New York, New York, USA
Designed by WXY architecture + urban design, TVS Design, and Stantec, the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City has undergone a transformative expansion, redefining its role as a premier event space while prioritizing sustainability and urban resilience.
The project enhances the center’s functionality with state-of-the-art facilities, green infrastructure, and a commitment to reducing its environmental footprint.
This unique program requires ambitious sustainability initiatives and a green roof while providing a farm-to-table experience that is part of the larger environmental vision for the Javits Center.
For its sustainable urban design, the project has been awarded a 2024 American Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Charged with making this distinctly an urban farm, the design is a marriage between a naturally northern-lit space, a flexible black box for events, and a greenhouse.
The firm collaborated with the client team, who maintains the current 295,000 square foot green roof and beehives, as well as the operations team, to provide a scheme that would allow for an authentic operating rooftop farm and an operational event space.
In designing the exterior areas for the functioning greenhouse and outdoor recreation, the design team was able to use wind data to shape the location of the shaded regions using arbor and fruit trees.
A 50-foot wide, bi-fold door connects the 48,800 square-foot working farm with the flexible outdoor pre-function area overlooking the Hudson River, creating a dynamic, educational, and immersive experience for the Javits Center.
The structure and spatial ambitions were unified by combining the efficiency and shape of lenticular trusses.
The structural column placements and loading were established, while the need for a flexible and tall space resulted in a long-span structure with a minimum height of 20 feet.
The pavilion’s north-facing sawtooth profile is varied to limit light pollution towards future residents and can accommodate the flexible staging systems for events.
At 15,000 square feet, the event space will accommodate a variety of events that can host up to 1,000 seated guests.
The sawtooth profile is also an important opportunity for recycling water from the extensive, 300,000-gallon water storage system built into Javits’ current facility.
This new rooftop pavilion and working farm serve aggressive sustainability initiatives while providing a farm-to-table experience that is part of the larger environmental vision for the Javits Center.
Project: Jacob K. Javits Convention Center Expansion
Architects: WXY architecture + urban design
Design Architects: Moody Nolan
Design Architects: TVS Design
Design Team: Ashia Chappelle, Liz Heath, Phillip Hunter, Emery Leonard, Gavin Munoz, Taejun Park, Rob Svedberg, and Chris Vetka
Civil Engineering, Design and Landscape Architects: Stantec
Design Team: Cherie Albea, Jenny Hamann, Brian O’Donnell, and Syed Iftekhar
General Contractors: LendLease and AECOM Turner Construction Company Joint Venture Design-Build
Client: Javits Center, Empire State Development
Photographers: Albert Vecerka/Esto
