81 Pearl Street
L+AA was commissioned to convert 81 Pearl for residential use on the upper floors. Built before 1860, 81 Pearl was one of the many factories that lined Stone Street in Lower Manhattan. The building is located in 2 NYC historic districts, Lower Manhattan Historic District and the South Street Seaport Historic District; it is also located in the Stone Street Historic District which is on the National Registry of Historic Places. Stone Street is currently a pedestrian plaza with outdoor dining and lined with restaurants occupying the lower levels of the former factories. Our work was to design high end apartments on the upper 3 floors, to upgrade building infrastructure to meet current codes, and to restore/repair the facades.
We modified the entrances to the upper floors, relocating restaurant access and enclosing private stairs to the upper floors. The upper floors were completely gutted down to the building structure and rebuilt to exceed current energy codes.
Though 81 Pearl does not fall within a FEMA 100-year flood district( AE), we felt it prudent to design and recommend removable flood protection for the building to protect against future storms.
FLOOD PROTECTION
81 Pearl Street is very close to, and surrounded by, a Zone AE, the 100-year flood zone to which the Appendix does apply. The buildings across the street, as well as, neighboring buildings on Pearl Street are in Zone AE with a BFE (Base Flood Elevation) of 11 ft.
Our design recommends :
To the extent possible, mechanical systems, disconnect switches, and circuit breakers can be installed a few feet above the BFE. Preliminary estimates make this elevation 4 or 5’ above grade.
Plumbing and sanitary systems that have openings below the BFE can be protected with automatic backwater valves or other automatic backflow devices. This will prevent both the release of sewage into the floodwaters and infiltration by floodwaters into the plumbing. If you decide that you would like the sanitary systems to remain operational during or immediately after a flood, the system will be equipped with a sealed storage tank, sized per code.
Finish materials below the BFE can be flood damage resistant.
Installation of temporary a flood barrier system that is deployed in emergency events.