Claus Meyer will round out the 23,000-square-foot space.

A/D/O at 29 Norman Avenue is funded by BMW sub-brand Mini and functions off of the idea that, per its website, meaningful design can’t happen in isolation. A Newsweek spread on A/D/O notes that while the brand’s presence is conspicuously absent throughout the warehouse, the operation functions as a way to attract the attention of millennials and other city dwellers as car ownership is on the decline among urban populations.

Courtesy ADO + nARCHITECTS, by Matthew Carbone

Per Newsweek, a full monthly membership to all A/D/O has to offer, including use of the fabrication studio, 3-D printers, and laser cutters, will set members back $600. But creatives don’t have to have a membership to enter the building. Collaboration spaces open to all can be found throughout the building.

“We chose to create variable connections between gastro, event, design, exhibition and retail spaces,” nARCHITECTS Principal Eric Bunge explains of the design, “Neither rooms nor an open hall, the spaces kind of bleed into each other, allowing people who are curious to see what would normally be going on behind closed doors.”

No less noteworthy is Norman, A/D/O’s 140-seat restaurant helmed by Fredrik Berselius of Williamsburg hotspot Aska, and Claus Meyer, the investor behind Grand Central Terminal’s Great Northern Food Hall. The restaurant will be open to the public, serving, per the website, “baked goods for breakfast, easy lunches and more elevated dinners, concentrating on shareable plates that emphasize the best of what is nutritious, local and in season.”

Courtesy ADO + nARCHITECTS, by Matthew Carbone

• A/D/O [official]
• What’s Driving Brooklyn’s New Design Center? [Newsweek]
• BMW-Run Creative Space to Take Over Brooklyn Bazaar Building in Greenpoint [Curbed]