{"id":300836,"date":"2025-11-19T08:41:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T08:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/300836\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T08:41:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T08:41:25","slug":"pau-and-arup-design-sidewalk-sheds-for-new-york-city-streets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/300836\/","title":{"rendered":"PAU and Arup design sidewalk sheds for New York City streets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sidewalk sheds are ubiquitous facets of New York City life. After Local Law 11 was enacted in 1998, as an update to a 1980 law passed after a Barnard College student was tragically killed<\/a> by a loose piece of masonry in Morningside Heights, New Yorkers walk beneath hundreds-of-miles of scaffolding everyday.<\/p>\n

To lessen sidewalk clutter, Mayor Eric Adams<\/a> launched the Get Sheds Down<\/a> initiative in 2023. Now, incoming mayor Zohran Mamdani has his own plan<\/a> to fasten shed removal. Mamdani\u2019s plan entails the immediate removal of sheds that have been up for over three years. This would happen thanks in part to dedicated funds for aggressively repairing the buildings in question.<\/p>\n

The Adams administration and New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) shared renderings today of new modular shed designs by PAU<\/a> and Arup<\/a>. The two firms ideated three iterations, each, for revamped, cost-effective sidewalk shed designs that can be employed throughout New York, depending on the site conditions.<\/p>\n

\"arupThe designs by Arup come in varying colors. (Courtesy Arup)<\/p>\n

PAU and Arup were tapped by DOB to redesign the city\u2019s scaffolding sheds in 2024, as reported<\/a> by AN. PAU\u2019s team was rounded out by LERA Consulting Structural Engineers, Tang Studio Architect, Langan, RWDI, Fisher Marantz Stone, and Dharam. And Arup collaborated with KNE studio, Reddymade, and CORE Scaffolding.<\/p>\n

\u201cPAU was established to design for the public,\u201d PAU founder Vishaan Chakrabarti shared in a statement. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine a more impactful intervention than making Gotham\u2019s sidewalks\u2014the most defining aspect of our city\u2019s public realm\u2014safer, more egalitarian, and more beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thornton Tomasetti was selected to study the Facade Inspection and Safety Program (FISP), or Local Law 11, and shared its findings and recommendations today, alongside the new designs.<\/p>\n

Among its list of recommendations, Thornton Tomasetti noted facade safety definitions could be upgraded. The firm also suggested revising the inspection timeline from its current five-year inspection cycle to a six-year cycle, implementing visual-only inspections rather than hands-on versions, and initiating a pilot program that would use drones for safety reviews.<\/p>\n

\"\"In PAU\u2019s design sloped profiles discourage climbing. (Courtesy PAU)<\/p>\n

The designs by PAU feature sloped shed roofs, ones noticeably different from the status quo. The slope eliminates the need for a parapet, PAU said, and opens up the sidewalk to the sky, something the current wooden slab counterparts are most certainly not equipped with. It likewise discourages climbing, a serious safety issue when it comes to today\u2019s sheds.<\/p>\n

DOB Commissioner Jimmy Oddo said in a statement the designs by PAU and Arup are \u201cleaps and bounds above what we see on sidewalks today.\u201d<\/p>\n

A flat-topped version will remain available for the rare cases when construction workers need roof access. Designers at PAU are now exploring modifiable sloped roof versions that can be flattened when necessary. Arup\u2019s design likewise comes in varying colors, and can be employed at storefronts with high floor-to-ceiling heights.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur designs have fewer obstructions to overcome the tunnel-like feel of current sheds, bringing light and life back to New York City sidewalks,\u201d said Seth Wolfe, a principal at Arup.<\/p>\n

\"\"The sheds by Arup help bring natural light onto the sidewalk. (Courtesy Arup)<\/p>\n

All six designs by PAU and Arup will be made available for public use through the DOB\u2019s rule-making process. Registered design professionals will be able to access permits for them through the DOB\u2019s Professional Certification program.<\/p>\n

New York City officials are aiming to begin employing these sheds in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sidewalk sheds are ubiquitous facets of New York City life. After Local Law 11 was enacted in 1998,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88],"class_list":{"0":"post-300836","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}