In this issue:
· Bowling Green in Brooklyn
· Pier 57 Gets New Life as a Cultural Hub
· Green Rooftop Oasis Expands on Randall’s Island
· Prototype Museum for Aging Visitors
· Cleveland Art Museum Addition Reaches Halfway Point
· Turkish Luxury Goes Green

Bowling Green in Brooklyn

Brooklyn Bowl.

Adam Macchia

A sign on the Williamsburg exit ramp says, “Welcome to Brooklyn: Name It…We Got It.” Brooklyn can now claim the world’s first bowling alley registered to be LEED-certifiied. Brooklyn Bowl recently opened in the renovated 23,000-square-foot former Hecla Iron Works building (circa 1882) a block from the Williamsburg waterfront. The 600-person capacity performance venue with 16 bowling lanes is the brainchild of Peter Shapiro and Charley Ryan, former owner and operator, respectively, of Wetlands Preserve. Designed by New York Design Associates (NYDA), interior designer Tristam Steinberg, and sustainability and energy innovation consultant GreenOrder, green features include: 100% wind-powered electricity; HVAC with carbon dioxide sensors, variable frequency drive motors, and air-side economizers; Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood; and reclaimed glass from the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The stage floor is composed of 100% recycled truck tires, the floors in the lounge are 100% reclaimed cork, and reclaimed 200-year-old floor boards face both bars. Promoting a no bottles/no cans rule, all soft drinks and locally brewed beers are on tap.

Pier 57 Gets New Life as a Cultural Hub

Courtesy LOT-EK

The Hudson River Park Trust (HRPT) has selected Youngwoo & Associates (YMA) to redevelop Pier 57 at the end of West 15th Street. The firm will transform a National Historic Registry structure containing approximately 375,000 square feet of buildable waterfront space into a hub of cultural, recreational, and public market activities. A 170,000-square-foot covered, open-air public market — to be housed in part by LOT-EK’s recycled and refitted shipping containers — will become NYC’s first large-scale concentration of year-round work/sell space for artisans and other small businesses. The Tribeca Film Festival will establish a permanent outdoor venue on the pier’s roof. A new 90,000-square-foot home for the Phillips de Pury & Co. auction house is envisioned as a mix of auction, exhibition, gallery, and entertainment spaces featuring contemporary art. Seasonal docks will be provided for kayaks, canoes, and other small crafts. Other features include a two-acre rooftop park, restaurants, and an “Underwater Discovery Center” in one of the pier’s caissons. The estimated total cost for the project is $210 million.

Green Rooftop Oasis Expands on Randall’s Island

Green roof on the 5-Boro Administrative Building.

Photo by John Robilotti

As part of PlaNYC, the green roofs at the Park Department’s 5-Boro Administrative Building on Randall’s Island are continually being transformed into a green oasis. Recently, two new green roof systems and one green wall system have been installed. With these new additions, the building now has a total of 16 different green roof systems that can be viewed side-by-side. The smallest features a wildflower seed mix native to the northeast. GreenGrid™, a pre-grown system cultivated in a nursery before it is shipped in modular containers to the roof site was also installed. Each container is a self-sufficient green roof with plants, growing medium, drainage system, and a root barrier. The green wall is also modular, planted with three varieties of sedum at the Van Cortland Park Green House over the winter before being installed on an exterior rooftop stairwell wall this June. Although only 33 square feet, it is the first green wall system undertaken by the NYC Parks Department.

Prototype Museum for Aging Visitors

Derfner Judaica Museum.

Michael Moran

The Hebrew Home for the Aged in Riverdale, the Bronx, possesses a world-class collection of 5,000 art works. The 5,000-square-foot Derfner Judaica Museum, within the home’s Reingold Pavilion, hosts educational and exhibition programming for residents and visitors. Louise Braverman Architect’s new design for the museum establishes a prototype for other cultural institutions gearing up for an urbane, aging population (spaces are more-than-ADA-compliant), yet one that can be enjoyed by everyone. Architectural moves such as a prominent entry ramp and spare cantilevered display cases, along with a hands-free radio frequency audio system help visitors engage with art. Large display walls and art environments are placed perpendicular to the windows facing the Hudson River creating view corridors throughout the museum. Where it was impossible to create clear sightlines, the firm designed translucent channel glass display walls that are spatially layered and light-filled. There are approximately 250 objects on view in the inaugural exhibition, “Tradition and Remembrance: Treasures of the Derfner Judaica Museum,” which explores the intersections of Jewish history and memory.

Cleveland Art Museum Addition Reaches Halfway Point

Cleveland Art Museum at night.

Brad Feinknopf

The new East Wing at the Cleveland Art Museum, designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects (RVA), recently opened to the public, marking the halfway point in an eight-year expansion and renovation. The 132,000-square-foot wing unites the museum’s original 1916 Beaux-Arts building by Cleveland architects Hubbell & Benes, and the 1971 Marcel Breuer-designed Education Wing. Double-height special exhibitions galleries and an entrance lobby located on the lower level serve as the centerpiece of the two-story wing. New galleries for the museum’s collection of 19th- and 20th-century European, Modern, and Contemporary art, as well as an extensive photography collection, are located on the upper level. RVA intended to restore focus to the original building, conceiving it as a jewel set within a continuous ring of expansion space that includes the renovated Breuer building. Other earlier additions are being demolished to make way for an indoor piazza topped with a curving glass-and-steel canopy around which the entire museum will be organized. The naturally lit piazza, a central meeting place and a large event space, aims to draw visitors to the center of the museum complex.

Turkish Luxury Goes Green

J.W. Marriott Hotel, Ankara , Turkey.

RMJM

The NY office of RMJM has designed a luxury 24-story J.W. Marriott Hotel on a 14,000-square-meter site in Ankara, Turkey. The hotel will bring sustainable design to Ankara, including vertical stone fins that will act as solar shading devices on the east and west façades. The glass curtain wall uses high-performance, low-e coating and tinting. Bamboo trees and vegetation will be included in the landscape to offer additional shading. The first four floors are dedicated to ballrooms, meeting facilities, restaurants, and shops in a sky-lit galleria, while 400 guest rooms begin on the fifth floor. Other hotel features include an upscale bistro and three specialty restaurants, an executive lounge at the top of the hotel tower, a health center and spa, and an outdoor wedding venue. The hotel project is slated for completion in October 2010, by which time the firm’s recently-opened Istanbul office should be well established.