Brooklyn Navy Yard, Nanotronics Smart Factory

Building 20 is a late 19th century single-story masonry, cast iron, and timber structure originally used as an iron plating shop for the construction of US Navy ships. Its roof is comprised of wood purlins and timber arcuated trusses. Silman provided structural engineering services to adaptively reuse the building, transforming it into light industrial space and offices for a nanotechnology company. The project team created a 12,000 sf mezzanine level using cross-laminated timber (CLT) for internal load-bearing partitions and decking.

Four double-height pods for manufacturing and design, arrayed around a central atrium, are connected by mass timber bridges and steel stairs. Silman coordinated the design, production, and construction of the mass timber elements with a European manufacturer specializing in CLT and glulam. The CLT pod structures were assembled on site in only 28 days.