Archinect - News

PAU founder Vishaan Chakrabarti unveils a housing plan for 1.3 million New Yorkers

2024-01-05T16:59:00-05:00

Vishaan Chakrabarti, founder of PAU, has unveiled his firm's analysis, courtesy of The New York Times, which suggests that enough housing could be created for one million New Yorkers.

The PAU founder says there is space for up to 520,245 homes in the city on roughly 1,700 acres of unused land. Most of it would be enacted above existing single-story commercial spaces. The idea of adding density has been debated, though he points out correctly that it does present a viable alternative to the mass-scale conversion of office buildings that have been proven costly and largely unfeasible in structures built before 1980.

His team's analysis follows previous streetscape and rail infrastructure proposals and was conducted using available data on vacant lots, flood-prone areas, and the location of subway stations and other mass transit options. Current estimates have placed the need for over 500,000 new homes, a figure Mayor Eric Adams's official plan put forth in December 2022 used as a ben...

PAU releases updated renderings for Niagara Falls Heritage Gateways project

2023-12-12T17:17:00-05:00

Preliminary renderings for the $12 million Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU)-led Niagara Falls Heritage Gateways project have been released following a public meeting to discuss plans in the border city.

The multi-phase initiative will strengthen the connection between the city’s downtown and Niagara Falls State Park and Riverway Tree Walk. Four canopied gateway structures will be enacted as part of its design, offering tourists views of the nearby American Rapids and Goat Island and connected by a “network” of promenades and shaded open spaces.

Rendering of the Riverway Tree Walk at night. Image courtesy PAU

The initial phase calls for the redevelopment of Hydraulic Power Plaza and Niagara Gorge Gateway Park followed by the construction of the Tree Walk, which includes a viewing platform to be placed at a wooded clearing and serving as a beacon for visitors between downtown and the Riverway.

Hydraulic Power Plaza. Image courtesy Hargreaves Jones Landscape Architecture

“T...

PAU-designed The Refinery at Domino reopens Brooklyn's most iconic building to the modern workplace

2023-09-27T15:25:00-04:00

A landmark era of high-profile additions and architectural changes to the historic Brooklyn waterfront has ushered in a new chapter with today’s official public unveiling of the PAU-designed The Refinery at Domino office component at the 11-acre former Domino Sugar Factory site in Williamsburg.

The new, 15-story glass commercial space was constructed inside the building’s old brick masonry shell, offering tenants 460,000 square feet of Class A office space enhanced by carefully-inserted biophilic elements and marked by the firm’s attenuation to ascendant health and wellness considerations typical in modern workplace design.

Photo: Max Touhey

A 12-foot gap left between the new and old structures provides space for Field Operations’s 17-count in-house arboretum while standardizing a misalignment with the floors and helping to flood the bonetti/kozerski-designed office interiors with natural light and expanded access to vegetation throughout the day.

Photo: Max Touhey

A vaulted 27,000-s...

PAU begins Rock & Roll Hall of Fame expansion in Cleveland

2023-09-13T14:00:00-04:00

PAU has shared details of its expansion project of the I.M. Pei-designed Rock & Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland ahead of next month’s anticipated groundbreaking.

The initiative will add a triangular structure to Pei’s iconic original glass pyramid design, featuring a new entrance lobby, education center, offices, and a 6,000-square-foot multipurpose space that’s meant to increase its overall footprint by 33% while activating public space along a currently underutilized section of the city’s Lake Eerie waterfront.

Rendering courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU)

The total 50,000-square-foot design evokes the museum’s architectural lineage within the new addition, where solid shapes pronounced as asymmetries serve as the visual markers of the building’s various programmatic elements combined under a tilted angular roof and façade composed of steel and granite in further reference to the region’s industrial character.

Rendering courtesy of Practice for Architect...

HOK and PAU reveal rival 'P3' Penn Station renewal proposal

2023-07-03T12:19:00-04:00

A new proposal from HOK and Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) has been unveiled as the competition to design a more modern and accessible update to Penn Station continues just days after New York State Governor Kathy Hochul officially scaled back the project due to economic concerns and pushback from local residents.

