April 4, 2018
by: Linda G. Miller
Frick Collection by Selldorf Architects with Beyer Blinder Belle. Credit: Selldorf Architects and Beyer Blinder Belle.
Frick Collection by Selldorf Architects with Beyer Blinder Belle. Credit: Selldorf Architects and Beyer Blinder Belle.
Frick Collection by Selldorf Architects with Beyer Blinder Belle. Credit: Selldorf Architects and Beyer Blinder Belle.
Frick Collection by Selldorf Architects with Beyer Blinder Belle. Credit: Selldorf Architects and Beyer Blinder Belle.
Frick Collection by Selldorf Architects with Beyer Blinder Belle. Credit: Selldorf Architects and Beyer Blinder Belle.
Frick Collection by Selldorf Architects with Beyer Blinder Belle. Credit: Selldorf Architects and Beyer Blinder Belle.
Chelsea Health Center by Stephen Yablon Architecture. Credit: Matt Lapiska/DDC.
Chelsea Health Center by Stephen Yablon Architecture. Credit: Matt Lapiska/DDC.
Chelsea Health Center by Stephen Yablon Architecture. Credit: Matt Lapiska/DDC.
Chelsea Health Center by Stephen Yablon Architecture. Credit: Matt Lapiska/DDC.
Chelsea Health Center by Stephen Yablon Architecture. Credit: Matt Lapiska/DDC.
Chelsea Health Center by Stephen Yablon Architecture. Credit: Matt Lapiska/DDC.
Chelsea Health Center by Stephen Yablon Architecture. Credit: Matt Lapiska/DDC.
Chelsea Health Center by Stephen Yablon Architecture. Credit: Matt Lapiska/DDC.
National WWII Museum Bollinger Canopy of Peace by Voorsanger Architects and Mathews Brierre Architects. Credit: Voorsanger Architects and Mathews Brierre Architects.
National WWII Museum Bollinger Canopy of Peace by Voorsanger Architects and Mathews Brierre Architects. Credit: Voorsanger Architects and Mathews Brierre Architects.
National WWII Museum Bollinger Canopy of Peace by Voorsanger Architects and Mathews Brierre Architects. Credit: Voorsanger Architects and Mathews Brierre Architects.
National WWII Museum Bollinger Canopy of Peace by Voorsanger Architects and Mathews Brierre Architects. Credit: Voorsanger Architects and Mathews Brierre Architects.
National WWII Museum Bollinger Canopy of Peace by Voorsanger Architects and Mathews Brierre Architects. Credit: Voorsanger Architects and Mathews Brierre Architects.
National WWII Museum Bollinger Canopy of Peace by Voorsanger Architects and Mathews Brierre Architects. Credit: Voorsanger Architects and Mathews Brierre Architects.
Stewart Beach Park by Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Planners. Credit: Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Planners.
Stewart Beach Park by Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Planners. Credit: Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Planners.
Stewart Beach Park by Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Planners. Credit: Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Planners.
Stewart Beach Park by Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Planners. Credit: Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Planners.
Stewart Beach Park by Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Planners. Credit: Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Planners.
Stewart Beach Park by Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Planners. Credit: Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Planners.
20 Stories by CetraRuddy Architecture and Design LSM. Credit: Jean Cazals.
20 Stories by CetraRuddy Architecture and Design LSM. Credit: Jean Cazals.
20 Stories by CetraRuddy Architecture and Design LSM. Credit: Jean Cazals.
20 Stories by CetraRuddy Architecture and Design LSM. Credit: Jean Cazals.

