Archinect - News

Studio Gang-designed agricultural education center in Brooklyn breaks ground

2024-06-07T15:22:00-04:00

Last weekend, the Studio Gang-designed Marlboro Agricultural Education Center (MAEC) broke ground in Brooklyn’s Gravesend neighborhood. The new 9,900-square-foot, $18.2 million project transforms the site of the New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) Marlboro Houses into an education, job training, nutrition and urban agriculture hub.

The Center is being delivered as part of the New York City Department of Design and Construction’s Design-Build program. It aims to build on efforts to strengthen food autonomy and security in underserved neighborhoods. It also strives to empower young adults in these communities to engage with local, sustainable food production.

The Center will feature a rooftop greenhouse dedicated to hydro- and aquaponics. It will also include spaces dedicated to community activities and outreach, including a teaching kitchen, a pantry where produce grown on-site will be packaged before being distributed to neighborhood residents, and a multipurpose room that wi...

NYC announces $7 billion design and construction contracts for two borough-based jails

2024-05-21T15:54:00-04:00

The New York City Department of Design and Construction has issued two new contracts for what will become the first two facilities in the city's progressive borough-based jails system. The bids from Leon D. DeMatteis Construction Corp. for the $3.9 billion new Queens jail and Transformative Reform Group for the $2.9 billion Bronx project were announced along with an intention to use a design-build approach to "speed up" construction along an accelerated track.

The completion of the jails is expected in 2031. In the Bronx, the jail is scheduled for delivery at 745 E. 141st St. in Mott Haven. In Queens, where activists have led a local fight that mirrors the effort to halt the new 'superjail' in Chinatown/Lower Manhattan, the new facility will take shape at 26-02 82nd Avenue in Kew Gardens, requiring a preliminary demolition. The total cost of replacing Rikers Island, which has turned into a human rights eyesore, is estimated at under $15.5 billion. Its mandated shutdown still looms f...

New PBS documentary details the NYC Department of Design and Construction's World Trade Center cleanup

2021-09-10T14:11:00-04:00

A new documentary airing on PBS recounts the efforts of the NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) as it spearheaded the gargantuan task of cleaning Ground Zero following the attacks on the World Trade Center 20 years ago.

“NYC DDC 9/11” by Ironbound Films features a collection of historic footage interspersed with interviews of DDC staff, offering a candid recollection of the events of 9/11. The documentary goes into detail about DDC’s steadfast process of removing 1.8 million tons of debris from the site.

“As the City faced one of its greatest crises in its history, DDC managed cleanup of the wreckage of lower Manhattan, even as the search for fellow New Yorkers continued,” said DDC Commissioner Jamie Torres-Springer. “This effort was predicted to take years, but DDC staff was able to accomplish it in eight months of long, hard, and emotionally difficult work. The story of this work is now told vividly by current and former DDC staff members who shared their unique insi...

Construction of New York City's first borough-based jail underway in Queens

2021-07-16T17:17:00-04:00

Construction on NYC's first borough-based jail is officially underway, Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced. Work on the Kew Gardens, Queens facility marks the first major move to build four smaller and "more humane" jails in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. The $8.3 billion effort comes via the Borough-Based Jails Program, a controversial plan passed by the City Council in October 2019, aimed at closing the 10 jails now in operation on Rikers Island.

The new, approximately 105-foot-tall structure will include a 25,000-square-foot, two-level, multi-purpose community space, along with a 600-car public parking garage. The 866-bed facility will replace the current Queens Detention Complex, which is located adjacent to Queens Borough Hall and the Queens Criminal Courthouse.

The parking garage and community space will feature a partially planted green roof, solar panels, and on-site stormwater retention. This portion of the project is expected to qualify for LEED Gold certification for environmental sustainability.

The NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) is managing the overall Borough-Based Jails program citywide. The Queens jail is being created by a design-build team consisting of Hunter Roberts Construction Group and architecture firms Marvel and Urbahn Architects. Work on the project is expected to complete in early 2023.

Procurement and early site preparation activities are ongoing for the other three Borough-Based...

NYC issues RFQ for new municipal jail towers

2020-02-05T13:47:00-05:00

The New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) has issued a Request for Qualifications soliciting design-build teams that will create the city's $8 billion plan to create four new "Borough-Based Jails" tower complexes.

According to a press release, the project will bring into being four new jail facilities in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. These facilities will be designed to house 3,000 people. The jail tower projects represent the city's attempt to reposition its carceral system as the Rikers Island complex begins to close down.

Previously on Archinect: AECOM to build Rikers Island replacement facilities across New York's boroughs. Aerial photo of Rikers Island in New York City, Photo courtesy U.S. Geological Survey.

According to the press release, DDC is asking firms to submit a Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) in response to the RFQ that will be used to create a short-list of firms that will then be asked to respond to a Request for Proposals (RFQ)....

Center for Architecture celebrates NYC's best municipal buildings

2020-01-18T09:00:00-05:00

The Center for Architecture in New York City is currently presenting a collection of "superior public building projects" via a wide-ranging exhibition created in collaboration with the New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) that seeks to celebrate some of the city's most arresting public architecture.

Public Works: Reflecting on 15 Years of Project Excellence for New York City, offers a refreshing take on contemporary design in New York City that subtly challenges the city's reputation as a place dominated by market-oriented development. Highlighting a collection of projects developed over the last decade and a half by firms large and small, Public Works seeks to show off building projects created for public use that "enhance communities while contributing to a thriving, healthy, sustainable and resilient City," according to a press release announcing the exhibition.

The Rescue Company 2 fire station in Brooklyn by Studio Gang. Image courtesy of Tom Harris.

The e...