The Most Exciting New Building Around

August 28, 2015 Community News

Spring Street Salt Shed cropIf you haven’t made a pilgrimage to see the Spring Street Salt Shed yet, I’m going to have to insist. The netting is down, and all that’s left is the plywood fence. The photos below are what it looks like as you walk around it—from Canal to West to Spring—and I think this was my first visit in the early evening, when it really benefits from the western light. (Alas, that also meant running out into West Street’s rush-hour traffic in order to snap a couple of photos.)

I suppose the building will get signage, but maybe not? As for the exterior finish: “The concrete is still fresh and has not fully cured to its final color yet,” explained Dattner Architects when I asked. “Surface imperfections will be patched and blended for a uniform concrete finished surface.” And then eventually we’ll see how it gets lit up at night….

P.S. I’ve now referred to this twice as the best new building (or some variation thereof), and while I think that’s true, the relative lack of restrictions—no windows, no floor plans, etc.—compared to a residential building has to have allowed for much more creative freedom.

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4 Comments

  1. Erykah Badu
    August 28, 2015 • 12:00 pm

    Curious if anyone knows if this is one of the last remaining city planned projects left from the Bloomberg days? I highly doubt that today’s city top administration would have overseen a construction of a sanitation garage building, and a salt shed, to such degree of excellence. They both could have been a case of municipal acne for locals to look at everyday. Instead, they are both handsome structures.

    Reply
  2. Makes you go "hmmm..."
    August 28, 2015 • 1:31 pm

    Agreed…no doubt DiBlasio would have been happy with a metal quanset hut so that he could fund entitlements for his constituents. (That’s sarcasm for those to dense to miss it.)

    Reply
  3. Greenwich St. neighbor
    August 30, 2015 • 10:21 pm

    Yes, this was commissioned by the Bloomberg administration, Dept. of Sanitation. It won a 2010 Public Design Commission award.

    From E-Oculus 6/29/12 “Taking Urban Infrastructure from NIMBY to YIMBY: The Manhattan Districts 1/2/5 Sanitation Garage”:
    “The DSNY Director of Special Projects Michael Friedlander’s mantra is to design “the best building in the neighborhood,” and he believes the agency’s commitment to quality architecture has helped to garner local support for these critical infrastructure projects.”

    Reply
  4. Andrea
    September 23, 2015 • 2:15 pm

    Finally realized what this reminds me of: Tito’s Spomeniks http://visualmelt.com/Spomenik-Monument

    Reply

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