What Becomes a Legend Most: Selldorf’s Frick Collection expansion unveiled
The Frick Collection unveiled the design for its expansion by Selldorf Architects. The design honors the architectural legacy and character of the Frick building, designed by Carrère and Hastings, along with John Russell Pope’s adjacent seven-story library. The plan provides unprecedented access to the original 1914 home of Henry Clay Frick, preserves the intimate visitor experience and beloved galleries for which the Frick is known, and restores the 70th Street Garden. Conceived to address pressing institutional and programmatic needs, the plan creates critical new resources for the permanent collection and special exhibitions, as well as conservation, education, and public programs, while upgrading visitor amenities and overall accessibility. The project marks the first comprehensive upgrade to the Frick’s buildings since the institution opened to the public more than eighty years ago. Slated to break ground in 2020, the project encompasses approximately 60,000 square feet of repurposed space and 27,000 square feet of new construction. Design highlights include the opening to the public of a series of intimate rooms on the second floor of the original residence for use as permanent collection galleries. These spaces, together with a new special exhibition area on the museum’s main floor, introduce 30 percent more room for the presentation of art.  Also new are a dedicated, purpose-built education center, the first in the Frick’s history, and an auditorium that will better accommodate educational and public programs. Beyer Blinder Belle serves as executive architect. Garden designer and preservationist Lynden B. Miller will work with the Frick to restore the 70th Street Garden in keeping with the vision of its creator Russell Page.

Clinical Caring: Stephen Yablon renovates Chelsea Health Center
The Chelsea Health Center, located in a “landmark-quality,” 28,000-square-foot Art Deco building, recently reopened after a gut renovation by Stephen Yablon Architecture. The walk-in facility can handle up to 200 patient visits a day. The new design is welcoming and reassuring to encourage more people to come in for testing and treatment. The first floor, off the lobby, includes a new registration area for the building’s Sexual Health Clinic and rapid screening functions as well as flexible administrative office space. The second floor accommodates the bulk of the Sexual Health Clinic program, including exam rooms, counseling rooms, laboratory, phlebotomies, and workspace for medical professionals. Additional flexible administrative office space is provided in the basement, as well as a flexible multi-purpose meeting room, staff pantry, workspaces for building management, and other utility and support spaces. All new windows, updated infrastructure, and reinsulated exterior walls create a more energy-efficient building where a LEED Gold rating is anticipated. ADA accessibility has also been enhanced through a new chairlift and the installation of an additional elevator. The design is also intended to emphasize the connection between the building and the park that surrounds it. The clinic’s curved wood ceilings, porcelain tile floors, and earthen-tone floors resemble textures and colors found in the park. Furthermore, park-facing walls are clad in a tile pattern inspired by the park’s sycamore trees. A tall and narrow vertical curtain wall was cut into the building’s rear façade and an old fire stair was replaced with a new glass-enclosed stair, creating expansive park views and abundant natural light. The clinic is a project of the Design Excellence Program of the Department of Design and Construction.

War and Peace: Voorsanger Mathes-designed WWII Museum canopy breaks ground
The National WWII Museum’s Bollinger Canopy of Peace broke ground last week. Upon completion later this year, the bright white canopy will rise 148 feet above the center of the institution’s six-acre campus in New Orleans. Designed by Voorsanger Mathes, a collaboration between Voorsanger Architects and Mathes Brierre Architects, the canopy is 482 feet long and 134 feet wide. It is held aloft by four steel legs anchored in more than 1,260 cubic yards of concrete. The 825-ton structure will be moored in reinforced concrete footings already in place beneath the campus. The canopy’s steel is zinc-coated and made up of a frame-and-truss system that’s been wind-tunnel tested to exceed American Society of Civil Engineers safety standards. The museum tells the story of the American war experience on the battlefront and on the homefront. Voorsanger Architects began work on the master plan for the campus when they entered a design competition in 2003. A group of exhibit pavilions were designed and built in phases, organized around a parade ground. The Canopy was envisioned as a crown jewel over the campus to bring all the pavilions together. The canopy is a unifying element and creates a grand entryway while providing shade for visitors on the plaza and parade ground.

It’s Island Time: Rogers Partners upgrades Stewart Beach Park structures
Stewart Beach Park in Galveston, is getting a makeover by Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Planners. Existing 20-year old structures will be demolished to make way for a new pavilion. The new 72,000-square-foot pavilion is intended to reorganize the mix of concessions, patrol facilities, parks offices, storage, restrooms, and community meeting space that beachgoers make use of in the existing buildings. Two adjacent two- and three-story structures will be suspended above a series of promenades and linked by overhead walkways. A network of additional walkways leads to an outdoor amphitheater. New amenities include a restaurant and a roof deck. Parks officials are awaiting funds from the federal RESTORE program, created in 2012 in response to the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil spill, some of which would go toward building the pavilion. Rogers Partners is also part of the Walter P. Moore and Rice University-led Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center’s ongoing study of hurricane surge reduction in the Houston-Galveston Bay region. The focus of the study is a potential surge protection system known as the Houston-Galveston Area Protection System, or H-GAPS.

