Brooklyn, NY Crystal Window & Door Systems, the award-winning national manufacturer, was recently called upon to be the window supplier for a unique project. Located downtown at 50 Nevins St., the project combined the restoration of an historic 100-year old brick building with the new construction of an adjacent structure. Enhancing its distinctiveness, the project’s new 10-story addition, built around the corner on an adjoining lot fronting Schermerhorn St., cantilevers over and partially envelopes the block-long eight-story historic building. Drawing on its broad product line, Crystal supplied in total 631 energy efficient windows in a variety of models and styles to perfectly meld both the modern and historic aesthetics of the project, now named Nevins Street Apartments.
Mega Contracting Group was the general contractor for the project. “We’re proud to deliver 50 Nevins to the community, marking a great step forward to providing affordable and supportive housing to local residents in need. This is a project that is especially important to Mega Contracting due to our long-term commitment to the building,” said Mega Contracting Group vice president Hercules Argyriou. Mega completed an earlier rehab of the historic building in 1998 and was brought in to lead the latest restoration and construct the new building next door.
George Poulon, vice president for Mega, said, “Mega Contracting has been working with Crystal Windows for over 30 years. We chose Crystal as our fenestration supplier because of their ability to perform on historic/rehabilitation as well as new construction projects. Through the years, Mega has worked with Crystal on many challenging projects throughout the city, and they always come through.”
“Crystal was pleased to supply windows for this innovative project,” said Sabrina Leung, architectural sales and engineering manager for Crystal. “By collaborating with the design and construction team, we were able to offer a variety of fenestration options to meet the project’s performance and energy specifications within budget constraints.”
For the historic building renovation, Crystal supplied 320 aluminum Series 2600 commercial double-hung tilting sash and aluminum Series 5100 heavy-commercial fixed windows. Both Crystal windows are reliably strong, with 3-¼” jamb depths. The Series 2600 double-hung is CW-PG50/PG65 rated and the Series 5100 fixed, with its 0.80” thick heavy-duty extrusion, is rated AW-PG100.
The Crystal Series 2600 features an anti-drift top sash head clip lock as well as a full-width bottom sash locking lift rail which automatically fasten the sashes in the closed position, providing safety, security, and a weather-tight seal. Three layers of sill weatherstripping further enhance the window’s weather resistance.
Many of the Nevins Street Apartments Series 2600 windows are extremely tall (some over 81”), so to ease operation, the windows’ bottom sashes were fitted with Ultra-Lift balances and top sashes with double-spiral balances. For several of the project’s large openings, combinations of from 4 to 8 Series 2600 double-hung and Series 5100 fixed windows were field-mulled together. For other openings, 2-lite stacked combinations of the Series 5100 fixed windows were factory assembled by Crystal using the product line’s continuous master frame option.
The Series 2600 has a ?” insulated glass unit (IGU) pocket while the Series 5100 IGU is 1”. IGUs for both window styles were dual-pane glass with Vitro SB60 low-E coating, Argon filling, and where appropriate, the double-hung window IGUs were also laminated.
The new construction building used a total of 311 Crystal aluminum Series 8800 in-swing casement and aluminum Series 8810 fixed windows. Both windows have 2-?” jamb depth and feature state-of-the-art polyamide insulating strut thermal break technology. The Series 8800 casement window, with its heavy-duty 0.093” thick extrusion, is rated AW-PG80/PG100 while the Series 8810 fixed window is AW-PG75 rated. The Series 8800 casement window features a zero-sightline sash, concealed 4-bar hinges, a triple gasket seal, and an easy-operation long locking handle.
The 50 Nevins St. project used many combination units of the Series 8800 and Series 8810, which have matching sightlines and can be mulled in the product line’s continuous master frame. In many combined units, a Series 8800 casement was stacked atop a fixed Series 8810 vision window in one tall master frame. In several openings in the new building, very large combinations – some over 91” wide and 112” tall – were created using the master frame feature and H-mullion accessories. Additional accessories included NYC code-approved limit opening devices, and to facilitate installation, receptors and subsills.
All the Series 8800 and 8810 windows feature deep 1-¼” IGU pockets. The windows were glazed with dual-pane IGUs with Vitro SB60 low-E coating and Argon filling, and where required, the IGUs were also laminated.
All the windows and exposed accessories for the two structures were finished in durable, environmentally sustainable 2604 powder coat paint. While the historic building used a bronze color for all the new windows, the new construction building used either black or medium-gray finishes.
Built in 1913, 50 Nevins Street was originally a YWCA single-room occupancy residence for young women. Since 1986, the existing historic building has housed Stepping Stone Residence, a transitional housing facility owned and operated by The Institute for Community Living (ICL), one of the largest housing providers in the country for residents with special supportive needs.
Seeking to rehabilitate and expand the facility, ICL assembled an all-star team of design and construction leaders in the New York City metro area to convert the dormitory-style historic building into efficiency apartments and connect it to a new construction apartment building on the adjacent lot. The Nevins Street Apartments now provides 129 affordable units across two buildings, 78 of which are reserved for residents requiring supportive care. Amenities include 24/7 front desk security, a community room, fitness center, laundry, and a flexible learning space, as well as access to comprehensive on-site mental health support services.
The architect for the historic renovation and new construction project was Dattner Architects of New York, NY. The general contractor was Mega Contracting of Astoria, Queens, NY, experts at challenging historic renovations as well as new construction. Nevins Street Apartments was designed and built to meet Enterprise Green Communities Program energy and sustainability requirements.
Sign up is quick, easy, & FREE.
.gif)