The two firms’ split proposal would supposedly be delivered in six years and at a cost of $6 billion using a combination of grants, state, and federal money, in addition to a $1 billion capital investment from ASTM North America.

The plan calls for the addition of a new open-air plaza as well as open-air terraces and two new entrances along Eight Avenue.

Image courtesy of ASTM, PAU, and HOK

HOK’s President Carl Garlioto describes: “The New Penn Station will bring much-needed light into two new train halls, including a grand new Eighth Avenue hall with 55-foot ceilings above the passenger concourse and a glass-wrapped mid-block hall with a sunlit passage betwe...

FAA selects PAU to deliver new air-traffic control tower prototypes

2023-04-20T17:42:00-04:00

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced its selection of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) for a new sustainable air-traffic control tower prototype that will initially deliver 31 highly-adaptable facilities at small regional and municipal airports throughout the United States.

The projects, funded in part through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, were selected against the agency’s strict requirements to minimize environmental impact while reducing operational costs and the price of construction.

Image courtesy PAU

Construction will vary in height between 63 and 119 feet and include elements such as all-electric building systems, thermal efficient facades, mass timber, and recycled steel and metal products. The new generation of towers will replace I.M. Pei’s iconic mid-century variation on the typology and will include interior spaces tailored to the well-being of air traffic control workers.

Image courtesy PAU

Geothermal heating and cooling techniques a...

PAU to lead the design of a new gateway enhancement project at Niagara Falls

2023-01-06T09:00:00-05:00

Vishaan Chakrabarti’s Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) has been selected to lead the design of the new $12 million Niagara Falls Heritage Gateways project, the studio unveiled via a press announcement on Thursday.

The project’s brief calls for the creation of four gateway structures and will supposedly enhance connections between downtown Niagara Falls and the popular state park in an extension of a previous strategic plan begun by PAU and the state in early 2021.

Images courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU)

"We're thrilled to continue our work with New York State in Niagara Falls with an expanded team including landscape architects Hargreaves Jones," Chakrabarti said of the new collaboration."The Niagara Falls Heritage Gateways project is a chance to demonstrate how thoughtful design can restore rather than remake our cities."

Images courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU)

"It is by building on a foundation of shared history — instead ...

Brooklyn’s historic Domino Sugar Factory restoration lights up with signs of progress

2022-12-28T13:29:00-05:00

A beloved monument returned to the Brooklyn skyline without pomp or circumstance last night when the Domino Sugar sign was quietly relit atop the Thomas Havemeyer building’s new barrel vaulted glass roof, illuminating the Williamsburg waterfront for the first time in eight years. It also marked one last milestone in 2022 for redevelopment at the former refinery, which was last open to the public in 2014

Meanwhile, PAU’s portion of the $250 million Domino Sugar Factory project is nearing completion with the placement of the structural steelwork required to support the 27,000-square-foot glass addition slotted into its 140-year-old interior.

Image © Wes Tarca

New York YIMBY also reported that construction of the reinforced concrete core is complete as well. The tree-lined and column-free office portion is yet to be fully leased in spite of the space’s considerable marketability. The full restoration is expected to be ready sometime in the next year.

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame picks PAU for $100 million expansion

2020-12-23T17:02:00-05:00

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland on Friday released designs for a $100 million renovation and expansion, which would grow the museum’s footprint by a third with a dramatic addition to the original I.M. Pei building. The Rock Hall announced that the architecture firm PAU will lead the project, which will bring 50,000 square feet of programming space and a new band shell overlooking the shores of Lake Erie.

Besides modernizing the Rock Hall's existing I.M. Pei museum building and infrastructure, the expansion project will also add 10,000 square feet for large-scale traveling exhibits, open space for event and education programming, creation of a museum campus with the neighboring science center, a lakefront gathering place for Cleveland residents and museum visitors, and interactive learning classrooms among other features.

Image courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU).

