Session 2.2: Temperate Green Roofs LINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS – GREEN ROOF VENUE Nathan D. Griswold, ASLA, GRP, Garden Roof Technical Sales Coordinator American Hydrotech, Inc

Abstract Lincoln Center, located in New York City, is the world’s leading performing arts center and home of The Metropolitan Opera, The New York City Ballet, The New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Julliard School, and several other performing arts venues. A hallmark for generations this space had seen better days and was in need of a facelift. In early 2004, the Lincoln Center Board of Directors commissioned one of the worlds top architectural firms, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, to provide a concept for this space.

An early postcard of the entire Lincoln Center campus. (Photo courtesy of the New York Times)

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Liz Diller one of the firm’s pricipals developed a cutting edge and conceptual design for the space. Some original elements were updated such as the fountain which is the focal point of the Josie Robertson Plaza and the reflecting pool that is home to a sculpture by Henry Moore known as “Reclining Figure” found in the North Plaza. New elements such as a bold redesign of the main entrance at the Julliard School just north across 65th Street, a large bosque of trees, and a one of a kind sloping green roof known as the Illuminated Lawn were also added. American Hydrotech, Inc collaborated with Diller Scofidio + Renfro, FX Fowle (formerly Fox & Fowle), and turf grass experts from Cornell University’s Life Sciences Department to develop a solution that would meet the requirements of the design and the vision of its designers. The canvas…. Lincoln Center and its surrounding campus are located on 16.3 acres in New York City at Broadway and 65th Street in New York’s Upper West Side. Originally designed in the 1950’s, with most of the construction finishing by mid 1960’s this space was supposed to create an inviting space not just a place for those visiting an event at one of the many venue’s. Based on the limited success with this goal and the need to attend to the aging exterior space the Lincoln Center organization decided to redesign the space. This including a multi-million dollar water feature to replace its famous but deteriorating fountain that had seen better days, a more welcoming approach from street level, improvements to the North Plaza and a grove of trees that will help draw people into the space. One of the most striking elements of this design though is the 120 seat high-end restaurant, which overlooks the North Plaza. This was to be covered by a lush, sloping lawn that curved up on two sides, accessible from plaza level so diners, visitors, and students from nearby institutions alike could relax and enjoy a bit of green space, a rare amenity in New York City. This space was meant to create the urban refuge, a public space and be an emblem of Lincoln Center’s new accessibility and openness to the public. The North Plaza was originally designed by Dan Kiley in 1956 and completed in 1965. From the beginning of the redesign process the project’s design team was challenged by public outrage from residents and historic preservationalists alike. These groups were noted as saying the original was a “stately, serenely-elegant, travertine-paved, tree-covered” public space and the new design was “reborn as a truncated, quite ordinary, landscape”.

Early photo of the North Plaza showing the reflecting pool and Henry Moore’s “Reclining Figure”

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While these points were debated there was no denying that the original space was in ill repair, in need of a facelift, and did not offer the inviting space the board desired. Putting these criticisms aside Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the design architect, along with FX Fowle produced a design that embodied what their clients had asked for, a new vibrant space that would get the public’s attention. Starting over… There are thousands of square feet of “critical” office, meeting, and performance space below the existing plaza areas that had to be kept dry. The areas subject to this redesign required over 125,000 square feet of brand new waterproofing membrane, thousands of square feet of sand set granite pavers, and a geotextile component that could properly drain the entire space. American Hydrotech, the nation’s largest supplier of hot rubberized asphalt waterproofing, experienced in plaza renovations, and a leader in the North American greenroof industry, was contacted by Diller Scofidio + Renfro to review the conceptual design documents that, at that time consisted of, sweeping bold lines on a sketch pad and a few graphical renderings.

Early renderings of the sloping rooftop depicting the vision of the design team. The goal was to build a gathering place for those who live, work, and visit Lincoln Center. (Images courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro)

From this first meeting Hydrotech representatives knew that this would be an exciting project to be a part of and they were asked to prepare a package of their materials to meet the needs of the project. They started to investigate what was best for this project and how their current product lines could be incorporated. It was evident that existing green roof components or assemblies were not adequate to handle the varying slopes of this roof or to accommodate the

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foot traffic expected. Ideas were put forth, knocked down and more ideas took their place. The steepness of the propsed greenroof, its unique hyperbolic paraboloid shape, and the fact that it was going to be accessible to the public was a major factor in what was ultimately used in the final installation.

A hot rubberized asphalt waterproofing membrane was required to protect the “critical” space below the plaza (Image courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro)

From this a new steep slope product and assembly for this type of green roof was developed. After a lot of research and investigating the challenges at hand, Hydrotech found a product from a related field that was perfect. GardNet™ as it is known in the market place today was altered to fit within Hydrotech’s overall package. Its “traditional” uses were studied to fit the needs of a green roof. Hydrotech then moved forward to the next step, getting approval from the those in charge of funding.

