The Grove Street Project
The Design Challenge
From Congregate Living to Individualized Care— or how to turn an old convent into modern, personalized, therapeutic housing for adolescents with Autism.
Built in the 1930s, St. Brigid’s convent housed up to 30 Sisters of Mercy who taught the children of Irish and German immigrants in what was once the largest elementary school in the Brooklyn Diocese. From 1979 to 2007, the convent was operated as a group home by Birch Family Services for 22 men and women with mental retardation, who formerly lived at the Willowbrook State School. Over the years, as standards for caring for people with disabilities improved further, all of those residents were relocated to smaller houses in other neighborhoods. Recently, Birch had been faced with a new challenge. Some adolescents with severe autism, who were failing in school and becoming unmanageable at home, were sent by their families to publicly-funded residential schools in distant states— because New York lacked local alternatives.
Those adolescents have returned home and 12 of them now reside in the converted convent on Grove Street that has been transformed again to create a unique supervised living and habilitation environment to help them reconnect with their families after years apart. Last winter, Birch Family Services opened the first residential school for these children in New York City.
The Design Team
Close on the heels of their first “Beautiful Home” project for 5 young men with autism on 52nd Street in Brooklyn, interior designers Benjamin Bradley and David Thiergartner once again donated their talents and helped raise funds for an even more challenging project. The Birch Family Services Residence at 52nd Street reinforced David and Ben’s belief that an exceptional interior design starts by thoroughly understanding the unique needs of their clients. Usually, they achieve that by speaking directly with their clients and coming up with a vision based on that information. At 52nd Street, though, they needed to learn about those special needs primarily through the Autism and Residential Services experts at Birch. |
Since the ways in which people with autism tend to react to colors, patterns, light, sounds, object placement and boundaries are often different from those of their other clients, initially it was very challenging to create a beautiful design that fit within the therapeutic needs of their new clients. However, once they understood the “principles,” the design fell into place— and the five guys living there love it. Comparing the two projects, Ben noted that ”In the Grove Street project, all 12 of our clients will be very energetic adolescents with autism— probably all boys. We’ll carry over the principles about autism that we learned at 52nd Street, but this new design needed to appeal to a younger group— and be very durable.“ |
Everybody Deserves to Live in a Beautiful Home
Our Second Project:
St. Nicholas House
Wyckoff House
Quick Links
Birch’s architect did a great job of designing the new space— creating two 6-bedroom townhouses with spacious rooms and a layout that should work very well for these kids,” said David. “We turned all of that sheetrock into a beautiful home, while creating an environment that will support the unique therapeutic requirements of this landmark project.”
The Design Concept
At the heart of their design, Benjamin and David want each “house” to have its own distinct identity. As David says: “Whether you’re living in a residential condo, or in a special program for teens with autism, it’s important to your self-fulfillment and enjoyment in life that your surroundings reflect YOU. This can be difficult to achieve in any multiple living arrangement, but good design can go a long way toward that goal.”
“We started by giving the two townhouses different names— St. Nicholas House and Wyckoff House— after two streets that are adjacent to Grove Street. Much as two sports teams might have distinct names, colors, logos, mascots, and so forth, our concept is to develop two very different sets of colors, patterns, and furnishings for each group of 6 teens, while still allowing for individual expression within each child’s bedroom,” said Ben. “Of course, everything we do must take into account the characteristics of people with autism that we mentioned before.“
This kind of innovative thinking has underscored Birch’s approach to helping people with disabilities for 35 years. However, Benjamin and David’s insightful vision for this special program to help 12 teens with autism cannot be achieved with the limited public funds available to Birch Family Services for this project. That’s where you can help.
How you can help…
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Whether you’re living in a residential condo, or in a special program for teens with autism, it’s important to your self-fulfillment and enjoyment in life that your surroundings reflect YOU” |
Name a roomWith a contribution of $5,000 or more, you can name one or more of the rooms in the Grove Street Residences. Your gift will cover the costs of furnishing the rooms you select, and will provide an appropriately placed acknowledgement of your generosity. To name a Room, please contact our CEO directly at (212) 616-1800.
Donate FundsIf you would like to contribute to the Grove Street Fund, we accept donations either online by credit card or by mail. |
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James is just one of the five young men enjoying life in Birch’s first Beautiful Home at 52nd Street in Brooklyn.
Please help us give 12 more young people with autism a new Beautiful Home at our Grove Street Houses. |
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Raise the Roof!
Thanks to these tireless supporters, the Raise the Roof event for Grove Street Houses was an evening to remember.
Pictured from left to right, Margaret Holman of Holman Consulting, David Thiergartner, Architect, Bradley Thiergartner Interiors, Jacqueline Weeman, Manager, Clive Christian Showroom, Benjamin Bradley, Architect, Bradley Thiergartner Interiors, Marine Chan of Marine Chan Antique Textiles and Pillows, Jean Rawitt, Secretary of the Board, Birch Family Services, and Diane Bordt of Hogan Lovells LLP.
Raise the Roof
Thurs., October 7, 2010 - 6 to 8 pm
Clive Christian Showroom
Architects & Designers Building
New York City
How You Can Help
