Building Tour: Castle III by Curtis + Ginsberg Architects

The AIANY Building Science Committee is excited to present a tour of Castle III by Curtis + Ginsberg Architects, located in East Harlem at East 123rd Street, Manhattan, NY, 10035. This mixed-use residential high rise comprises 82 supportive and affordable, low-income apartments, with community facilities and office spaces on the lower floors that further the Fortune Society’s mission to provide services and support for people who were formerly incarcerated. The project required a special permit to utilize all of the community facility's floor area ratio (FAR). The building is complemented by landscaped areas for residents’ enjoyment and recreation and features a PV pergola over the main roof. As a round three NYSERDA Buildings of Excellence award winner, Castle III is designed to Passive House standards, is a fully electric hybrid structure building, and is Energy Star certified. 

Tour guide Mark Ginsberg will discuss the public funding opportunities for sustainable and affordable housing projects, observe masonry façade detailing with thermal breaks and continuous insulation, learn about variations in air and vapor barriers for various façade claddings, and review the advantages and challenges of using precast construction for affordable housing projects.

This will be a hardhat tour, and attendees must bring their own personal protective equipment (hardhat, safety boots, goggles, and construction vest). This program will have extremely limited registration so please do not hesitate to register as soon as possible.

Tour Guide:
Mark Ginsberg, FAIA, LEED AP, Partner, Curtis + Ginsberg Architects

Project Team:
Client: The Fortune Society
Architect: Curtis + Ginsberg Architects LLP
General Contractor: Home Builders 1 a division of Bronx Pro Group 
MEP Engineer: Dagher Engineering
Structural Engineer: De Nardis Engineering, LLC
Landscape Architect: Weintraub Diaz Landscape Architecture, PLLC
Energy/Sustainable Consultant: Bright Power, Inc.
Façade Consultant: CANY 

About the Speaker:
Mark Ginsberg, a native New Yorker, is a partner of Curtis + Ginsberg Architects LLP (C+GA) with over 35 years of professional experience in planning, urban design, institutional and housing projects. His expertise in affordable and mixed-income housing, resiliency and green design has been recognized through his many lectures at national and local conferences and meetings. He has led C+GA’s efforts on developments that comprise well over 25,000 units of housing, most of which are affordable and sustainable. Ginsberg is a past President of the AIA New York Chapter, former co-chair of the New York New Visions (NYNV) Executive Committee, and an organizer of both the New Housing New York Ideas Competition and Legacy Project. He co-chaired the Post Sandy Housing Task force, and was a member of the AIA National Housing Task Force. He is Vice Chair of the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, a member of the New York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH) Board of Trustees, President of Citizen’s Housing and Planning Council, and a Commissioner of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.