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Early renderings of the sloping rooftop depicting the vision of the design team. The goal was to build a gathering place for those who live, work, and visit the Lincoln Center. (Images courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro)

The next hurdle… There were many meetings, prior to introducing the soultion to this design to the owners of this space, to review the design and to embrace the overall intent and vision and what it would take to make it a reality. There was a desire for a single source system supplier and this supplier needed to convince the design team early on that they had the vision, the experience, the knowledge, the products, the warranty offerings, and the fortitude to take on a job of this magnitude. This was no small task seeing that this project required a completely new and innovative “system” to be identified, manipulated to work on a green roof, and overall designed. Once the design team was comfortable and convinced that their vision was possible a meeting was called. The team assembled a presentation and a speaking line up to pitch the idea to the Board of Directors at Lincoln Center.

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Plan view of the North Plaza helps visualize the space and how the elements interact with one another (Image courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro)

Prior to this meeting there was no funding in place. Against these odds the team came together and presented their ideas to the Board of Directors.They walked them through the plan of action and showed them that this design was possible. On the spot a vote was taken and funding was approved to move forward with the vision of Diller Scofidio + Renfro. With little time for celebration the team got right to work knowing that there were many challenges ahead and they had to get right at it. Putting the concept to the test... Once the budget was approved and the green light was given, all team members got started on the task ahead of them. A full scale mock-up was proposed because there were slopes of up to 18.8 degrees planned and the “system” had never actually been used on a green roof before. At the time it seemed to be the only option for many reasons one being a recent steep slope green roof failure that in the end cost millions to fix. This mock-up was to be full scale and utilize the GardNet material and all of the proposed layers, including the waterproofing membrane, to accurately mimick what was proposed in the conceptual design. It was still in place at the time of the final installation. It was frequently referenced and visted throughout the design and construction documentation stages, it was invaluable, to all involved. As the various design stages progressed there were adjustments and tweaks to the orginal design and detail package. Some of these were based on other GardNet projects that came up during the 5 year progression of this project and others were based on strict engineering requirements that were determined during the construction document stage.

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Images of the mock-up during construction and after the lawn was planted. (Photos courtesy of American Hydrotech, Inc.)

Constructing a vision… The process to go from concept to completion encompassed hundreds of hours from every team member. From the beginning they all had to work together to finalize this design. It required everyone to be aware of what was happening, how it affected other aspects of the project as a whole, and determined what was required to build the building dreamed up by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. When problems arose the team worked together to figure out the most logical solution and put this solution into action.

Plan view drawings of the sloping rooftop showing various views of the roof. (Image courtesy of FX Fowle)

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The engineering and detailing for the GardNet was a major challenge of this project. The details were unlike anything the team had experienced and the complexity of these challenges were realized as the process moved toward the documentation and construction phases. The slopes changed from the original concept rendering to accommodate ceiling heights for the resturaunt below. The need to access it on foot was another. The required structural elements (handrails, mow strips, irrigation lines, etc) that needed to be added as the job progressed were worked around and the details to make their placement a reality required many meetings and hours of “on the job” problem solving, but the team prevailed.

A view on the roof during the early stages of the the GardNet installation (Photos courtesy of American Hydrotech, Inc)

A view on the roof during different stages during the GardNet, growing media, and lawn installation (Photos courtesy of American Hydrotech, Inc)

A job well done… Even though there were adjustments here and changes there, Lincoln Center received a finished product that was envisioned from day one. This project will likely win many awards and be enjoyed for generations and after 5 years of hard work this project should be considered a success. In one publication Reynold Levy, president of Lincoln Center, said they wanted “to bring some green to our campus and soften the monumentality of our buildings”. This rooftop most definitely offers green space to the five million that visit Lincoln Center annually and its popularity has grown. On the first day that non-construction related visitors were permitted onto the lawn it was packed. Levy said to the crowd of journalists on hand that he hoped that this 8 CitiesAlive!: Eighth Annual Green Roof and Wall Conference 2010 Conference Proceedings

roof, the renovated plaza, and the brand new signage that was included with the renovation, the first at Lincoln Center in decades, would help it “no longer be anonymous”. The entire design team and all contractors involved can point to this project and be proud that they were a part of its construction. One thing learned here it is that to tackle a job of this magnitude everyone has to make the extra effort to work as a team and that as a team anything is possible.

The “staircase” found at the entrance to the sloping rooftop and the Henry Moore sculpture within the reflecting pool Photos courtesy of American Hydrotech, Inc (left) and Glenwoodnyc.com (right)

Day and night views of the newly redesigned fountain in the Josie Robertson Plaza Photos courtesy of American Hydrotech, Inc (left) and World News Network (right)

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Images of visitors on the first day the public was allowed onto the “Illuminated Lawn” (Photos courtesy of DNAinfo Manhattan Local News)

Images of visitors on the first day the public was allowed onto the “Illuminated Lawn” (Photos courtesy of DNAinfo Manhattan Local News)

Weeks after opening visitors enjoying the “Illuminated Lawn” overlooking the Julliard School and the reflecting pool in the North Plaza (Photos courtesy of the New York Times)

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Aerial view of the “Illuminated Lawn”, reflecting pool, and the newly installed grove of trees (Photo courtesy of the New York Times)

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