Hudson Yards have collaborated on extraordinary planning initiatives to create a development program that will transform the site into a vibrant and eco-friendly area.
According to a report by the NY Curbed, the Public Square at Hudson Yards will be filled with 28,000 plants and 200 forest trees contained with insects and small avian creatures. The square also features an elevated six-acre open space.
The park is being built on top of a working rail yard. The challenge here is how this ecosystem will survive with the heat of the trains--which generates up to 150 degrees--as these would render any above soil inhospitable for trees and such.
This question became answerable with the help of its designer, the team at Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. The team designed a very unique and hi-tech platform which uses several different methods to separate the plants from the rail yard below, as reported by the NY Curbed.
The platform will need to have circulating liquid coolants to keep the soil at the right temperature. A ventilation system having 15 fans that will supply fresh air at 45 miles per hour to the train cars will also be put in place.
The trees also need to have a wide and shallow growth of roots so that the soil layer need not be too deep. Due to its advanced cooling apparatus, the platform can also collect rainwater to reuse as irrigation for the plants.
According to Hudson Yards New York, Hudson Yards lies at the nexus of the High Line, Hudson River Park and the soon-to-open Hudson Park & Boulevard. The Hudson Yards Public Square will be at the center of an extensive and new, interconnected park system on Manhattan's West Side. The project is being developed by Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group.
The construction of the first phase of Hudson Yards will pave the way for a more most connected, clean, efficient and responsive neighborhood.
