Skyport 23rd Street

Skyport 23rd Street

Project location: New York, NY
Client: NYCEDC/ Tishman Construction
Design/ Construction: 2013-
Projected Cost: $10 million

The Skyport at 23rd Street and the East River is a multi-modal transportation hub consisting of a marina, a seaplane base and a garage and gas station. Originally leased to the Gulf Oil Corporation, the façade and signage, although in disrepair, still carry the remnants of the Gulf Oil colors and branding.

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and the Tishman Construction Corporation of New York selected Pennmax Engineering and NPA to provide marine engineering and architectural services to extend the marina and seaplane dock and renovate the facility. The marine scope of work is focused on facilitating the high volume of passenger loading and unloading onto large tourist boats through a reconfiguration/ extension and modernization of the public docks and walkways. The architectural scope of work, originally consisting of a limited renovation to provide code compliance within a small area of the existing building, grew to encompass the architecture, interior and branding of the entire building.

Working with a limited budget, facade-based strategies were developed to rebrand the building and improve its visibility; and a public plaza was created as a place for people to gather and to facilitate passenger queueing. The design of the interior included a waiting room for cruise boat passengers and a separate waiting room for seaplane passengers as well as retail and offices.