HOUSING ON THE PARKING LOT

The site is located at the hub of Glen Cove, Long Island. Two existing parking infrastructures sit at the intersection of the housing crisis, demographic shift and inefficient urban design.

As the “Boomers” aged, new generations seeking for new houses are baffled by the shortage of affordable housing. The exodus caused by higher land tax is deserting the city of Glen Cove as the low rate of population is unable to support the commercial. The vast land of parking lots and roads are underused. The project agenda is to reactivate the city hub by adding multi-story apartments on top of the existing two-stories parking buildings. Without taking any additional land from ground, the project adaptively reuse the existing building and respond to several pressing issues in the city of Glen Cove.

The challenge of the adaptation is to develop a new structural system that can be integrated into the existing concrete frame while not reducing the parking number . The proposed structural mode is a massive suspension system made of steels. There are two towers erected on both sides of the building. Each tower is supported by two rows of giant steel scaffolding on which two massive steel truss layers are laid. Each truss layer carries multiple floors below with a matrix of tension rods. This system allows the additional building to confine its footprint in the peripheral row of the existing structural grid. In doing so, the majority of the existing parking number can be saved.

The project explores the technological possibility of reusing the existing infrastructure. The value of this concept lies in its approach of minimal intervention. While increasing the commercial index, we are not claiming new land from nature.