Striking Exhibit

New Addition to Brooklyn Children's Museum Will Stand Out

by Diane Greer

A 51,000-sq-ft addition is transforming the Brooklyn Children's Museum, doubling the size of the institution and creating an eye-catching, street-level presence.

The new project is also giving the central Brooklyn institution, founded in 1899, a chance to build on an education mission focused on natural history and the environment by providing a platform to pursue a green construction program. The museum hopes to attain a Silver rating from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, which would make it New York City's first museum to earn the certification.

"This is a special project that marries our commitment to be the best and most functional children's museum with a real commitment to environmental education and great design," says Janno Lieber, a member of the museum's board of trustees who is also World Trade Center project director for Silverstein Properties, a New York developer.

The $46 million project grew primarily out of a need for more space, says Carol Enseki, the museum's president.

"Part of our strategic long-term plan was to significantly increase our educational impact, which meant that we needed more space," she adds.

When completed in early 2008, the museum will include new and expanded areas for cultural, science, and traveling exhibits; 3,000 sq ft for a "Totally Tots" exhibit aimed at preschoolers; a 2,500-sq-ft library; new classrooms; a café and gift shop; and the shell of a 200-seat theater. The theater fit-out is planned for a second phase of construction, not yet scheduled, which will be funded by another budget that also will cover additional parking and streetscape improvements.

Among the project's highlights is a design that builds playfully on the unique subterranean building designed as the museum's home in Crown Heights by New York's Hardy Holzman and Pfeiffer, which later split into other firms. The 1977 structure, which is mostly below ground or surrounded by berms, features recycled building components such as a repurposed 1900's trolley kiosk used for the entrance, a huge sewer pipe connecting exhibit floors, and an old corn oil tank used as a small amphitheater.

The new design by Rafael Viñoly Architects of New York wraps the L-shaped expansion around the old building on two sides, with windows on the interior of the "L" looking out to the existing structure's roof terrace, a space often used for outdoor exhibits. The project team removed one of the berms along Brooklyn and St. Marks avenues to make room for the expansion.

The two-story expansion features an undulating façade and curved roof covered in 8 million daffodil-yellow porcelain tiles. The second story is interspersed with porthole windows at varying heights, permitting even the smallest of visitors an outside view, while expanses of windows on the ground floor entice passersby with views inside.

"We wanted a building that would attract and excite children," Enseki says. "Rafael Viñoly's design is playful and adventurous but also elegant."

A primary hurdle for the team led by Skanska USA Building of Parsippany, N.J., the construction manager, is keeping the institution accessible, says Mike Dolecki, the company's project director.

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"The challenge is to make sure the job never interferes with the existing museum operations," he adds.

With the addition wrapped around the existing structure, the team had to construct a temporary tunnel running directly through the construction site to provide access to visitors of the main museum building. Windows along the length of the tunnel allow visitors to view the construction progress.

The team plans to move the tunnel to another location once it finishes installing the addition's glass curtain wall. It will then build out space the tunnel now occupies, says Tracy Pincus, senior project manager at Skanska USA.

The exterior's wavy appearance owes to steel trusses, each different, that produce the curvature in the roof, and vertical plywood fins, each with a unique shape, that are bolted to the building's steel frame and create the façade's undulating effect.

"There are 540 wood fins and each one is different," Pincus adds. "They range in height from 20 to 35-ft."

The team employed a 3-D design software program called Rhino to generate cross-sections of the building to create each fin's shape, says Lee Washesky, project manager at Viñoly. Then, a fabricator in Pennsylvania used the specifications to program computer-driven machine tools that custom-cut the fins.

Each vertical fin was overlaid with a latticework of horizontal wood strips. This spring, the team is covering that plywood-and-wood strip fin assembly with paper, wire lathe, a scratch coat of mortar, and then tile, Dolecki says.

While the team completed other tile work on the roof in November, it suspended tiling on the façade once temperatures dipped below 40 degrees. Work on the façade started up again last month and should take five months, Pincus says.

The team also has been installing the porthole windows using polystyrene tubing to span the wall cavity between the façade and the flat interior wall. The depth of the wall cavity varies due to the curvature of the building, Pincus says. In some cases, the design calls for the porthole tubes to pitch upward, drawing in columns of light, or downward to provide unusual views from the interior.

Another striking design element is a 30-ft-wide second floor that cantilevers over the first floor.

"It appears to make the upper gallery float, to be a little mysterious and make people curious," Washesky says.

During early construction, the project team placed a temporary column at the corner of the cantilever where the two legs of the "L" meet in order to prevent deflection forces. The team removed the column about 10 months ago but has been monitoring the cantilever to ensure that the added weight of the roofing system and tiles does not cause any displacement.

"So far, the design has been perfect," Dolecki says.

Along the way, the team has added the green ingredients and tracked the project's sustainable features. A cost-benefit analysis of various options, as well as testing for their feasibility, determined which green features to include, Enseki says.

The team decided to employ ground-source heating and cooling after drilling a successful geothermal test well. Four geothermal wells, two production and two injection, extend 350 ft below grade to an aquifer, Pincus says.

The wells circulate water between the aquifer and heat pumps, and the system heats or cools the water - depending on the season - to the desired temperature. The system substantially reduces operational costs and eliminates the need for a cooling tower and its related emissions, one factor that helped the project win community support, Enseki says.

Other energy-saving features include photovoltaic panels to tap solar energy, which will supply 2.5% of the building's electricity; low emissivity glass, which reduces heat gain in the summer and loss in the winter; daylighting systems to maximize natural light; and building controls to monitor indoor air quality and adjust ventilation and lighting. Energy efficiency measures are expected to save the museum $103,000 annually over the costs of traditional construction, Enseki says.

The museum also opted to install waterless urinals because each fixture would save about 45,000 gallons of water annually.

The team extensively researched recycled and renewable materials to find furniture and finishes that were durable, easy to maintain, and fit for a kid-friendly environment. For example, the recycled rubber flooring in the library is durable, safe, comfortable, and has great acoustic properties, says Anjanette Green, an interior designer with Viñoly.

Once completed, the museum will have graphical interpretations and exhibits about the building's green features to teach children about solar and geothermal energy as well as renewable and recycled materials.

"[It will bring] the green aspects of the building to life for the kids," Enseki says.

Key Players

Owner: Brooklyn Children's Museum

Developer: N.Y.C. Department of Cultural Affairs and Department of Design and Construction

Construction Manager/General Contractor: Skanska USA Building, Parsippany, N.J.

Architect: Rafael Viñoly Architects, New York

Landscape Architect: Signe Nielsen Landscape Architects, New York

Structural Engineer: Dewhurst MacFarland & Partners, New York

M-E-P Engineer: Ove Arup & Partners, London

LEED Consultant: Viridian Energy & Environmental, Norwalk, Conn.

Steel Contractor: Steelco, Roselle, N.J.

Tile Contractor: Navillus Contracting, Long Island City, N.Y.