SIMS Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility
Architects: Selldorf Architects; Architects of Record: Steven Gambino Architects; Landscape Architects: Mark Vaccaro; Location: Sunset Park, Brooklyn, NY; Completed: 2013.
Like many cities, New York is built on a vast, often unnoticed network of infrastructure. Its citizens and visitors are more likely to notice the iconic skyscrapers looming overhead than the everyday processes and machinery that keep a city of millions functioning. Last weekend I had the privilege of touring one such facility, the SIMS Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility, as part of the Open House New York Preview Program. Led by Tom Outerbridge, General Manager of Sims Municipal Recycling, and Annabelle Selldorf, Principal of Selldorf Architects, the tour was a fascinating education in the mechanisms of sustainably disposing all of the recyclable waste that such a large city can produce.
The facility is located at the end of the 30th Street pier of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Sunset Park was part of New York Harbor's dominant shipping industry, starting in the late 1800's up until the end of World War II. During the war, much of the supplies and troops needed for the war effort were dispatched through the ports of the New York Harbor. With the end of the war and the subsequent decline in manufacturing in the Northeast, the area eventually faded in importance as a shipping port, leaving behind abandoned factory buildings and piers. When the SBMT closed its container terminal business in the 1980's, the NYPD used the 30th Street pier as a parking lot for impounded vehicles until the recycling facility began construction
The facilities are built atop four feet of site fill made from a composite of recycled glass, asphalt, and rock reclaimed from the Second Avenue subway construction. Fortunately, this kept the facilities machinery dry from the storm surge of Hurricane Sandy, which impacted New York City during construction, and elevated the buildings above FEMA's new 100 year flood plane. Besides the forward thinking flood plane strategy, the site features many other sustainable elements. Excessive storm water is handled by a gravity-based system comprised of landscape features, bio-swales and a retention pond. Three artificial reefs are employed to restore a habitat for marine and bird life. Also on site is one of the city's largest solar power installations, producing 600kW of power. A wind turbine is also slated to be installed at the site in the near future.
The public plaza leading to the visitor and administration building is partially paved with a multicolored gravel of recycled glass.
Visitors to the site can explore the exhibits inside the Recycling Education Center to learn about the various processes employed to sort each type of material for recycling and the means of transporting those materials to the facility and on to their next destination. Also within the Center are classrooms, a theater, administrative offices for the 75 full-time employees, and a large outdoor terrace with amazing views of the Hudson River and Lower Manhattan.
Connected by a bridge from the Recycling Education Center is the Tipping Building, the first stop for recyclables arriving to the site by barge from SMR facilities in Queens and the Bronx. Items collected in Brooklyn typically arrive by DSNY collection vehicles. Most materials will leave by barge or rail once they have been sorted and processed. Construction of this building and the others on site are built of 98% recycled steel.
Materials brought to the Tipping Building are then sent to the Processing Building to be sorted by material type (metal, glass, plastic, etc.) in a multi-stage process.
The High Line: Section 3 / April 20, 2014
Architects: Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Landscape Architects: James Corner Field Operations; Program: Park; Location: Hudson Yards District, New York, NY; Completion: Fall 2014 (Phase 3).
The Carol Bove Caterpillar art walk on the High Line's third section at Hudson Yards wrapped up over the weekend, which afforded an opportunity to catch up on the progress of construction for the fall opening. Much of the paved walking path has been completed, and the installation of wire mesh fencing that separates visitors from the wild plants is well underway. A mock-up is on site for the taller, black metal mesh screen to be installed at the perimeter next to the MTA facilities at the rail yards.
10 Hudson Yards
Architects: KPF; Program: Office; Location: Hudson Yards, New York, NY; Completion: July 2015.
The first tower at Related's Hudson Yards mega development continues its rise towards 892 feet and 52 stories. When completed in July 2015, it will be the new corporate home for Coach, L'Oreal and SAP. A Fairway Market will be located at the Ground Level. Currently, the concrete structure has reached several floors above the High Line's third section. The overhang of the tower along 30th Street will allow for a 60 foot high "balcony" for the park.
