|
Elevated Acre
Project Type
Outdoor Plaza
Square Footage
One Square Acre
Architect
Rogers Marvel Architects
212-941-6718
Landscape Architect
Ken Smith
212-791-3595
Engineer
The Office of James Ruderman
212-643-1414
|
|
|
|
 << BACK
Elevated Acre
On the edge of Manhattan’s Wall Street Area, Rogers Marvel Architects and landscape architect Ken Smith have transformed a drab, windswept corporate brickscape into an acre of vibrant public space.
Above the parking garage for the largest privately owned office tower in New York, 55 Water Street Plaza holds the distinction of being the city’s only elevated public plaza. Opened in 1972, the area soon fell into disrepair. “What existed on the site before was dead space,” explains Rob Rogers, AIA, principal of Rogers Marvel Architects, which, with Ken Smith, won the 2002 competition sponsored by the building’s landlord and the Municipal Art Society to resuscitate the plaza.
A 60-foot-high tower of laminated glass panels with custom fittings and backlit with color-changing LEDs, the beacon advertises the plaza whose northeast corner it occupies. Its 1,000 feet of custom made linear LEDs are fully programmable and set the tone as they change color throughout the day and across the seasons as an imperceptible rate.
The park itself is composed of three elements. A “Long Island dunescape” creates a sense of intimacy with its native grasses and plants. An event lawn with surrounding amphitheater seating manages heavy traffic by incorporating artificial turf. And the East River boardwalk, a prototypical design, is elevated more than 30 feet above South Street.
 
The plaza’s gentle grade, which rises from the main Water Street entrance up to the boardwalk, builds up anticipation for the East River view and helps reduce city noise. The sounds of crickets chirping and the grasses swaying in the wind make this culture of congestion seem decidedly uncongested, while the boardwalk on the park’s eastern perimeter reveals a more urban vista, with the traffic of the FDR and the nearby helicopter pad, the New York Harbor, the Brooklyn waterfront, and the Brooklyn Bridge.
The architects designed the space for year-round use by both the tenants of 55 Water Street and by the general public. Future events planned for the park include film screenings, company picnics and any other activities that are suited to a public space.
Editorial Credit:
Architectural Record,
John Gendall
Photo Credit:
Sayers Photo |
|