Commenting on the competition win, Vishaan Chakrabarti, Founder and Creative Director of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), said: "Rock and Roll—like NASA and pizza—brings us together like few other cultural phenomena at this moment when our nation needs to come together. We are beyond ecstatic to have been selected by the Rock Hall to design the expansion of I.M.Pei’s heart of glass, which sits aglow upon Cleveland’s storied industrial waterfront, particularly in light of the architectural lu...

Design plans released for Ford's Michigan Central site and Book Depository by PAU and Gensler

2020-11-20T12:16:00-05:00

At a community meeting this week, Ford Motor Company revealed the site plan for Michigan Central, a new walkable mobility innovation district in Corktown, Detroit’s oldest neighborhood, as well as designs for some of the district’s first buildings. Ford’s multiyear development, including the restoration of the iconic Michigan Central Station, is underway.

Michigan Central site plan. Courtesy of PAU.

The 30-acre site plan was developed by lead architect and strategic planner Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU). It will be a walkable community that is anchored by a train station. According to Ford, the new development will prioritize the needs of residents and businesses as well as the 5,000 employees who work there.

Vernor Plaza. Courtesy of PAU

Mobility Platform. Courtesy of PAU

“This project is about preparing Ford for another century of innovation and success,” said Mary Culler, Ford’s Detroit development director and Ford Fund president. “At Michigan Central, we are taking ...

Philadelphia's Schuylkill Yards mega-development takes a step forward with PAU-designed towers

2019-08-22T19:00:00-04:00

Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) and Brandywine Realty Trust have unveiled designs for a pair of aluminum-clad mixed-use towers in Philadelphia. The towers represent a key component of the 14-acre Schuylkill Yards mega-development that is currently taking shape in the city.

The towers, arranged as a pair of formal "cousins" that correspond to one another in terms of shape, bulk, and formal composition but differ in terms of size and use, are designed to evoke both "exuberant" and "classic" high-rise silhouettes when viewed from different vantages. Rising 512- and 360-feet respectively, the East and West Towers offer a mix of retail and office or residential spaces. Wrapped in regular grids of crab-colored aluminum window frames and spandrel panels, the two towers rest on a series of whimsical arcades that create a series of covered outdoor spaces and interior lobbies around the base of the towers.

The towers create a series of open and covered outdoor spaces around the...

PAU Studio unveils updated plans for Domino Sugar Refinery in Brooklyn

2019-08-14T16:30:00-04:00

When the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) approved the conversion of the 137-year-old Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the development quickly became one of the most talked about construction projects in the borough. Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), the architects responsible for the visionary renovation, will return this week to the LPC with changes for its previously approved design.

First glimpse at the Domino Sugar Factory's new residential building, designed by SHoP Architects

2018-02-13T15:25:00-05:00

325 Kent by SHoP Architects is the first new structure to open at the 11-acre Domino Sugar Factory, which is being redeveloped by Vishaan Chakrabarti's Practice for Architecture and Urbanism.

Photo: Adrian Gaut.

Located at the Williamsburg waterfront, the residential building stands at 16 stories tall and is clad in a zinc facade on the upper floors and in copper on the lower floors. It features a large architectural opening that is capped by a 3-story bridge that contains the building's core amenities. The building accommodates 522 units, with 104 of them affordable to low-income residents.

Photo: Adrian Gaut.

Photo: Daniel Levin.

Outside, Leeser Architecture designed a 7,000 square-foot roof deck overlooking the Williamsburg Bridge, as well as a 2,000 square-foot courtyard on the fourth floor. At the front of the building, the Domino Park, designed by James Corner Field Operations, will pay tribute to the site's industrial h...

Vishaan Chakrabarti reveals new designs for Domino Sugar Factory

2017-10-04T11:09:00-04:00

Vishaan Chakrabarti‘s Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) has revealed a new set of renderings for the refinery building at the three million-square-foot Domino Sugar Factory mega-development in Williamsburg. The new plans are brighter and better connected than those previously approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

PAU design for the Domino Refinery. Image courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism.

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