CASE STUDY

The Citygreen® modular Stratacell™ system has taken on Manhattan, New York with smashing success.

The One Pace Plaza project for Pace Universi-ty required the total removal and replacement of all planting, paving, seating, lighting, decora-tive fountain, and related site appurtenances. Therevitalised courtyard is now more functional andwelcoming, and new trees are located within the paving system where the Stratacell system was installed.

AECOM designed the complete renovation of the Pace University courtyard, which started in June 2012 and was completed in October 2012, with a total budget of US$900,000.

One Pace Plaza is the flagship building complex of Pace University. Located directly across from City Hall and adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge, the building was designed specifically for the university and completed in 1969. It houses most of the university’s classrooms,administrative offices, student union, communitytheatre and an 18 floor high rise known as Maria’s Tower.

“The client wanted to create a central gathering space that was flexible in programming with-seasonal interest and a more contemporary design in keeping with year round school programming, and also matching raised standards in other campus’ and lower Manhattan neighborhood renovations that are lifting the overall aesthetic character of theneighbourhood,” says Adrianne Weremchuk, ASLA, ISA, GRP, Landscape Designer, Green Roof Profession-al & Certified Arborist from AECOM.

Anthony Scorcia, president of the project’s general contractor Scorcia & Associates Inc, says the Citygreen Stratacell system replaced a previously specifiedcompeting product.

Two tiers of Stratacells were used together with the RootStop® barriers. The Stratacells structur-al soil cells, manufactured from 100 per cent recy-cled polymer, can be assembled to form a skeletalmatrix that supports pavement and traffic loads. This features almost five times more available growing media compared to the traditional rock/soil method,

SOIL CELLS FOR HEALTHY TREES IN NEW YORK CITY

Copyright© 2016 Citygreen

by Kristyn M. Levis

therefore facilitating healthy root growth. Because of its high structural integrity, these matrices can be usedbeneath trafficked areas.

The RootStop root management barriers arecontinuous, non ribbed root barriers designed for the larger application of protecting infrastructure andservices. Because of its market leadingpuncture resistance and strength, the RootStophas become the root barrier of choice forspecifiers and utility companies requiring root freeservice corridors. Aside from being easy to install, its flexible design also allows the barrier to curve aroundobstacles. Like the Stratacells, it is environmentally friendly as it’s made of 100 per cent recycled polymer.

Although this is the first time that Scorcia &Associates Inc used the Citygreen system, they were very impressed with the ease of installing the product and found that it all went together very easily.

“The Citygreen system was easier to install than I thought it would be once the area was prepped,”Anthony says. Adrianne from AECOM also said thesystem provided a solution to the design intent to

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completely pave the courtyard while providing trees throughout.

“It enabled us to provide for three pairs of trees to be installed within the paving system. TheStratacell is intended to sustain the trees with alarger soil bed that would allow for more extensive rootestablishment, while structurally supporting the paver system above,” Adrianne said.

AECOM found that the Stratacell’s modularoctagonal design allows for a moreflexible layout. “We found this system to be a morecost-effective option for our client than others that we reviewed,” she added.

The issues the project faced were more related to-wards the delay of the product’s arrival from customs in the Canadian border rather than the product itself. Both AECOM and Scorcia & Associaties Inc had nodifficulty installing the system even when they were forced to work out of sequence.

By the time the Stratacell was delivered to the site, the paving system, including its drainage subbase wasalready installed. The contractor was very careful to shore up the surrounding paving/subbase installations while installing the system, and then backfilling in and around the cells to complete the installation.

The original design had called for surface drains but was changed to a permeable system that

allowed water to drain through to a subsurface drainage system that required the installation of 18 inch gravel. They filled the entire site with the drain-age gravel then excavated the areas to receive the Stra-tacells.

Anthony said the system fits very well with the overall design and has had no issues since the project was completed. Because of his experience, he says he will use it again if future projects specifies for such a sys-tem. AECOM agrees with Anthony’s experience and adds that the client is very happy and satisfied with the courtyard.

“As of today, the University has not experienced any issues with the installation, including no set-tling of pavement or drainage issues, and the trees are doing well,” Adrianne says.

With their experience using the Stratacell system in One Pace Place, Adrianne says AECOM will certainly con-sider Citygreen systems in future projects.

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