HIGHLANDS – The borough is in prestigious company from all over the world and now in at least one record book with its new pavilion donated by Tilt-Up Concrete Association as a dedication to Bayshore residents who dealt with Super Storm Sandy and its aftermath.
The architects of the large concrete structure have been recognized and esteemed worldwide. Their designs are in diverse locations such as the University of Virginia and Princeton University as well as the Hong Kong Center Admiralty, and the United States Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico. Exhibitions of their award-winning work have been held in New York, Italy and Finland as well as several other locations.
Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, a husband and wife architectural team with offices in New York, designed the open-air shelter with an eye to incorporating both sun and shade in the finished work, providing protection from harsh elements without closing out the gentler, more welcome elements like the warmth of the sun. In their trademark style, Williams and Tsien used common materials, in this as in most of their works, concrete, to make an uncommon structure.
The four wall panels that rise from the sandy beach in front of the Robert Wilson Community Center in the Waterwitch section of the borough, are uniquely joined to a 173-ton canopy which includes three cone-shaped rounded openings, giving persons seated beneath it the opportunity to gaze up to the sky while being securely sheltered. Beneath the canopy is approximately 1,000 feet of concrete floor space completely open, along with four Ipe wood benches for quiet relaxation.
Raising the canopy and setting the wall panels was a unique feat of engineering excellence in its own right. Installed by the Tilt-Up Concrete Association, an industry trade group, and donated to the borough as a gift, at no cost to the taxpayers, the steel reinforcement was handled by the A.H. Harris & Sons firm who established a new world record in the process. A concrete lift, built within a week using the tilt-up construction technique, hoisted the canopy into place, while the concrete slabs were cast on site, rather than at another location and trucked in.
Tilt-Up Concrete Association first approached the borough council last January with their offer to build a lasting tribute to the strength, resilience and stead fastness of Highlands residents who suffered devastating losses through Sandy, yet bounced back to restore and move on with their lives. Council adopted a resolution in January, unanimously accepting the offer, and referred final plan approval to Councilwoman Tara Ryan, who serves as council liaison to the Parks and Recreation Department, and Administrator Tim Hill, who determined the location for the shelter.
