BNYL High Level Brief Announced!

We are excited to release the first high-level details of the design brief for Build New York Live 2015, sponsored by Vectorworks.   This release frames the context of the design challenge ahead for the BNYL teams and should enable teams to begin the creative process ahead of the actual commencement of the competition on Monday the 21st at Noon EDT - without giving away any of the finer detail which will be needed to start designing.  On Monday at noon New York time the full and detailed design brief will be released and the 48-hour event will be off!   And now - the high level brief:
 

Hudson Yards - Community Outreach Sports Facility & Residential Tower
Midtown West, Manhattan, New York 

Introduction and Background

• Hudson Yards is an area isolated for decades by a massive, open rail yard which is being redeveloped as part of ‘The Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project’.
• The project is a joint venture between the New York City Department of City Planning and Metropolitan Transportation Authority to encourage development on Manhattan's far West Side along the Hudson River in New York City – and is being delivered by property developers Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group.
• Hudson Yards will be the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States and the largest development in New York City since Rockefeller Center.
• Strategically located between 10th and 12th avenues from West 30th to West 34th Street, Hudson Yards is at the center of the metropolitan region with unsurpassed connections to commuter rail service, the subway system, the West Side Highway, the Lincoln Tunnel and ferries along the Hudson River.
• Hudson Yards is set to become the epicenter of Manhattan’s New West Side.
• The neighborhoods surrounding Hudson Yards, including Chelsea, West Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen are buzzing with chic art galleries, innovative restaurants and bars, and highly respected international fashion and design. These neighborhoods are growing at five times the rate of the rest of Manhattan. 
• It is anticipated that more than 24 million people will visit Hudson Yards every year.
• The redevelopment of Hudson Yards will ultimately include more than 17 million square feet of commercial and residential space, 5 state-of-the-art office towers, more than 100 shops, restaurants, approximately 5,000 residences, a unique cultural space, approximately 14 acres of public open space, a 750-seat public school, and a luxury hotel with approximately 200 rooms.
• The redevelopment of Hudson Yards is divided in two main parts: ‘Western Yard’ and ‘Eastern Yard’ divided by the 11th avenues.
• The design and construction of Hudson Yards is divided into two phases.
• The first phase includes the redevelopment of the ‘Eastern Yard’; which contains various facilities / buildings such as 10 Hudson Yards, 15 Hudson Yards, 30 Hudson Yards, 35 Hudson Yards, 50 Hudson Yards, 55 Hudson Yards, The Culture Shed, The Shops and Restaurants, the Public Square, the new No. 7 train Subway station and Hudson Park & Boulevard which is already designed and publicly available at http://www.hudsonyardsnewyork.com/ and / or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Yards_Redevelopment_Project
• The second phase includes the redevelopment of the ‘Western Yard’ and is planned to include seven residential towers, an office building known as the ‘West Tower’, and a public school serving Pre-K to eighth grade students

The Challenge

Build New York Live 2015 challenges participants to reimagine the Western edge of the Western Yard site at Hudson Yards. The high-level brief is take advantage of the riverfront position and all of the transport links that are inherent to the site to create a vision for sports-based community outreach which becomes a draw for the entire metro region – and a community resource available to all New Yorkers regardless of socio-economic position.  The space should serve as a bridge connecting communities around New York and bringing them into the center of Manhattan through sports.

This new and imaginative flagship project should build on the community spirit of NYC to deliver an indoor sports facility over the Western Rail Yard called ‘Hudson Yards Sports Arena’, integrated into High Line public space adjacent to it and to design the adjacent Residential Tower just to the east in a sympathetic and integrated way.