Manhattan West
Master Plan Architects: SOM; Landscape Architects: James Corner Field Operations; Program: Office, Residential, Hotel, Retail); Location: Hudson Yards District, New York, NY; Completion: Late 2014 (Platform).
Construction continues on the platform that will cover the Amtrak tracks in preparation of the 5 acre mixed use development. As of the beginning of April, 3 of the 16 concrete bridges that make the platform have been constructed. The platform will cover about 60% of the site, with the cores of the towers built on bedrock on either side of the platform. On site, a large piece of machinery called the "Launcher" uses post-tension pre-cast segmental bridge technology to construct the platform with minimal impact to the Amtrak traffic flowing below. Following construction of the platform, the site will eventually include 7.2 million square feet of mixed use program including office, residential, hotel and a public plaza designed by James Corner Field Operations, designers of the High Line.
NYU Basic Sciences Building at 433 First Avenue
Architects: KPF and EYP; Program: Education; Location: New York, NY; Completion: 2014.
Work is progressing on the exterior building envelope at NYU's 170,000 square foot new building for the College of Nursing, the College of Dentistry, and the bio-engineering program. The majority of the facade consists of tan terracotta panels and large expanses of glass to accentuate the corners and the First Avenue elevation with smaller openings of varying widths that extend outward along the facade. Wood trims the large glass opening that are pushed inward along the lower volume of the building and the large corner of glass at the top floor.
Manhattan Districts 1/2/5 Garage
Architects: Dattner Architects, WXY Architecture + Urban Design; Program: Infrastructure; Location: Hudson Square, New York, NY; Completion: 2014.
Work continues at the Department of Sanitation's garage, where the installation of the perforated, metal fins on the west facade has progressed beyond the half-way mark. With most of the fins installed on the southern facade, the east facade is the last to need its fins installed. When completed, the project hopes to achieve LEED Gold certification.
Project Information Page [Dattner Architects]
7 Bryant Park
Architects: Pei Cobb Freed; Program: Office, Retail; Location: New York, NY; Completion: 2015.
Installation of curtain wall panels has begun on the second floor of the 30-story office tower at 7 Bryant Park. The panels consist of a low iron IGU (Insulated Glazing Unit) and a linen finish stainless steel spandrel panel that will give the building a strong horizontal banding appearance when finished.
The conical incisions at the corner facing Bryant Park are already apparent in the steel structure that has reached the 16th floor. This gesture culminates in the 48 foot diameter stainless steel clad entry canopy, the structure for which has already been installed on site.
Jerome L. Greene Science Center
Architects: Renzo Piano Building Workshop; Program: Education; Location: Manhattanville, New York, NY; Completion: 2015.
Installation of the building envelope continues at the first building of Columbia University's Manhattanville Campus expansion, reaching the sixth floor. In total, the building's 10-story enclosure contains approximately 175, 988 square feet of wall surface among six different wall types, including double skin glass curtain wall and structural facades. The building envelope strategy will help in the pursuit of certification for the newly established LEED Neighborhood Design, a pilot program of the sustainability focused building rating organization.
Atlantic Yards B2 Tower
Architects: SHoP Architects; Program: Residential; Location: New York, NY; Completion: 2014.
Modular units have now reached the fifth floor of SHoP Architects' first tower of the Atlantic Yards project. The pace appears to be about a floor every two weeks which would mean there are 13.5 remaining months in this 32 story tower. I suspect the pace will quicken as experience with installation grows. With the fifth floor you can start to read a color shift in the window unit frames from white to black on the southwest corner volume. According to the project renderings, the next floor will introduce a lighter toned third wall type to the tower on the northeastern side.
Hunter's Point South Commons and Hunter's Point South Crossing
Architects: SHoP Architects; Program: Residential; Completion: 2015.
The first floor of curtain wall has been installed on the East and North facades of the first tower at Hunters Point South. The start of curtain wall installation has been significantly delayed since the topping out of the concrete structure but appears to now be on track. Notable features of the facade include: orange PTAC units, light gray spandrel panels, and clips for the later installation of the vertical fins that run up the building.
