The Prospect Park Alliance wanted to create a new modern design that integrated the LeFrak Center at Lakeside seamlessly with the landscape surrounding it
Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY, which was originally constructed in the 1860s, had become a blighted area in the middle of the 20th century, and at the time, was turned into the Kate Wollman Memorial skating complex. But in the past 50 years, the park has slowly declined. With public and private funds, the Prospect Park Alliance partnered with Tod Williams & Billie Tsien Architects (TWBTA) of New York, NY, to create a new modern design called the LeFrak Center at Lakeside that seamlessly integrates landscape and architecture.
“With programming that includes winter ice skating, summer roller-skating and a warm-weather water feature, combined with 26 acres of restored landscape and vastly improved park access, the LeFrak Center at Lakeside is an extraordinary new destination in Prospect Park,” said Andy Kim, project manager at TWBTA. “Constructed of rough-hewn green granite, the LeFrak Center is embedded in the topography of the park like a stone landscape retaining wall. The L-shaped plan consists of the east block and north block — both one-story structures — connected by a bridge at the roof level. They frame a regulation-size hockey rink that sits beneath a monumental canopy supported by irregularly placed columns.”
The project features 30,000 square feet of 3 ½-inch-thick Laurentain Green granite wall pieces with a split-face finish, which measure up to 5 x 18 inches — supplied and fabricated by Polycor of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. “The Lakeside Center at Prospect Park was one-of-a-kind for Polycor,” said Hugo Vega, vice president of sales for architectural projects for Polycor. “The main goals were to come up with a thick veneer (3 ½ inches) application at a competitive price to fit budget constraints. We worked very closely with TWBTA to establish an appropriate finish and color to suit design intent. It was very educative for both parties, as it was a first for TWBTA using split-face granite, and so we had extensive discussions on ‘true’ split-face versus rock-pitched edge treatment between pieces of different finishes, corner conditions, anchoring details, air space between stone and backup wall, etc.”
The stone was laid in a random ashlar pattern and given different treatments, including low honed, flamed and saw cut, depending on where the stone was located. “The more architectural elements, like the canopy columns, achieve a sharper and smoother finish, while main massing walls of the two building blocks are guillotined, with edges untreated, for as roughhewn and natural a reading as possible,” said Kim. “In all cases, the thickness of the stone pieces is revealed at the corners with a staggered corner pattern — no mitering was allowed. The stone paving at the green roof is flamed Bluestone cut in upstate New York. Bluestone matches the original paving in the adjacent restored Concert Grove.” The 14,000 square feet of flamed Bluestone at the green roof is 2 feet x 2 feet x 2 inches — supplied by Lilac Quarries of Gilbertsville, NY.