The Schermerhorn

The Schermerhorn is an 11-story affordable housing development with a footprint of approximately 12,800 SF. The building provides units to formerly homeless individuals with special needs, including those living with HIV/AIDS, as well as low-income community residents involved in the performing arts and entertainment industries. A New York City Transit (NYCT) subway tunnel runs beneath about a third of the site. The structural system for this building involves cantilevering the superstructure over the NYCT subway tunnel by means of 3-ft-diameter drilled shaft foundation elements. There are 100 drilled shafts at the site; each drilled extending between 50 and 80 feet deep into terminal moraine overburden. Design phase services included a geotechnical engineering study with an investigation consisting of drilling borings, geophysical exploration and excavating test pits to expose portions of subway tunnel. Construction phase services included construction oversight and quality control of deep foundation elements.

Excellence in Structural Engineering Award from Structure Magazine in the “New Buildings $30-$100M” category