Lehman Houses Maintenance Building

Location: New York, NY
Date: 1996
Program: Community Space & Storage

The new garage located in an existing project in East Harlem provides enclosed storage for maintenance vehicles while also shielding from view the unsightly sand piles and open trash container nearby. It transforms the street corner into a place of rest and shade by extending the green zone with a tree planter.

The building curves about the tree as a spatial punctuation and inflects upward as a termination to the street. The roof also inflects upward to the south to admit daylight into the building through a glass brick window. At night, light spills out from the building onto the sidewalk through glass brick light slots.