Department of Transportation Warehouse

The new building is simply built, with ground-faced concrete block complementing the red granite bridge embankment. Natural light is employed to reduce the need for internal illumination. A channel glass clerestory and skylights harvest as much light as possible from the environment. Painted steel channel parapets and details echo the bridge structure above.

The project goal was to provide new buildings for the storage and distribution of paint, equipment and related materials for the Department of Transportation’s [DoT] Bridge Painting Division. The previous location for these materials at 121 Plymouth Street, Brooklyn, was no longer adequate and is now needed for other uses.

The largest of the new structures is a general storage building. It is located on the western end of the open area available on the site, in order to allow as much of the existing parking as possible to remain. It also allows for truck access to the new proposed storage warehouse. The building is kept 12 feet away from the bridge abutments as per DoT requirements, in order to inspect the bridge. The major building material is ground-faced CMU with steel lintels painted to match the bridge.

The two combustible storage structures are prefabricated and designed specifically to meet Hazmat requirements. The exterior color is chosen to match the bridge abutment and proposed general storage building: an L-shaped 3,600 sf ground-faced concrete block building with channel glass clerestory and red steel detailing.