New York Studio completes summer kiosks for South Street Seaport

The 150-square-foot installations are situated on the Heineken Riverdeck of the recently renovated Pier 17. Patrons can enjoy views of the neighboring Brooklyn Bridge and East River—a space which was previously blighted by Hurricane Sandy—while sipping their drinks. Dubbed “Over/Under,” the bespoke stands signify to New Yorkers and tourists alike that this is an area that is ready to flourish.

The design concept, part of a master plan by SHoP Architects for the Seaport District, required a 2D extrusion that had to be consistent with the city’s 19th-century mercantile buildings and the new construction at Pier 17. The outcome, spearheaded by Senior Associate David Brown and Designer Kathleen Cayetano, started with a simple block split by a sinuous curve to create two complementary volumes that look like undulating waves in the river. One half, the “Over” portion, provides shelter from the heat with an arched cantilever. The other half, “Under,” acts as a bench with a sloping tail on which patrons can sit. Both portions host a bar which guests can access through an oval-like void in each structure.

“Over/Under” was engineered and fabricated by KAMMETAL, a full-service metal fabrication company based in Brooklyn, with support from New York structural engineering company LAUFS.  It was fully prefabricated before being brought to the site, starting with the 3D laser cutting of 1600 unique six-inch aluminum tubes, each labelled to aid their assembly. The pieces were then shipped to New York to receive a powder-coat finish and final assembly by KAMMETAL in Red Hook.

Standing ten feet tall, each structure consists of 800 cylinders. The individual parts were bolted together to create a shell —thus allowing the edifices to stand without an internal frame. The installations lay bare except for a green acrylic cover for rain protection and part of the Heineken branding strategy. The effect is a bespoke lighting installation varying in multiple hues, shapes, and depths resulting from the angled curvature cut into the tubes’ ends and the changing coastal environment.

The kiosks will be publicly accessible through the end of Summer.