Architect

Fredenburgh Architects

Area

5,000 sq.ft.

Cost

$4 Million

The result of an international competition to incorporate the spirit of New York City on a designated 10- story high wall of a Manhattan apartment building, this structure was a considerable engineering challenge. It consists of 31 irregular shaped precast concrete panels with a circular wave pattern on the front face on which standard bricks were cut and laid in the factory. Over 50,000 bricks were required. The panels weigh up to 20 tons each and are supported on specially designed pin connections with tie-backs to allow for thermal and other movements. The building itself had to be reinforced with special steel and masonry framing to stiffen the structural walls to accommodate the concentrated loads totaling 390 tons. The Artwall won the PCI Design Award in Fall 2002 for Best Custom Precast Solutions project.