Up on the Roof: CetraRuddy designs 20 Stories restaurant in Manchester
The new CetraRuddy Architecture-designed restaurant, 20 Stories, is Manchester, UK’s highest eatery. The restaurant, which recently opened, sits atop a new office tower located in the city’s financial and entertainment district, and occupies both the 19th and 20th floors. The 5,263-square-foot venue features a main restaurant, a more casual brasserie and grill with open-concept seating, and a cocktail bar. Outside, an expansive terrace and rooftop garden offers sculptural installations and 360-degree views. Al fresco fireplaces and an outdoor lounge bar are set under a canopy of trees and dramatic lighting, creating a dynamic indoor-outdoor atmosphere set against the backdrop of Manchester’s skyline. The design incorporates locally sourced materials, natural and handcrafted elements that reflect the city’s industrial and agricultural past. The large rooftop terrace offers 360-degree views of Manchester. CetraRuddy collaborated with London-based DesignLSM on the project.

This Just In

The City Council has approved the development of The Peninsula, designed by WXY and Body Lawson Associates. The former Spofford Juvenile Detention Center will be transformed into a five-acre, live-work campus in The Bronx.

Studio Libeskind’s first project in New York City may be affordable senior housing at the Sumner Houses in the Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn. The ground-up building will contain 197 units.

The city has selected PAU to develop a master plan for Sunnyside Yard in Queens. The 180-acre train yard is sited between Sunnyside and Long Island City. A study by the de Blasio administration showed it is possible to build a deck over 85 percent of the pit, supporting a mix of residential, commercial, retail, cultural, and open space.

Aufgang Architects is designing Victory Plaza Senior Housing, a nine-story, 136-unit project that will rise on a vacant lot just south of Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem.

Grimshaw Architects and STV will oversee the 33-gate replacement of Newark Liberty Airports Terminal A.

NBBJ is designing an 18,000-square-foot health center at Hudson Yards. Managed by Mount Sinai Health System, the center will provide comprehensive, convenient, and exclusive care to all Hudson Yards employees, residents, and their families and is scheduled to begin operations in early 2019.

The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation announced that plans are underway on the makeover for the New York State Pavilion, the structure designed by Philip Johnson for the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadow Corona Park. The scope of the project includes structural conservation work on the three observation towers, waterproofing of the tower bases, improvements to the electrical infrastructure, and architectural lighting of the observation towers and the Tent of Tomorrow.

Ground has been broken on the Steven Holl Architects-designed Susan & Benjamin Winter Visual Arts Center on the campus of Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. The new center will facilitate the creation of art and the study of visual culture.

Snarkitecture will once again be designing a temporary installation for the National Building Museum’s annual Summer Block Party, on view July 4-September 3, 2018. Entitled Fun House, it will feature a freestanding house; various reprises of the firm’s previous works will fill each room.

The Graham Foundation announced the new grants to individuals around the world to support 74 projects engaging original ideas that advance our understanding of the designed environment. The funded projects include exhibitions, publications, films, new media works, and site-specific installations that promote rigorous scholarship, stimulate experimentation, and foster critical discourse in architecture. Among the New Yorkers receiving grants are Eric Bunge, AIA, and Mimi Hoang, AIA, of nARCHITECTS who are publishing an “anti-monograph” on their firm.

In case you missed it: Wired features Jonathan Marvel, FAIA, and his efforts to rewire Puerto Rico with solar power.

BROWSER UPGRADE RECOMMENDED

Our website has detected that you are using a browser that will prevent you from accessing certain features. An upgrade is recommended to experience. Use the links below to upgrade your exisiting browser.