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The New Amsterdam Plein and Pavilion opens in Lower Manhattan
New Yorkers got a real Dutch treat this week with the opening of The New Amsterdam Plein and Pavilion on May 12th. The windmill shaped pavilion, which was gifted to New York from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, celebrates the city’s Dutch heritage, marking the 400th anniversary of the founding of New Amsterdam. Located in Lower Manhattan’s Peter Minuit Plaza next to Battery Park, the structure will serve as a visitor’s centre and house a modest café.
Designed by Dutch practice UN Studio with Handle Architects of New York serving as Architect of Record, the pavilion is made of durable steel and plywood that is covered with a flexible wood fibre surface and coated with Polyurea, which gives it a taught, sleek surface.
Despite its small size, the pavilion is a sophisticated structure with a fully integrated HVAC system and a dynamic LED lighting system that allows the glass exterior wall to change colour and glow at night. Buro Happold provided the structural engineering, MEP engineering, lighting design and fabrication modeling for the structure.
The pavilion anchors the north end of a new 13-acre park that weaves together food, art and multi modal transit opportunities in anticipation of welcoming 150,000 visitors a day.
Sharon McHugh
US Correspondent
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