British architect and designer Thomas Heatherwick from Heatherwick Studios, and landscape architecture firm Mathews Nielsen have been chosen to design ‘Pier 55’ – a US$170m (€136m, £109m) floating park on the Hudson River.
‘Pier 55’ will be situated 186ft (57m) away from the bank of the Hudson River and will be accessible by an undulating platform. More like an island, the pier will be a fully fledged 1.1-hectare (2.7 acres) park, with three performance venues, a 700-seat amphitheatre and wooded outdoor spaces.
The structure will be built to replace the Manhattan's ageing Pier 54 and will be mostly funded by the Diller-Von Furstenberg Family Foundation, with help from the Hudson River Trust and the city.
Heatherwick is no stranger to ‘floating’ structures, with plans for his Garden Bridge – crossing the River Thames in London UK – recently being granted permission by
Lambeth Council.New York governor Andrew M Cuomo said: "Building this new pier will greatly improve the Hudson River Parkland."
It is thought that planning for this bold addition to the Manhattan waterfront will be approved in 2015, with construction starting in 2015/16. Completion is anticipated in late 2018 or early 2019.
