Project Profile: Beacon Provides Surety Consulting / Construction Consulting Services for The Shed at Hudson Yards, NYC
Beacon Consulting Group was hired by a leading Surety to consult on a bond default matter related to "The Shed," a recently built, $500-million visual arts and performing arts exhibition center in New York City's Hudson Yards. The 170,000-sf facility (also knowns as The Bloomberg Building) opened just over one year ago and is the cultural centerpiece of Hudson Yards, a $25-billion-dollar development project in Manhattan, which includes massive office and residential buildings, retailers, restaurants, bars, as well as other entertainment and outdoor spaces. Ideally located at the northern end of NYC's popular elevated park / walkway, The High Line, Hudson Yards has quickly become one of New York's most popular attractions for tourists and locals.
Beacon was retained by a leading Surety after the construction process was completed to assist with the Surety bond default investigation, in particular related to reviewing alleged defective work installed by the Principal. In addition, Beacon is assisting with other aspects of the matter, such as retrospective cost analysis and helping to negotiate resolutions for repair work. Because this an active project, no additional details can be discussed at this time.
The Shed itself is an very unique architecturally, particularly its 16,000-sf, steel-and-glass-enclosed "shell" which can expand or contract by rolling outward on massive steel wheels riding on rails. Overall, the structure contains 40,000-sf of column-free exhibition space that can handle extremely large art installations and sculptures, 25,000-sf of museum space, a theater with seating for up to 500, and its expanding (16,000-sf) "shell" which can transform to accommodate many different types indoor and open-air exhibitions and performances. To see a great 3-D animation highlighting The Shed's unique design and features, click here.
More about The Shed's design and layout: There are two galleries indoors on the first and second levels. On the third level is a flexible space that can be used for live performances, multi-media or art exhibits. The wrap-around shell, which weighs 8-million pounds, is constructed of an exposed steel frame clad in a special corrosion-resistant plastic called ETFE, which has the thermal properties of insulating glass at a fraction of the weight. The shell can close and open within 5 minutes. When retracted, the open-air plaza becomes a publicly accessible outdoor space. The shell retracts on eight massive wheels riding in rails, each 6 feet in diameter, powered by a total of six 15-horsepower motors.
Construction on the Shed started in 2015 and finished in 2019. The lead architects were Diller Scofidio + Renfro, in collaboration with Rockwell Group. Thornton Tomasetti lead the structural engineering, facade design, and kinetic design. The construction management firm on the project was Sciame.
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