11 ms·

New York's Newest Skyscraper Is 32 Floors of Prefab Apartments

65 points by nols 12y ago

mc32 12y ago
I'm on a phone so didn't fig into the differences which must be huge but china has built a few large projects using prefab techniques and keep breaking time to complete records. Example http://inhabitat.com/200-chinese-workers-erect-a-30-storey-prefabricated-hotel-in-just-15-days-video/ http://inhabitat.com/200-chinese-workers-erect-a-30-storey-p...
- notahacker 12y ago
  Main difference as far as I can see is the NYC structure is made up of pre-assembled room-size room-size units, whereas the Chinese hotel is more conventional beams, panels and cladding but pre-cut to specific sizes (and presumably also for the interior finish) The Chinese seem to be trying to prove a point with their speed, though they do have a considerable advantage when it comes to costs and lack of regulations to adhere too though, probably aren't building to the [unusual] level of tolerances specified for the US project. (my dad was doing this back in the days when 9 storeys was "possibly the tallest of its type in the world", and under a year for a building that size was really fast. Which really wasn't all that long ago.)
liminal 12y ago
A comment on the article page links to a description of how construction stalled on recriminations of flawed designs and construction problems: http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.ca/2014/09/in-dispute-over-stalled-modular-tower.html http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.ca/2014/09/in-dispute-ov...
- ankushnarula 12y ago
  It's true - and work resumed shortly after that. http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2014/11/8556922/after-agreement-work-resume-atlantic-yards-tower http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2014/11/8556...
brokentone 12y ago
Serious question, what makes this the "newest" skyscraper? There are various buildings that are more and less complete than this one.
- delucain 12y ago
  Journalistic flair?
olidb2 12y ago
I live across of it, and I have to say it has the grace you'd expect of a 60's housing project in the eastern bloc. The rendering is quite flattering.
- mtalantikite 12y ago
  I also live a couple blocks from it and the only upside is that it'll eventually block the rusty looking Barclays Center from view. I'd gladly take the old Freddy's back.
  - n72 12y ago
    Ah, Freddy's. Let's raise a glass to Bruce Ratner and the glories of eminent domain.
  - bluthru 12y ago
    I really enjoy the rich tones of the facade: http://www.rew-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Barclays-Center-SHoP-main.jpg http://www.rew-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Barclay... Does rust automatically turn people off because of cultural connotations? It's self-finishing, already appears established, and doesn't require maintenance.
    - potatolicious 12y ago
      Is it cultural? I feel like rust is a fairly universal signal for decay.
      - Aeolun 12y ago
        Decay is not necessarily a bad thing. I like the aesthetics of rust.
    - schrodinger 12y ago
      Rust doesn't require maintenance? It will keep going until the underlying steel is all gone - not really something you can just let go. As opposed to aluminum oxide which is self limiting - it only forms a thin layer, then stops.
hapless 12y ago
They failed to mention that this project is close to two years behind. The modular construction project has been such an abject failure that the other two building projects on the site have broken ground with conventional steel frame construction.
breckinloggins 12y ago
"Imagine a future where..." I guess everything old is new again. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier
- delucain 12y ago
  From around the same time period: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilton_Palacio_del_Rio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilton_Palacio_del_Rio
Animats 12y ago
Maybe this works because they're building apartments so tiny they can be carried on a truck. There's a more successful concept - prefab bathrooms and modular kitchens. See "ameripod.com" (bathrooms). This reduces on-site labor on the parts of the building that are labor-intensive. It's much cheaper to build a bathroom in a factory, install it as a unit, and plug it in. In a factory, you can hold tolerances and all the parts fit. Bathrooms are a convenient size for trucking purposes, too. Moving standard-width loads is cheap and routine. Making the exterior walls part of the module means more exterior seams. Building shells aren't expensive. Steelwork and exterior walls go up fast. Building steel and concrete boxes is a solved problem. Most of the time and money go into interior details.
joezydeco 12y ago
For background, here's some info on Walt Disney World's Contemporary Resort (1971) that was built with a similar technique: http://www.yesterland.com/contemporary.html http://www.yesterland.com/contemporary.html
greggman 12y ago
A giant project like this just opened in LA, One Santa Fe http://www.onesantafeliving.com/ http://www.onesantafeliving.com/ The place looks huge from a distance because it's so long https://www.google.com/search?q=one+santa+fe+apartments&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=one+santa+fe+apartments&tbm=... But, I went in to look at the apartments and they're boring as hell which is sad because they're in the LA Arts District which is full of amazing lofts (similar to SF's SOMA District).
jzwinck 12y ago
I got a laugh out of this: > the kind of line assembly popularized by Henry Ford's T-Birds Henry Ford never saw the T-bird (Thunderbird): he died eight years before it was released. Of course the author meant the Model T, but that such an error about a major milestone in American history slipped through editing is pretty amazing--like crediting William Boeing with the invention of the airplane.
LukeB_UK 12y ago
My Dad has worked in the modular construction industry since before I was born and it's quite an interesting method. It allows things to be done at the same time, so whilst the groundwork and any preparation is being done on site, the modules for the building can be being built in a factory. It's a fairly popular method in the UK, whether it's constructed entirely modularly or using modular parts like bathroom pods (prefabricated bathrooms). The uses are fairly varied too, it's been used for hotel bathrooms, prison cells, McDonalds restaurants, sections of Tesco supermarkets, petrol station shops, hospitals and schools. I've probably missed a few, but you get the idea. It's very weird to step into a bathroom pod when it's at the end of the production line and hooked up to water and electricity for testing. When you shut the door, you'd have no idea that you were in a factory (besides the noise) .

