479-481 Broadway is a new 104,000 square foot, 8-story building built on one of the last remaining vacant sites on Broadway in Bayonne, New Jersey. The project proposes 7,800 square feet of ground floor retail on Broadway with seven residential floors above for a total of 79 units. As a through-lot, the building also seeks to activate Del Monte Drive, which previously functioned as a service road. Del Monte will provide access to a basement parking level for 30 cars via elevator. The building façade, while contemporary, required us to draw inspiration from a six-story adjacent historic structure located at the corner which also established the building’s proportions. The exterior is conceived as a dark brick masonry facade with angular copper-colored metal window boxes. The details are both industrial and playful, referencing simultaneously the character of Bayonne’s waterfront and the streetlife of Broadway. The interior of the lobby continues the industrial language of the exterior, its long narrow proportions mimicking those of the many shipping containers stacked at the Port of Bayonne, accented with perforated metal curtains that shield bright orange super-graphic text which proclaims the building’s identity and forecasts the future of Bayonne as a residential destination. The unit interiors likewise celebrate Bayonne’s relationship to the waterfront, utilizing port-inspired materials such as driftwood veneer cabinetry, distressed wood floors, sculptural tile, and horizontal kerf-cuts to detail the doors. Characteristic of the through-lot, several of the apartments face onto an internal courtyard and have private outdoor decks. Building amenities such as a common lounge, gym and roof deck are located on the eighth floor.