We have been plenty busy this winter with all the boats at the shop but we also had the chance to work off-site on some exciting new projects. Owner Dan Miller had the opportunity to spend a few weeks on one and wanted to share his thoughts:
The Nexus Bridge is one of my favorite deviations from boat work this winter. We’re working with Hewes & Company in Blue hill, along with Artisan Boatworks in Rockport and Newport Steel to create a pair of flowing foot bridges and a spiral staircase. Their destination is the Waterline Park on the upper west side of Manhattan. There are three high rise buildings being constructed along the East River which share a common atrium that connects them. The atrium is 60’ below grade (50’ below the river), and among other things will serve as the center for the “amenities” of the complex. The first twenty floors of each building are slated for businesses and retail, but from there up are high end condominiums. The condominium owners have most anything they could need within the buildings and the connecting atrium. The list of commodities looks spectacular throughout, but the on premises recording studio takes the cake for me. The central area that connects all of the buildings and underground spaces is a beautiful room that is six stories high and roughly 90’ by 90’. Right now it looks like a very large hole in New York City, but in the renderings we see an incredibly sophisticated and elegant space that is visually focused on our two 90’ long bridges that bisect the room on different floors and opposite axis. The lower one we are currently working on has this beautiful set of spiral stairs that flow from one side. The bridges have S turns and compound curves. They are mostly round when viewed from below with the exception of flats that hide fire suppression systems and long elliptical recesses for lighting. The balustrade waxes and wanes in height and are backed up by a ¾” thick plate glass balustrade to maintain proper code height of 39”. The structure of the things are all steel, but once hardwood cladding, and glass are installed, the walking surface will be clad in stone, and the steel will be completely invisible. The cladding, which is our part, is made of local maple, and stained fairly dark. Once faired it will be completely fiberglassed for dimensional stability and then varnished with gloss varnish. There’s a lot of things about this project that really thrill me, among them the privilege of working with Hewes and Co. Also high on my list is the fact that unless we get a breakwater in Belfast, this may be the only thing I work on right now that will be around in a hundred years.
*Layout photos & designs courtesy of Hewes & Company
