Dive Brief:
- The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) has opened a $200 million garage (dubbed Manhattan Districts 1/2/5 Garage) to accommodate 150 sanitation vehicles that provide trash pickup and snow removal services to three Manhattan districts. Among features of the 425,000-square-foot building are perforated metal fins that reduce solar heat gain and glare; a 1.5-acre green roof which captures rainwater and reuses it for truck washing; and a utility municipal steam heating and cooling system that reduces fossil fuel emissions.
- The garage, rising above West Side Highway, has been well-received by the nearby community, according to DSNY. Some residents had been objecting beginning in 2009 when there was talk of the project. But now that the structure is up, both residents and architecture critics have responded positively. Housing prices have not dropped, as predicted earlier.
- The design was created through a collaboration between Dattner Architects, WXY Architecture + Urban Design, and the Departments of Sanitation and Design and Construction.
Dive Insight:
The garage's placement in high-income Manhattan districts was intentional; part of a plan to share the burden of urban sanitation amongst the city’s boroughs.
But the idea of a garbage operation garage got a lot of pushback years ago, with residents voicing concern over odors, more traffic, and obstructed views of the Hudson River, which prompted the city and architect to involve residents in the planning.
"The public outcry ... really helped all of us involved in the process, all the public agencies and the design team," says Dattner principal architect Paul Bauer. "It helped all of us push the project to what it is today."
The building that residents originally worried would represent, well, garbage, has proven to be an example of modern architecture, high-technology, and, specifically, green technology.
“With its LEED Gold standard, Manhattan 1/2/5 is a benchmark project for the City’s Active Design program, which uses design to promote health and wellness of those who work here," said Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia. "More importantly, this building and our Sanitation employees will provide three separate districts with the Sanitation services as we strive to implement ... our goal of sending zero waste to landfills by 2030."
