The Manhattan Districts 1/2/5 Garage, overlooking the Hudson River at the corner of Spring Street and West Street, will house three district garages for the NYC Department of Sanitation. The buildings have become iconic and a source of neighborhood pride. Although municipal infrastructure projects are often targeted as undesirable uses, the community has embraced the project and applauded the use of design to successfully integrate critical services into the neighborhood. This pair of public buildings serves close to 300,000 residents. The new multi-story building will accommodate over 150 sanitation vehicles including trucks, front-end loaders, salt spreaders, heavy-equipment wreckers, and personnel vehicles; separate vehicle wash and personnel facilities for each district; and centralized fueling and repair facilities. The double-skin façade wraps the curtain wall with custom, perforated, metal fins to vertically articulate the massing and mitigate sun exposure. The fins are operable for the occupied spaces. An extensive green roof softens views from neighboring buildings, protects the roof membrane and enhances storm water retention and thermal performance. A benchmark project for NYC`s Active Design program, the garage is designed to achieve a LEED Gold certification.
