Fall 2022 Project Roundup: Openings, Awards, and On the Boards

NEWLY OPENED

Bronx Children’s Museum opens long-awaited permanent home (New York Times, 12/1/22) – After operating without a building for over a decade, the museum has found a new space on the second story of a decommissioned 1925 powerhouse. Silman designed the new structure for multiple mezzanines including an exhibit space platform framed with cross-laminated timber (CLT) planks.

Architectural mockups get new life in community gardens (New York Times, 11/29/22) – A team of architects has come together to create a program called Testbeds, which aims to reduce construction waste by reusing mockup assemblies. Silman provided structural engineering services for a pilot project: a garden shed that incorporates a visual mockup from the facade of a new luxury condo.

Forest Hills Community Center reopens following $15 million renovation (QNS, 11/14/22) – The building served as the original administrative headquarters for Queens Community House (QCH), one of the borough’s largest community-based organizations. Renovation work included modernizing the building infrastructure and improving accessibility.

National Air and Space Museum will reopen galleries amid major overhaul (Architect's Newspaper, 10/11/22) – The 600,000 sf building spans four city blocks. Newly renovated galleries feature a mockup of the International Space Station and the historic Wright Flyer.

Holy Cross’s Prior Performing Arts Center overflows with cultural energy (Metropolis Mag, 10/5/22) – The new center features a proscenium theatre and a 200-seat flexible performance space. The interior is organized around a central triple-height lobby known as the Beehive. Floating stairs jut into the lobby and connect all three levels.

450 Warren offers a radical approach to housing in Brooklyn (Architectural Record, 10/3/22) – The unusual residential floor plan incorporates a central landscaped courtyard and a variety of private outdoor spaces. Curving concrete walkways suspended over the courtyard provide access to each of the building's 18 units.

Art comes alive at the new David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center (The Hudson Independent, 9/30/22) – Originally constructed in 1908 as a greenhouse inspired by the Orangerie at the Palace of Versailles, this building has been transformed into a sustainable and modern arts center. A new flexible theater space required column removal.

AWARDS

AIA Brooklyn Design Awards: Piaule Catskills Resort

AIA Connecticut Design Awards: Yale University Center for the Humanities, Greenwich Academy South Campus, UConn Gant Science Complex

AIA Potomac Valley Design Awards: Hood College, Beneficial-Hodson Library & Learning Commons

AN Best in Design Awards: 450 Warren (Residential—Multi-unit), Church Hill North Community Hybrid (Social Impact), Bronx Children's Museum (Interior—Institutional), Brooklyn Navy Yard Nanotronics (Honorable Mention, Adaptive Reuse), YMCA Northeast Bronx (Honorable Mention, Commercial—Sports & Entertainment), Smith College Neilson Library (Honorable Mention, Library)

DC Awards for Excellence in Historic Preservation: Folger Shakespeare Library (video)

Interior Design Best of Year Project Awards (finalists): National Basketball Association Headquarters, Carnegie Mellon University Fifth and Clyde Neighborhood Commons, Yale University Schwarzman Center, Northeast Bronx YMCA, Top of the Hill House

New York State Historic Preservation Awards: Jay Estate Gardens, Pier 57

ON THE BOARDS

New master plan aims to restore Frank Lloyd Wright’s Kalita Humphreys Theater (Dallas News, 12/8/22) – The restored 1959 theater will become the centerpiece of a new performing arts complex along an urban trail. This scheme also calls for the construction of four new structures including two theaters. You can watch a flythrough animation of this project here.

Puerto Rico's most prestigious art museum will begin repairs on its main building (El Nuevo Día, 11/9/22) – The Museo de Arte de Ponce was originally designed by Edward Durell Stone and first opened in 1965. This project aims to repair damage caused by a 2020 earthquake.

Hirshhorn Museum appoints design team to lead its largest modernization to date (Design Boom, 11/1/22) – Silman recently provided services for envelope repairs and improvements that included replacing the exterior precast panels, balcony glazing, and roofing. Silman is also on the design team recently selected to undertake the most ambitious renovation project in the building's history.

Bronx Museum of the Arts unveils design for new Grand Concourse entrance (6sqft, 10/31/22) – The only free contemporary art museum in the city will get a new multi-story main entrance and central lobby for its south wing. The project will also connect the facility's multiple buildings and create an accessible path throughout its galleries.

Bard College to break ground on new performance studio building next fall (New York Times, 10/25/22) – The 25,000 sf spiral-shaped building will provide space for rehearsals and an amphitheater for public performances. A sloping green roof will create the impression of a structure emerging from the surrounding meadow.

Historic Queens beachfront bathhouse to undergo $50 million refresh (Architect's Newspaper, 10/21/22) – The Jacob Riis Park Bathhouse consists of four connected brick structures dating back to the 1930s. The complex will be transformed into a beachfront destination with amenities including a rooftop restaurant and a courtyard swimming pool.