Ismael Leyva Designs Tower

Ismael Leyva Architects P.C. is designing a residential and mixed-use condominium development in the Forest Hills section of Queens.

The 95 new condominium apartments will be part of a mixed-used building located at 71st Road and Queens Boulevard. The building will contain a 128,000-sq.-ft. residential tower with condominiums ranging in size from a 725-sq.-ft. one bedroom, to a 1,250-sq.-ft. two bedroom, to a 1,750-sq.-ft. three bedroom apartment.

Below the tower will be 8,000 sq. ft. of commercial space, a residential lobby with a 24-hour doorman, a multi-level parking garage and 1,000 sq. ft. of community space.

The façade of the building will be composed of traditional beige colored brick with floor-to-ceiling bronze tinted glass windows that will define the corners of the structure. The residential lobby will include wood covered columns with black granite vertical reveals and inlaid marble and granite floor; and a composition of limestone and curved shaped wood fascias on the walls.

Construction is expected to be completed in fall 2005.

Toy Factory Loft Design Team Wins Award

Architecture firm Scarano & Associates has been given the 2004 Design Award of Honor by the New York Council Society of American Registered Architects for The Toy Factory Lofts in Downtown Brooklyn.

The design plan entailed the conversion of a 1920s toy factory into open space condominium units with high-end amenities for affordable prices, starting in the $200,000's. The 64,000-sq.-ft. structure has eight stories with a lower level. The new design includes a spacious lobby with ground floor professional offices, below ground parking and fitness center and common roof deck.

The Scarano team members responsible for the design of The Toy Factory Lofts include Ronny Cohen-Piotraut, Tamar Kisilevitz and Robert Scarano. In addition to the overall plan, the architects are being recognized for their innovative solutions for the structural columns throughout the building, incorporating some inside the units as decorative features and others in common hallways that articulate the boundaries between the private and public areas.

Helping Spiderman Scale Walls

LZA Technology, a division of The Thornton-Tomasetti Group, provided structural engineering services for the installation of giant Spidey inflatables at the Sony Building at 550 Madison Ave. and the NYU Dormitory at 1 Union Square West. The inflatable Spideys were installed before the movie Spiderman 2 was released in theaters June 30.

At the Sony building, LZA designed special attachment methods for the temporary 60- by 30-ft. cold air inflatable Spiderman. Using the existing vertical truss system that braced the façade of the public arcade, the Spiderman was attached to the truss via a web of cables.

The installation in Union Square was even more complicated, since it was outdoors and subject to wind gusts and there were no ready attachment points on the face of the building. LZA had to develop a method of attaching Spiderman that was secure under wind loads, was fast to install, did not damage the building, and was removable.