Brooklyn, New Yok
Landscape
Scenic Hudson RiverWalk Park, Tarrytown, NY
Marsha P. Johnson State Park, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
Corporate Headquarters Roof Deck and Terraces, DUMBO, Brooklyn, NY
4 World Trade Center, NY, NY
Fifteen years of practice with a New York City based, mid-sized firm resulted in collaboration on dozens of projects of various scales. From this body of work two types emerge: the waterfront reclamation and the urban rooftop garden. The former requires sensitivity to the unique cultural, historical, and ecological contexts present and calls on the designer to foster relationships with community members and local and regional officials. The latter necessitates designing with plants in compromised physical conditions and cooperation with architects to create intentional transitions between indoor and outdoor space where otherworldly environments high above the city street thrive.
The primary goal of the Scenic Hudson RiverWalk Park, located along the Hudson River, on the site of a former asphalt plant, was to give people access to the water’s edge after industry had been a barrier to this access for so long. Among a series of swales and dunes planted with native grasses and shrubs exist opportunities to view the Manhattan skyline and what was known as the Tappan Zee Bridge. Subsequent phases involved the design of traditional park spaces and elements as well as the restoration of the aquatic habitat of Andre Brook, a previously channelized and culverted waterway. The story of the site is complete when it begins with geological formation, includes its past dominated by industry, and concludes with its reclamation as a waterfront park.
Several rooftop spaces were part of the renovation of a former printing press that is now one of the largest Living Building Challenge (LBC) Petal-Certified buildings in New York City. To that end, intelligent sustainable design strategies and the thoughtful use of materials was required inside and out. Making outdoor space accessible to its employees is in keeping with the Corporation's commitment to its community, and specifically to the wellbeing of its employees. Each outdoor space is inspired by a distinct plant community, for example, there is a meadow on the ninth floor and an extensive moss garden in the shade of the fifth.
The glass facade that changes appearance depending upon the light that hits it is the design starting point for the only accessible rooftop space—5,000 square feet on the 57th floor setback—of this iconic building. The reflective qualities of the glass and the height of the terrace present particular physical conditions that, along with lack of soil depth, are simultaneously constraints and inspiration.
Several rooftop spaces were part of the renovation of a former printing press that is now one of the largest Living Building Challenge (LBC) Petal-Certified buildings in New York City. To that end, intelligent sustainable design strategies and the thoughtful use of materials was required inside and out. Making outdoor space accessible to its employees is in keeping with the Corporation's commitment to its community, and specifically to the wellbeing of its employees. Each outdoor space is inspired by a distinct plant community, for example, there is a meadow on the ninth floor and an extensive moss garden in the shade of the fifth.