Federal Plaza on Broadway is Now Totally Secure

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Give it up to the Federal government for finding yet another way to spend our hard earned tax money. Case in point is the new Federal Security Pavilion that is nearing completion downtown at the Javits Federal Building along Broadway. This one is not to be confused with the other Pavilion we told you about a few months back, which is still under construction across the block at the International Court of Trade on Foley Square. That one is just a little glass box. This one is big and expansive. Not to mention expensive.

Designed by Lehman-Smith + McLeish out of Washington, D.C., this new steel, glass and stone enclosure was built to replace the impromptu white tents that were set up in the original plaza that stretched along Broadway. That sunken pit was often the site of a big snaky line of folks, all hoping for a bit of interaction with some cubicled bureaucrats inside the Javits tower. Now it's all been brought up to street level and been covered with rough-cut granite and some skinny slabs of illuminated glass. Plus some new trees to replace the ones that were chopped down when construction first began. Still to come are the big curvy benches. Back in 2007 the project was awarded with a Design Award from the GSA, in recognition of innovative design for modernization, sustainability and engineering. One wonders: will they take back that award when they see what's been done with the bollards?
· Federal In-Security Downtown at Foley Square [Curbed]
· Article Headline [Lehman-Smith + McLeish website]
· GSA Bestows Design Awards for 2006 [Architectural Record]

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