TroutHouse: A fun and functional LEED Gold building with outdoor space on every level

Solar panels that double as a rooftop canopy, a facade made from salvaged Coney Island boardwalk wood, and bright pink wayfinding signage are just a few of the fun-meets-functional touches you'll find inside TroutHouse, a multi-family live/work building located in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Designed by sustainability-focused architecture firm <a href="http://threadcollective.com/">thread collective</a> to house their office, a home for partners Mark Mancuso and Elliott Maltby, and two additional residences, the 6,000-sq-ft structure was awarded LEED Gold in 2013. Inhabitat had a chance to stop by last week and sneak a peek at <a href="http://www.dwellondesign.com/residences/trout-house">TroutHouse</a>'s multi-use spaces and green features. Read on to explore the building's thoughtful layout, or see it for yourself this weekend on <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dwell-brooklyn-home-tours-meet-the-architects-night-tickets-16242383406">Dwell's Brooklyn Home Tour</a> (use discount code BKLYNDESIGNS to get $10 off).

<a href="http://threadcollective.com/?projects=trout-house">TroutHouse</a> (named for its address at 225 Troutman Street) was designed by thread collective partners Gita Nandan, Elliott Maltby and Mark Mancuso as a place for the firm's offices as well as three additional residences.

The building is characterized by eye-catching color "moments".

Completed in 2012, the Energy Star-rated, LEED Gold building was also a chance for the team to flex their 15 years of sustainable architecture experience and apply it to a space of their own.

"We set out to create and build a home that expresses our vision for how to live in an urban environment that connects deeply to its surroundings; a place that is both tranquil and lively and can act as a beautiful backdrop for creative thinking," partner Gita Nandan told Inhabitat.

The completed building, faced in a cladding of Ipe wood reclaimed from the Coney Island boardwalk, houses thread's airy studio, which opens out through a glass wall onto a spacious back yard.

Nandan says that the expansive garden views and openness to the exterior are her favorite part of the space. "This morning, the glass sliding doors were open, the air was crisp and fresh, and the chirping birds created a real sense of being in a greater space than just a typical office," she said.

Cisterns in the back yard collect rainwater.

The in-studio kitchen allows the partners to grab bites to eat between meetings and calls.

If <a href="http://www.dwellondesign.com/residences/trout-house">TroutHouse</a>'s oasis-like office doesn't make you green with envy, how about the fact that partners Mark Mancuso and Elliott Maltby's commute to work consists of a short trip down a spiral staircase?

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The couple resides in the second floor apartment, which features a floor-through layout with a Juliet balcony on the street-facing side and a larger outdoor space on the exposure that faces the back yard.

The home is accented with finds that echo thread's focus on sustainable design, This pallet was salvaged from an old factory but looks great as a coffee table.

The rear-facing balconies are quite spacious.

A window overlooks the back yard.

One of the apartment's two bedrooms.

The building's other two residences feature the same basic floorplan.

The residences all feature Nest thermostats to regulate interior temps.

In addition to its emphasis on daylighting and indoor/outdoor living, TroutHouse is topped by a 5kW solar panel array that provides year-round energy for its residences, reducing electricity costs and reliance on the grid.

A picture window leading up to the roof provides daylighting for the stairwell as well as a view.

The PV canopy cleverly does double-duty as a shade and raincover during thread's sunset rooftop parties overlooking the Manhattan skyline.