Capital Project Team

Recognized for its experience designing spaces for the arts and for its innovative approach to adaptive reuse, Herzog & de Meuron in collaboration with PBDW Architects has created a design for the Powerhouse Arts facility that reimagines the historic power plant as a new art center that meets the multidisciplinary needs of the contemporary arts ecosystem. The project is situated along the Gowanus Canal between the neighborhoods of Red Hook, Carroll Gardens and Park Slope.

Gemini Arts Initiative, a subsidiary of Powerhouse Arts, oversaw the development of the project.

In 1904, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Power Station, designed by Thomas Edward Murray, was completed on the site to serve the expanding transit system of Brooklyn. Decommissioned in the 1950s, half of the original structure – the Boiler House – was demolished, leaving the Turbine Hall as a standalone structure. In the late twentieth century, the remaining structure became a squat, a home for displaced youth, and also a destination for local graffiti artists, where it earned the nickname of “the Batcave.”
The industrial landscape and history of the site play a pivotal role in the rehabilitated facility. The design reinterprets the historic Boiler House and re-establishes its mass and relationship with the existing Turbine Hall. The Turbine Hall is in turn stabilized and strategically preserved. Its historic layers are integrated into one cohesive new manufacturing facility.
The design juxtaposes historic details – concrete vaults, brick chases, and glazed tilework – with residual graffiti and new architectural elements. Visual cohesion is achieved and the integrity of the buildings’ historic past is maintained through the use of industrial concrete and other materials consistent with the original construction.
CAPITAL PROJECT FULL TEAM
A.Liss (Toilet Paritions & Accessories)
ACTS/Monona Rossol (Industrial Hygienist)
Advanced Scaffolding (Scaffolding)
AEL (Special Inspections)
Air Purifiers (Specialty Particle Exhaust)
Alba (Demolition)
Alumtec (Canopies)
Breeze (Demolition)
Brookside (Environmental Remediation)
Building Skills NY (Local Labor Consultant)
Bunlin (CMU Masonry)
Buro Happold (MEP & FP Engineer)
Capalino (Lobbyist)
Centrifugal (Electric)
Charcoalblue (AV Consultant)
CMG (Ornamental Metals)
Colliers (On-Site Management / Owners Representative)
Cosentini (MEP Assist)
Cosentini (Commissioning Consultant)
Cosentini Associates (Fireproofing Consultant)
Currie & Brown (Cost Consultant)
Darcon (Environmental Remediation & Load Test)
Davies Toews Architecture (Interior Designer)
Delta Connects (BMS)
Delta Limit (Pump Station SOE Engineer)
Domani (Vibration and Crack Monitoring)
Donato (Fire Protection)
Donato (Plumbing)
Dura (Wayfinding Signage)
Eastern (HVAC)
Eckersley O’ Callaghan (Façade / Waterproofing Consultant)
Entro (Wayfinding Consultant)
Eugene Architecture (Architectural Masonry Oversight)
Fire and Building Code Services (FDNY Consultant)
Fox Rothschild Legal (Zoning & Land Use Attorney)
G&M (Siteworks & Site Utilities)
Gane (Site Labor)
Garden State (Surveying Services)
GB Geotechnics (Mat Load Test Scanning)
Global Security Solutions (Site Security)
Gray Fox (Wood Flooring)
Green Partners (Local Law Filing Consultant)
Herzog & DeMeuron (Design Architect)
ICR / ICC (Structural Investigations / Historic Preservation)
JEG (Carting Services)
JM3 (Carpentry & Drywall)
Jobsite Design (Hoisting Consultant / Design)
Ken Smith Workshop (Landscape Architect)
Kencal (Final Cleaning)
King (EIFS)
KNS (Roofing & Waterproofing)
Land & Sea (Bulkhead/Maritime)
Langan (Geotechnical)
Langan (Bulkhead Consultant)
Level 5 (Carpentry & Drywall)
Long & DeLosa (Punch List Crew)
Long Island Fireproof Door (Hollow Metal Doors, Frames, & Hardware)
Longman Lindsey (Acoustical Consulting)
Managed Air Systems (Spray Booth Consultant)
Managed Air Systems (Spray Booth)
Manhattan (Site Labor)
Marin (Site Labor)
Masonry Solutions ( Restoration Consultant)
Maspeth (Structural Steel)
Maspeth (Misc. Metals)
Metropolis Group (Expeditor)
Michael N. Gussis & Co (Purchasing / Install Agent)
Modern (Soil Transportation)
MSG (Insurance Consultant)
New Roc (Façade Improvements)
Nordest (Demolition)
Northeast Energy Services (ConEd Consultant)
NY Gates (Rolling Gates)
OV Painting (Painting)
PBDW (Executive & Preservation Architect)
PG (Metal Panels)
PGS (Millwork)
Philip Habib & Associates (Site Civil & BPP)
Pinnacle (Site Labor)
Platt Byard Dovell White (Architect of Record)
POM (Communications / AV / Security)
Public Housing Communities (Local Labor Consultant)
Punch List Plus (Punch List Crew)
Reg Hough (Concrete Consultant)
Risk Strategies (Builders Risk)
Rock Group (Site Logistics)
Roux (Environmental Remediation Consultant)
Sciame (Preconstruction Manager)
Shen Milsom & Wilke (IT / Security Consultant)
Signarts (Code Signage)
Silman (Structural Engineer)
Sissco (Free-Standing Crane)
Spartan (Medium Voltage Electrical (ConEd))
Steadfast (Site Security)
StructureTech (Excavation & Foundation)
StructureTech (Cast-In-Place Concrete)
StructureTech (Aluminum Windows)
TBD Five Management Inc. (North Neighbor Property Usage Cost)
TEI (Elevators)
Tetra (Ornamental Metals)
Thread Collective (Green Infrastructure)
THSH (Legal, Agreements / Contracts)
Tillotson Design (Lighting Consultant)
Trade-Off (Site Labor)
TruTeam (Existing Steel Preparation)
UAG (Construction Manager)
United Spinal Association (ADA)
USI Insurance (Builders Risk)
USI Insurance (Owner Insurance)
VDA (Vertical Transportation)
Walden (Specialized Expediter - Spray Booth)
Walden (Specialized Expediter - Air Permitting)
Work Zone Cam (Time Lapse Photography)
Workspace 11 (Ornamental Metals)
Yale Stone (Ceramic Tile)