Contractors renovating three joined buildings at the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard knew they might find some surprises as they began work on the 220,850-sq-ft structure. The steel-framed buildings, which make up what will become the yard's Green Manufacturing Center (GMC), were built separately between 1895 and 1941 and joined together over time during various building campaigns. The result was a structure with a mix of materials and styles that, in some places, has been a puzzle for the renovation team to figure out. While structural repair drawings helped the team anticipate early on what needed to be done, it was not until roof demolition got under way that long-hidden secrets began to be revealed.
"Nobody knew what we were going to see within the walls," says Everard Martin, project manager at Plaza Construction, the construction manager. His team began work in May 2012 and is charged with turning the Cybul & Cybul Architects-designed renovation into a LEED-Silver-certified light industrial facility. The goal, he adds, is to retain as much of the original structure as possible, salvaging all that the team can and replicating and replacing only where necessary.