Morningside Gardens refuse area in Harlem undergoes redesign

New York-based CTA Architects P.C. (CTA) announced Feb. 19 that the company has completed the $1.1 million redevelopment and upgrade of the 5,650-square-foot refuse storage area at Morningside Gardens, a six-building co-op complex in West Harlem, New York's Morningside Heights section. Morningside Gardens features approximately 980 apartments. CTA had previously served the client, Morningside Heights Housing Corp.(MHHC), as the architect for the $10 million exterior restoration of the complex.

Prior to the renovation, the refuse collection area had storage sheds that served as temporary holding areas for garbage bags without any permanent containers. It had a perimeter chain-link fence and an uneven and deteriorating asphalt surface that led to a drainage problem, the company says. Pools of water polluted with refuse would accumulate after it had rained.

“Our architectural team created a new refuse area that is architecturally attractive from both the street level and the apartments above. The new design also alleviated traffic problems brought about by the former inefficient layout,” G. Douglas Cutsogeorge, CTA principal, says.

Due to the inefficient layout, CTA says access to the area was difficult when garbage trucks would arrive to collect the refuse. The trucks would have difficulty maneuvering inside the trash storage area and would block access to tenant parking. Further, the site is adjacent to a supermarket located within Morningside Gardens. The area serves as an access point to the supermarket’s loading docks, complicating the traffic issues. CTA’s renovation was designed to alleviate the traffic problems, providing easy access to the new refuse containers and store loading docks.

“During the predesign phase, we consulted with both MHHC management and the city’s Department of Sanitation to develop the optimal design,” CTA Senior Project Manager Frank Scanlon says. “We wanted to ensure the new design would solve issues from architectural, aesthetic and access points of view, while also accommodating possible new regulations and technological developments in waste management.”

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Based on these conversations, CTA analyzed several options for containing the waste. One idea was to install large refuse compactors. However, it was found that the compactors would require a significant footprint as well as additional space for access, which would limit the number of compactor units that could be installed at the site. Ultimately, the solution was to install three large, enclosed steel containers on the west side of the site, and one container and an open dumpster on the east side. The new equipment includes one 30-cubic yard dumpster and four closed 40-cubic-yard vermin-resistant refuse bag storage containers supplied by ACA Waste Services Inc., West Babylon, New York.

The team also specified an area for compositing bins and presorted recyclables along the north perimeter of the complex for textiles, glass and paper. CTA also prepared for possible new e-recycling regulations by planning for access to a storage facility that may be used for that purpose, as e-recycling containers would need to be protected from the elements.

Site work included stripping the existing asphalt and installing a new one-foot-deep concrete slab that incorporates electrical conduits and a drainage system. The new electrical system is located within the concrete slab’s conduits, providing electricity not only for the current equipment but, potentially, for future compactors should MHHC decide to install them. The electrical system powers olfactory controls and ventilation systems in the garbage containers. The drainage system includes trench drains on the north and east sides, which are at the lower elevation of the sloping site. In addition, there is a trench drain along the outside perimeter of the west side’s wall to control water approaching the site from the adjacent parking lot and other areas with higher elevations.

The new refuse area houses two custom-designed pergolas. According to CTA’s Designer and Construction Administrator Ana Ribeiro, the CTA team developed the pergola system to be removed if necessary. “We did this to improve the aesthetics from above,” Ribeiro says. “Each pergola consists of seven steel posts, each 20 feet high. They are bolted into the concrete slab to conceal the storage areas from above.”

The pergola system was designed so as not to obstruct the ADA access to the containers and composting bins. The landscaping team will plant a fast-growing, blooming vine species native to New York to climb the pergolas and obstruct the views of the trash storage areas.