Google’s New York office: Iconic pier transformed through adaptive reuse
by arslan_ahmed | November 14, 2023 12:55 pm
Built in 1952 for The Grace Line steamship company, Pier 57, a 274-m-(900-ft)-long water-bound peninsula, was New York’s largest Art Deco dock, supported by three massive caissons. It has now been reborn as Google’s new office space.
Designed by the firm, Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), it serves as Google’s latest addition to its expanding Chelsea campus. This space offers a variety of individual and group work areas, both indoors and outdoors, fostering social interaction. In addition, it provides 4,645 m2 (50,000 sf) of vibrant public spaces dedicated to education, art, and dining.
Crafted by American architect and civil engineer, Emil Praeger, Pier 57 stood as the City of New York’s most expansive dock. Initially a bustling shipping terminal, it later adapted to the city’s changing maritime landscape. For thirty years, it functioned as a parking garage for the city’s buses and remained empty since 2003. Recognizing its historical significance, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2004.
Now, apart from hosting the anchor tenant, Google, the building also hosts the largest rooftop public park for New Yorkers. The preservation of the building, led by the architect, Handel Architects, received Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award from the New York Landmarks Conservancy.
The adaptive reuse of Pier 57’s historic core and shell includes a 91-m-(300-ft)-long ramp, once used for vehicular access, now transformed into an interactive inclined walkway accessible on foot or through a motorized, cubic glass inclinator (elevator that climbs an incline). The Visitor Landing, double in height, is adorned with a grid of 54 conical skylights, each strategically oriented to accommodate existing infrastructure.
Spanning three floors, the Google workspace incorporates a network of lounges, circulation spaces, impromptu work and meeting areas, and a cafe. Innovative technologies are employed in large assembly and retreat spaces to ensure maximum programming versatility. A spacious dining terrace features twenty reconfigurable robotic planters on tracks, equipped with mobile power, data, and irrigation systems.
Located at the pier’s western end, Horizon Hall, a theatrical black box, offers multiple spatial arrangements facilitated by a retractable seating system, a custom pop-up jumbotron, volumetric projection, dynamic robotic cameras, and industrial-scale hangar bifold doors. These features transform the space from an acoustically performative, light- and view-controlled silo into an open, multipurpose area with a panoramic view.
Source URL: https://www.constructionspecifier.com/googles-new-york-office-iconic-pier-transformed-through-adaptive-reuse/