Barclays Center Green Roof
Installation of the sedum for the green roof atop the Barclays Center arena has begun. The underlying structure has been under construction for several months, but with the arrival of spring the vegetation has started to appear. Sedum will be installed in four mixes that allow for year round vegetation.
Pacific Park
Construction appears to be picking up pace once again at the megaproject formerly known as Atlantic Yards, in Brooklyn. The project has been rebranded Pacific Park and has four towers currently under construction.
After disputes between Skanska and developer Forest City Ratner that led to a site shutdown and legal battles, SHoP Architects' B2 modular tower, now rebranded as 461 Dean, is slated to resume construction. According to Curbed, the 10th floor units, where construction stalled, must be realigned before the remaining 22 stories can be installed on site. In February, permits were filed for SHoP's second building for the project, 30 6th Avenue, a 23-story all affordable rental building adjacent to 461 Dean. Along with apartments, the building will include a healthcare facility, commercial space, and a parking garage. Ground breaking on 30 6th Avenue should take place in June.
Looking towards Barclays Center from the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues.
Looking towards Barclays Center.
Northwest corner of 461 Dean (right) and Barclays Center (left).
West façade of 461 Dean.
South façade of 461 Dean.
Southeast corner of 461 Dean (left), future site of 30 6th Avenue (right), and Barclays Center (center).
Looking west on Dean Street towards 461 Dean and Barclays Center (right).
East façade of Barclays Center (center) with future site of 30 6th Avenue (left) and the B4 tower (right).
Northeast corner of Barclays Center and the future site of the B4 tower.
Looking west along the Vanderbilt Rail Yards towards Barclays Center (center).
Looking east along the Vanderbilt Rail Yards.
Along with SHoP, COOKFOX Architects are currently designing two towers for the mega development. Initial site work has begun at 550 Vanderbilt Avenue, a 17-story, 278 unit condo tower. Amenities include a shared roof terrace on the eighth floor, residents lounge, library, playroom, fitness center, chef's kitchen, bike storage and underground parking. Also underway by COOKFOX, 535 Carlton Avenue, a 19-story, 298 unit rental building that will be comprised of only affordable units. Both projects have an optimistic completion date of June 2016.
Northwest corner of 535 Carlton.
Southwest corner of 535 Carlton.
Development signage on site.
Southeast corner of 550 Vanderbilt.
Northeast corner of 550 Vanderbilt.
Architects: SHoP Architects (461 Dean, 30 6th Avenue), COOKFOX Architects (535 Carlton, 550 Vanderbilt); Landscape Architects: Thomas Balsley Associates; Master Plan: Gehry Partners LLP; Developers: Greenland Forest City Partners (Forest City Ratner Companies, Greenland USA); Program: Mixed Use (Residential, Office, Hotel, Retail, School, Healthcare, Sports Arena, Open Space); Location: Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, NY.
Atlantic Yards B2 Tower
There is steady progress at the site of the future world's tallest modular tower. According to ESD and Forest City Ratner, 246 modules out of approximately 960 have been delivered and installed to date. The 32 story tower is composed of three main volumes, each with their own unique facade articulation. The red and grey paneled volume along Flatbush Avenue has approximately reached its half way mark in height, while the second volume of light grey panels along Dean Street has seen the installation of 4 out of 18 floors of modules. The third volume of the tower will rise above the lower two. When completed, the 346,000 square foot tower will bring 363 rental apartments to the area, half of which will fall under the affordable housing program.
The west facade of the Barclays Center (left) and the B2 tower (right) on Flatbush Avenue.
Detail of the corner facade at Flatbush Avenue and the Barclays Center arena.
Detail of the Flatbush Avenue facade.
The corner of Flatbush Avenue and Dean Street.
The Dean Street facade.
Detail of the Dean Street facade.
Corner detail of the Dean Street facade.
The corner of the Dean Street facade.
Looking west along Dean Street.
Architects: SHoP Architects; Developers: Forest City Ratner; Program: Residential; Location: Atlantic Yards, Brooklyn, NY; Completion: 2015.
Atlantic Yards B2 Tower
Installation of prefab units has resumed onsite at the Atlantic Yards B2 tower, after a month long installation stoppage. Currently, unit installation has progressed to the eighth floor of the 32-story building. Projected completion of the tower has been recently pushed back to the latter half of 2015 as installation of prefab units has proceeded at a much slower pace than originally promised.
Looking east along Dean Street.
Looking north along Dean Street.
A Dean Street module lifted for installation.
Installation of a Dean Street module.
Looking west at the corner of Dean Street and 6th Avenue.
The seventh floor has introduced a new module type of light grey, perforated metal panel amongst the black metal panel modules below.
A new module type on the seventh floor facing 6th Avenue.
Module detail.
Looking south along 6th Avenue.
Module delivered to the site.
Preparing to lift a module for installation.
Previous Updates:
Architects: SHoP Architects; Developers: Forest City Ratner; Program: Residential; Location: Atlantic Yards, Brooklyn, NY; Completion: 2015.
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.
Atlantic Yards B2 Tower
Architects: SHoP Architects; Program: Residential; Location: New York, NY; Completion: 2014.
At the first tower of the Atlantic Yards project, installation of the prefab units have begun on the second floor. Units are transported to the site from a nearby factory at the Brooklyn Navy Yard where each of the 930 modular components are assembled. When completed later this year, B2 will contain 363 residential units on 32 floors. Half of these units will be affordable units restricted by family income, with the other half available at market rate.