Car brand MINI has backed the conversion of a Greenpoint warehouse into a creative workspace, restaurant and design store, featuring a "periscope" that reflects the Brooklyn and Manhattan skylines.
New York studio nArchitects transformed the industrial space, with funding from MINI, into the creative hub A/D/O.

Opening to the public in January 2017, it encompasses 23,000 square feet (915 square metres) of space for designers and the public to congregate and share ideas.
"Our aim is to be a catalyst for new and relevant work," said A/D/O managing director Nathan Pinsley. "Meaningful design requires exchange and stimulation and we've built a place entirely for that purpose."

Named after the research team that developed the first MINI in 1959, the venture marks an entirely new direction for the car company ? forming part of a trend for auto brands diversifying their portfolios beyond vehicles. The conversion of the building was the task of nArchitects, the firm behind New York's first micro-apartment tower, which kept the bones of the structure but rearranged its interior to accommodate many different functions.

One of the most noticeable interventions is a prism-shaped protrusion on the roof. Known as the periscope, the feature has mirrored facets that reflect light into the space below, and provide visitors with fragmented views of buildings in both Brooklyn and Manhattan simultaneously.
Also reflected by the mirrors is a colourful giant mur...