1/8
Carriage Houses 2 + 3.
2/8
Site from Arthur Kill Road.
3/8
View from House 1 porch to House 2.
4/8
Access + outdoor event rooms.
5/8
Carriage storage optimization.
6/8
Types S+Q corrugated steel arch sections.
7/8
Campus site elevations.
8/8
Carriage Houses 3, 2, + 1.

CARRIAGE HOUSES & GROUNDS

Staten Island Historical Society, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York City DDC. , Staten Island Historical Society, Staten Island, NY

As part of NYC’s Design Excellence program, this project will provide viewing and storage facilities for the SIHS’s 62 historic carriages, including exhibition gallery for the top carriages, restoration space, and multi-purpose space for education programs and events. Departing from the original program for a single 3,000sf metal building that could only house a part of the collection, RLA organized the functions in three less bulky, arched-steel buildings that will provide the full 10,000sf needed to house the entire collection. The deeply corrugated arch spans were sized to maximize storage capacity and economically perform as both structure and skin.

The multiple houses are carefully situated in a way that frames a series of exterior spaces for the organization’s frequent outdoor events. Brightly colored end walls create playful event backdrops with covered porches designed as hosting platforms for outdoor activities. This “Collections Campus” opens programming and shapes a new identity for the SIHS.