New York City Department of Sanitation, Manhattan 1/2/5 Garage and Spring Street Salt Shed

Burns’ provided all of the structural engineering, design and construction administration for the new five-story, 425,000 square foot vehicle garage that can accommodate more than 150 sanitation vehicles.

The facility combines the fueling, washing, storage and maintenance operations of three Sanitation operating units with the semi-trailer storage needs of former site occupant United Parcel Service under a unique, shared-use industrial condominium arrangement. The building’s superstructure, weighing in at 11,350 tons of structural steel, is supported on more than 1,700 concrete-filled steel pipe piles and drilled caissons. The robust structural framework is designed to meet the physical and operational challenges of a heavy industrial facility while meeting DSNY’s commitment to design excellence and sustainable design. DSNY is pursuing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification for the environmentally sensitive garage which features a plant-filled green roof that will collect rainwater to be used for washing the trucks and a curtainwall façade with 2,600 perforated, metal fins to reduce solar heat gain and glare.

Burns also designed the adjacent Spring Street Salt Shed made of faceted concrete in the shape of a salt crystal that rises nearly 70 feet along the Hudson River. The award-winning structure is designed to house 5,000 tons of salt delivered through a monumental 34-foot-high door.

The new structures elevate the gritty character of their industrial operations and blend naturally into their gentrified residential neighborhood.

The 1/2/5 Garage and Spring Street Salt Shed have been honored with the following awards:

• 2016 Concrete Industry Board, Award of Merit – Public Works
• Best New Building, Municipal Arts Society (MAS) Masterworks Awards
• AIA NY Architecture Honor Award
• Best of Facades, The Architects Newspaper
• Art Commission Design Award, City of New York

Photo credit: Dattner Architects