SAFEWAY

Red Hook is located in the NYC Hurricane Evacuation Zone. Flooding is one of the site’s major issues due to its lowland geography and waterfront situation. To transform this site into “the most bicycle friendly neighborhood in New York”, such problematic site issues should be taken into consideration. Our design approach is to provide multi-functional bike facilities according to both dry (normal) and wet (flooding) conditions.

[Bike Garage]:

To create a destination for all urban cyclists, the design intention is to provide all kinds of bike related programs connected in a vertical sequence. All facilities such as security parking, bike rental, shower facility, fixing station, café/restaurant and viewing platform are accessible along one continuous bike route. It serves as an educational and recreational facility during the day and transforms into an emergency supply tower when flooding occurs.

[Bike Path]:

A complete circular and elevated bike path is proposed to avoid conflict with street traffic such as trucks, buses and pedestrians. It serves as a bike expressway and can be utilized as a flood emergency evacuation pathway when flooding. Local attractions are connected by various exits, as well as connected to subway stations, Brooklyn cruise terminal and Brooklyn waterfront greenway. Sustainable design is also embedded in the structure such as solar lighting, vibration energy generator and rain water collector for energy harvesting.

[Feasibility]:

There are several funding programs provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency which will match with our proposal, such as the “Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention”, “Small Flood Damage Reduction Projects”, “Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program”, “Land and Water Conservation Fund”, “Flood Mitigation Assistance Program”, “Emergency Watershed Protection”, and “Environmental Education Grants”.

Both Bike Garage and Bike Path will be completed in four phases. For Bike Path: phase one is to provide connection from primary public space (Red Hook Park and Bike Garage) to highland (Carroll St Station); Phase two is extending the connection through the IKEA Waterfront Park to Louis J Valentino Park; The whole circulation of the bike path will be completed in phase three and several Pedestrian Viewing Platforms will be added in phase four.

For the Bike Garage: phase one is to connect the bike parking facility to the subway station; Additional floor and building envelope will be added in phase two; Phase three is to provide a vertical connection to the roof level which will be completed in phase four.

However, if we take global warming into account for the next 50 years, several issues such as the sea level rising, tidal change, and hurricanes will create a dramatic impact on the existing flooding condition. Therefore, we propose to transform the structure of the elevated bike path into a sea wall for flood prevention in phase five, to save the central Red Hook area.