PLATFORM BUILDING AROUND THE WORLD

With growing infrastructure needs and little space left to develop in urban centers, cities are struggling to meet the residential, business, shopping, cultural, and leisure-based needs of its residents.

“Densely populated areas are starving for the space to build near their centers or near highly valued real estate. As the value of real estate increases and the space gets more limited, we have seen a shift to develop areas that will require more costly and risky investment,” says Juan Estevez, vice president, AECOM Tishman, Los Angeles.

Estevez is referring to the concept of decking over rail yards and transportation corridors to create new space for real estate development. While the materials, engineering, and construction required to build and structurally support mega platforms upon which new buildings can be constructed is very costly, such developments are being carefully vetted in a number of urban locales around the world.

Most projects are still in initial evaluation and planning stages. Among those that have broken ground is Parcours Paris Rive Gauche, one of the largest developments in the history of Paris. Out of the 320 acres under development, 60 acres are platforms being built over rail lines.

Photos courtesy of Sempara

One of the largest developments in the history of Paris, out of the 320 acres under development, 60 acres are platforms being built over rail lines at Parcours Paris Rive Gauche.

Located in the City’s southeastern 13^th Arrondissement on the left bank of the Seine River, 6,300,000 square feet is slated as residential, 8,000,000 square feet will be office space, 4,400,000 square feet is designated for commerce, and 7,200,000 square feet is being developed as public spaces.

While a number of buildings and public spaces have already been built, the developer, Sempara, anticipates that the full development will be completed by 2023.

Another European project, Earls Court Development, is looking to deck over 77 acres on the Western edge of central London to build 1,300 new homes with 1,800 square feet of community, health, and leisure facilities.

In the United States, Philadelphia’s $3.5-billion Schuylkill Yards platform project is already under construction, with the goal of transforming 14 acres of Drexel’s University City into an innovation hub.

Together with Brandywine Realty Trust, the University plans to build 2.8 million square feet of office space, 1 million square feet of laboratory space, 1.6 million square feet for residential use, and 6.5 acres of green space.

Involved with the project’s feasibility plan, Jack Robbins, AIA, LEED AP, partner, director of urban design, FXCollaborative, New York, compares Philadelphia to Sunnyside Yard in Queens.

“Sunnyside was much more constrained, with much less space to bring the structure down to the ground,” he says. “In Philadelphia, we had more space to work and a little more flexibility to bring some building cores down to the ground.”

“The cores act as a spine for taller buildings and really provide a lot of the structural support and structural stiffening of the building,” he adds. “So that greatly reduces the structural gymnastics, the size of the transfer truss, etc. and reduces the cost considerably.”

Also in New York, Pacific Park, formerly referred to as Atlantic Yards, is looking to take the area next to Barclays Center and build 6,439 new apartments, 250,000 square feet of retail space, 360,000 square feet for offices, and 8 acres of open space.

Meanwhile, at South Station Tower in Boston, the city is reviewing plans to build a 51-story mixed-use tower of office, residential, and retail space, a 17-story tower, and a nine-story building.

Two decking projects are currently undergoing review in Atlanta. The Stitch proposes to construct a ³⁄₄-mile platform over the Interstate 75/85 Connector, thereby “stitching” back together this area in downtown Atlanta and delivering 14 acres of new space to the city.

An even more ambitious development sits near State Farm Arena and is known as the Gulch, a field of parking lots and rail lines below surrounding viaducts. The proposal would build a $500-million steel and concrete platform approximately 40 feet above the active rail lines to street level, where 1,000 residences, 1,500 hotel rooms, and a mall-sized retail space would potentially be built.

On the other side of the country, Seattle’s LID I-5 proposes to build a “lid” over the freeway in order to reconnect communities severed by I-5. “This provides a unique opportunity to create more land and more space…open space for schools and other community amenities like community centers as well as affordable housing, which we desperately need,” says Riisa Conklin, executive director, Freeway Park Association, Seattle.

Image courtesy of Lid I-5 Steering Committee

To create additional building and green space, Seattle is considering building a “lid” over I-5, which would also reconnect communities severed by the freeway.