Statue of Liberty Museum
New York, NY, USA
35,500 sf Greenroof

Greenroofs.com Featured Project July 6, 2020

What better way to honor the 4th of July than to celebrate Lady Liberty and the new museum designed specifically for her and her history?

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the monument has been temporarily closed since March 16, 2020, but residents and visitors to New York, New Jersey and people across the world on television, cable, and social media recently enjoyed the spectacular annual Fourth of July Fireworks which showcased our nation’s beautiful Statue of Liberty.

Image: Courtesy of FXCollaborative, photo copyright Iwan Baan

Image: Seastreak Facebook

Excerpt from Greenroofs.com Project Profile:

Gracing the entrance to New York Harbor and welcoming millions of immigrants to the United States since 1886, the Statue of Liberty was a gift of France designed by Bartholdi and Eiffel. The Statue of Liberty Museum is the most monumental addition to Liberty Island since the Statue herself.

More than that, it allows millions more visitors to enjoy the Statue of Liberty experience and be inspired by her history and message of freedom and opportunity. While the Statue of Liberty remains New York’s most iconic monument, the museum housed in its base had long proved inadequate for the thousands who visit each day.

Image: Courtesy of FXCollaborative, photo copyright Iwan Baan

Image: FXCollaborative. Click for larger graphic.

Designed by FXCollaborative, the new $100 million Statue of Liberty Museum opened in 2019, aiming for LEED Gold. The new Museum recounts a long-forgotten aspect: that Lady Liberty was created to celebrate freed slaves, not immigrants – that came later. The Museum addresses 3 main components: Accessibility, Education, and Sustainability and visitors can peruse permanent and rotating displays of statue-related artifacts, a 3-room immersive theater, and the original 1886 torch.

The design enhances the site with multiple planted areas, an extensive greenroof, and bird-friendly glass.

Image: Courtesy of FXCollaborative, photo copyright Iwan Baan

The Statue of Liberty Museum’s defining gesture is the lifting of the park itself, which creates a new, naturalized habitat in place of a traditional building. Designed by Quennell Rothschild & Partners, the landscape extends vistas, engages the site, and seamlessly merges with the building.

The design gives the appearance of rising up from the earth carrying with it a beautifully planted Garden Roof Assembly from American Hydrotech, completed with native grasses. The almost 23 degree slope was stabilized with Hydrotech’s GardNet, and MM6125 membrane and components were used in all of the roof and adjacent planter areas. Made with 100% New York state materials, the special blend of LiteTop Hydrotech growing media by Naturcycle traveled to the island on a barge via Super Sacks.

Image: Courtesy of FXCollaborative, photo copyright Iwan Baan

More

As visitors ascend the Statue of Liberty Museum stone staircase, the sloped greenroof meadow is seen on one side and a viewing platform appears on the other. The Museum Roof Deck offers sweeping 360 degree views of the iconic Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor, and the New York skyline.

Drawing in 4.5 million visitors a year, Lady Liberty is a symbol of freedom, a national treasure, and one of the most recognizable figures around the globe – now with a beautiful greenroof topping her new museum to protect the artifacts inside for generations to come.

Image: Courtesy of FXCollaborative, photo copyright Iwan Baan

Year: 2019
Owner: The Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Foundation
Location: New York, NY USA
Building Type: Museum
Type: Intensive Greenroof
System: Single Source Provider
Size: 35,500 sq.ft.
Slope: 5/12 or almost 23 degrees
Access: Inaccessible, Public

Image: American Hydrotech

Credits:

ARCHITECT:
FXCOLLABORATIVE

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT:
QUENNELL ROTHSCHILD & PARTNERS

GENERAL CONTRACTOR:
PHELPS CONSTRUCTION GROUP, LLC

ROOFING & WATERPROOFING:
AMERICAN HYDROTECH, INC.

GARDEN ROOF® ASSEMBLY GREENROOF SYSTEM:
AMERICAN HYDROTECH, INC.

AH LITETOP GREEN ROOF MEDIA:
NATURCYCLE, LLC

WATERPROOFING INSTALLATION:
GRANDVIEW WATERPROOFING

GREENROOF INSTALLATION:
WETLANDS

PLANT PALETTE CONSULTANT:
NEW YORK GREEN ROOFS

EXHIBITION DESIGN:
ESI DESIGN

Image: Courtesy of FXCollaborative, photo copyright Iwan Baan

See the Project Profile

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Image: Statue of Liberty Museum

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