65 points by nols 12y ago

mc32 12y ago

I'm on a phone so didn't fig into the differences which must be huge but china has built a few large projects using prefab techniques and keep breaking time to complete records. Example http://inhabitat.com/200-chinese-workers-erect-a-30-storey-prefabricated-hotel-in-just-15-days-video/ http://inhabitat.com/200-chinese-workers-erect-a-30-storey-p...

notahacker 12y ago
Main difference as far as I can see is the NYC structure is made up of pre-assembled room-size room-size units, whereas the Chinese hotel is more conventional beams, panels and cladding but pre-cut to specific sizes (and presumably also for the interior finish) The Chinese seem to be trying to prove a point with their speed, though they do have a considerable advantage when it comes to costs and lack of regulations to adhere too though, probably aren't building to the [unusual] level of tolerances specified for the US project. (my dad was doing this back in the days when 9 storeys was "possibly the tallest of its type in the world", and under a year for a building that size was really fast. Which really wasn't all that long ago.)

liminal 12y ago

A comment on the article page links to a description of how construction stalled on recriminations of flawed designs and construction problems: http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.ca/2014/09/in-dispute-over-stalled-modular-tower.html http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.ca/2014/09/in-dispute-ov...

ankushnarula 12y ago
It's true - and work resumed shortly after that. http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2014/11/8556922/after-agreement-work-resume-atlantic-yards-tower http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2014/11/8556...

brokentone 12y ago

Serious question, what makes this the "newest" skyscraper? There are various buildings that are more and less complete than this one.

delucain 12y ago
Journalistic flair?

olidb2 12y ago

I live across of it, and I have to say it has the grace you'd expect of a 60's housing project in the eastern bloc. The rendering is quite flattering.

mtalantikite 12y ago
I also live a couple blocks from it and the only upside is that it'll eventually block the rusty looking Barclays Center from view. I'd gladly take the old Freddy's back.
- n72 12y ago
  Ah, Freddy's. Let's raise a glass to Bruce Ratner and the glories of eminent domain.
- bluthru 12y ago
  I really enjoy the rich tones of the facade: http://www.rew-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Barclays-Center-SHoP-main.jpg http://www.rew-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Barclay... Does rust automatically turn people off because of cultural connotations? It's self-finishing, already appears established, and doesn't require maintenance.
  - potatolicious 12y ago
    Is it cultural? I feel like rust is a fairly universal signal for decay.
    - Aeolun 12y ago
      Decay is not necessarily a bad thing. I like the aesthetics of rust.
  - schrodinger 12y ago
    Rust doesn't require maintenance? It will keep going until the underlying steel is all gone - not really something you can just let go. As opposed to aluminum oxide which is self limiting - it only forms a thin layer, then stops.

hapless 12y ago

They failed to mention that this project is close to two years behind. The modular construction project has been such an abject failure that the other two building projects on the site have broken ground with conventional steel frame construction.

breckinloggins 12y ago

"Imagine a future where..." I guess everything old is new again. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier

delucain 12y ago
From around the same time period: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilton_Palacio_del_Rio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilton_Palacio_del_Rio

Animats 12y ago

Maybe this works because they're building apartments so tiny they can be carried on a truck. There's a more successful concept - prefab bathrooms and modular kitchens. See "ameripod.com" (bathrooms). This reduces on-site labor on the parts of the building that are labor-intensive. It's much cheaper to build a bathroom in a factory, install it as a unit, and plug it in. In a factory, you can hold tolerances and all the parts fit. Bathrooms are a convenient size for trucking purposes, too. Moving standard-width loads is cheap and routine. Making the exterior walls part of the module means more exterior seams. Building shells aren't expensive. Steelwork and exterior walls go up fast. Building steel and concrete boxes is a solved problem. Most of the time and money go into interior details.

joezydeco 12y ago

For background, here's some info on Walt Disney World's Contemporary Resort (1971) that was built with a similar technique: http://www.yesterland.com/contemporary.html http://www.yesterland.com/contemporary.html

greggman 12y ago

A giant project like this just opened in LA, One Santa Fe http://www.onesantafeliving.com/ http://www.onesantafeliving.com/ The place looks huge from a distance because it's so long https://www.google.com/search?q=one+santa+fe+apartments&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=one+santa+fe+apartments&tbm=... But, I went in to look at the apartments and they're boring as hell which is sad because they're in the LA Arts District which is full of amazing lofts (similar to SF's SOMA District).

jzwinck 12y ago

I got a laugh out of this: > the kind of line assembly popularized by Henry Ford's T-Birds Henry Ford never saw the T-bird (Thunderbird): he died eight years before it was released. Of course the author meant the Model T, but that such an error about a major milestone in American history slipped through editing is pretty amazing--like crediting William Boeing with the invention of the airplane.

LukeB_UK 12y ago

My Dad has worked in the modular construction industry since before I was born and it's quite an interesting method. It allows things to be done at the same time, so whilst the groundwork and any preparation is being done on site, the modules for the building can be being built in a factory. It's a fairly popular method in the UK, whether it's constructed entirely modularly or using modular parts like bathroom pods (prefabricated bathrooms). The uses are fairly varied too, it's been used for hotel bathrooms, prison cells, McDonalds restaurants, sections of Tesco supermarkets, petrol station shops, hospitals and schools. I've probably missed a few, but you get the idea. It's very weird to step into a bathroom pod when it's at the end of the production line and hooked up to water and electricity for testing. When you shut the door, you'd have no idea that you were in a factory (besides the noise) .