The Brooklyn Children’s Museum’s new green roof lets kids explore the wilderness in the middle of the city

Brooklyn Children’s Museum offers community a new gathering space with landscaped terrace

Families who visit the Brooklyn Children’s Museum in the summertime will now have a cool new roof terrace to hang out in without getting blasted by the sun. The rooftop terrace has been closed to the public for the past three years, but this weekend, the museum will unveil a space that includes landscaping and a winged canopy that takes center stage.

Kids will be able to play outdoors in a safe environment in between checking out the kid-centric exhibits throughout the museum.

The dynamic space will also be used for cultural events and experiences that compliment the museum’s ongoing mission to educate children in interactive ways.

For example, the terrace’s opening will be accompanied by a Senegalese Drum and Dance workshop with choreographer and professional dancer Papa Sy August 5th and 6th. Papa Sy will tell stories, play Senegalese music and get all ages moving as they welcome this space into the community.

Future Green Studio designed the rooftop’s landscaping by dividing the 20,000-square-foot terrace into four quadrants encircling the open air pavilion and each one caters to different theme: woodland, play, lounge and dining.

A small woodland trail features a walkway made of sustainable black locust hardwood that meanders through groupings of sweet bay magnolia and sassafras trees.

As a Brooklyn parent himself, Seiter used his experiences of visiting the museum with his children to create a space flexible enough to host playdates, family get-togethers and cultural events “bridging both old and new Brooklyn and bringing people together.”

At the center of it all is a white canopy designed by Toshiko Mori Architect, a shade structure that looks like it’s billowing in the wind.

Structure underneath the canopy that provides visitors shade from the sun.

While it serves to provide respite from the sun, a lot of light pours in through the panels.

The panels on the canopy reflect the sky.

The airy structure offers shade while letting a cool breeze float underneath.

It evokes references to Eero Saarinen’s TWA Flight Center at JFK International Airport, but much lighter.

Families have lots of room to run and play around the pavilion.

Future Green Studio has also added lawn areas and spaces to sit and eat.

Before tackling this project, Seiter and his team visited the Donald & Barbara Zucker Natural Exploration Area in Prospect Park, a children’s play area where used trees damaged by storms and other natural materials take the place of swings and slides.

Various types of shrubs and perennials, including high bush blueberry, hayscented fern, butterfly weed, mayapple and blue wood aster, are sprinkled in between while ground covers like bristle-leaf sedge and hayscented fern can be found throughout the nature walk.

The open lawn play space is also constructed from black locust lumber, chosen because it’s not sourced from tropical rain forests like most other exterior decking.

The <a href="http://www.brooklynkids.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brooklyn Children’s Museum</a> is bringing the wilderness to the middle of the city. This weekend, the museum will unveil a space that includes a forest, trails, interactive exhibits and a winged canopy that takes center stage. <a href="http://futuregreenstudio.com/portfolio/project/brooklyn-childrens-museum-rooftop-renovation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Future Green Studio</a> designed the rooftop’s landscaping by dividing the 20,000-square-foot terrace into four quadrants catering to different themes - woodland, play, lounge and dining - giving kids in the city the perfect place to learn about and explore the natural world.

Because of its greater exposure to the sun, different planting that can handle those conditions were used: smoke trees, cone flower, ornamental onions and wormwood.

Tree trunk pavers and sculptures that serve as seating are made from black locust and white oak rounds.

All the plants used in the landscaping are native and drought tolerant and a water-efficient irrigation system was installed to keep the environment lush.

Rendering of landscaping of entire rooftop terrace.