Abstract: This article explores the application of BIM technology in the exterior design of the 290 Mulberry Street project in New York. It highlights how software was used to generate panel data and produce the necessary drawings and files.
Surface construction effect
Challenges in Skin Design
The 290 Mulberry Street project is situated on the northwest edge of Nolita, New York, bordered by Huston Street to the north and the historic Puck Building on Mulberry Street to the west.
This 13-story building, including the rooftop equipment level, features commercial spaces on the first floor and basement, with nine residential units above. Each standard floor covers approximately 2,000 square feet. Given the real estate values in this area, optimizing the facade thickness was essential to balance the added value of the skin design with the saleable floor area.
Urban zoning regulations require the building to adopt a “stone building” exterior wall on the sides facing Huston and Mulberry streets, to harmonize with the adjacent Puck Building—one of New York’s most iconic stone structures.
A corner of the Puck Building, with 290 Mulberry under construction in the background
The surrounding environment directly influenced the building’s exterior, reflecting the architect’s response to local neighborhoods and building codes. SHoP’s design concept focuses on interpreting local laws while providing a contemporary take on the Puck Building, avoiding mixed treatment approaches to stone detailing.
Turning Challenges into Opportunities
The design of 290 Mulberry Street is driven by several key objectives: maximizing interior space, adhering to regulatory building envelope limits, and minimizing overall facade thickness. These goals, combined with material properties and manufacturing constraints, led to a modern reinterpretation of traditional brick wall details.
Advancements in construction technology now allow for much thinner walls than in the past, driven by economic pressures to maximize usable space. While traditional stone facades require thick walls to support multi-layer decoration, modern methods enable thinner walls that do not infringe on the building’s sellable area.
SHoP sought to utilize available space beyond the building envelope to create innovative facade treatments. New York City’s Building Code permits decorative elements to project up to 10 square feet (about 0.9 m²) outside the property line for every 100 square feet (about 9.3 m²) of building area, with a maximum projection of 10 inches (25.4 cm). This applies to features such as rounded corners and eaves.
SHoP proposed a “ripple” design for the facade, with bricks protruding and overlapping the entire surface—not in a monotonous pattern but akin to rounded corners. However, the “canyon” effect of the ripple aligns with the property line, causing nearly the entire facade to extend approximately 0.75 inches (1.9 cm) beyond the boundary.
To address this, SHoP used analytical software to calculate the average projection beyond the property line, ensuring compliance with building codes.
Drawings illustrating the analysis of facade regulations
Panel-Based Construction and Prefabrication
Achieving precise brick projections manually on site would be nearly impossible. Instead, bricks were prefabricated into customized panels at the factory.
Individual prefabricated brick panel units before transportation to the construction site
This panel-based approach not only enhances design flexibility but also offers significant time savings. Panels can be manufactured concurrently with the building’s structural work and later installed quickly using cranes. Such prefabrication improves quality control and reduces the overall construction timeline, enabling earlier commencement of interior finishing.
By leveraging digital construction technology, the architects maximized design benefits and additional space at minimal cost. The building’s exterior boasts a richly textured brick facade facing the street, while the interior features a straightforward concrete frame core.
The window-to-wall ratio closely matches that of neighboring historic apartment buildings, maintaining contextual harmony. The facade clearly displays staggered and perforated windows, while the dynamic “packaging paper” brick application lends the building a cohesive and contemporary appearance.
Rendering from Mulberry Street looking north, showing the brick exterior and concrete core
Design Coordination Across Scales
The design developed simultaneously at two scales. On a small scale, each individual brick protrusion was limited to no more than 0.75 inches (1.9 cm). On a larger scale, the panel layout had to align with the column grid, floor heights, and window openings.
Using both physical and digital design models, SHoP refined the design from detailed brick arrangements to the overall facade composition, ensuring coordination across scales.
Diagram illustrating the one-line masonry method for the brick facade
Digital surface model showing coordination between window placement, panel design, and building structure
Parametric model controlling brick layout through panels
Parametric Modeling and Iterative Design
The architects approached the building skin as a layered process rather than a fixed form. Parametric digital modeling started before the building’s final shape was fully defined. These models allowed exploration of component possibilities and manufacturing methods under given constraints, rather than fixed shapes.
This approach clarified design constraints and facilitated design development through iterative feedback and testing. Multiple software platforms were employed, each chosen for its strengths, within an open and multi-device workflow.
Separate digital models played a vital role in quality control, allowing detailed review of both data and form at every stage.
Diagram illustrating the feedback design process at 290 Mulberry Street and the interplay of design scales
Software Integration and BIM Implementation
The software tools enabled quick establishment of simple testing rules and timely design adjustments. The platform was clear, precise, and flexible enough to support continuous refinement.
This project marked SHoP’s first use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology. BIM creates digital models containing detailed information about components and automatically coordinates changes across model views.
SHoP used Revit BIM software to generate drawings and documentation from panel data created by other software tools.
Material and Manufacturing Collaboration
The choice of materials and manufacturing methods for the brick panels had a fundamental impact on the facade design. SHoP engaged manufacturers and contractors early in the process to research fabrication techniques and achieve the required construction tolerances both within and between panels.
The key manufacturing innovation was the use of a cement lining supported by a stretchable rubber mold, developed in collaboration with manufacturer Saramac and tailored to SHoP’s design.
CNC-manufactured main positive plate used to create rubber lining molds
Pouring rubber lining molds to create each skin panel unit
Rubber lining unit with bricks positioned for panel fabrication
Panel secured by a template during fabrication, showing bricks in place and reinforcing steel bars before cement pouring
Designing for Efficiency and Economy
Due to the high cost of raw materials, SHoP designed the enclosure system so that all panels could be produced from the same basic positive mold.
The diagram illustrates how different panel types are derived from a single unit panel. This strategy maximizes panel utilization and drives design decisions at every level—including panel-to-panel, window-to-panel, brick-to-concrete, and panel-to-structure connections.
Extensive testing and research focused primarily on the lining mold, which controls brick placement, joint layout, and relationships between bricks, making precise fabrication essential.
Conclusion
Through the design and development of 290 Mulberry Street, a straightforward yet innovative approach to balancing value and economy emerged. The architectural design achieves high economic efficiency by integrating value parameters throughout the process.
This project not only demonstrates the effective use of digital technologies as design tools but also showcases SHoP’s comprehensive software integration to produce technically sound, aesthetically pleasing, and cost-effective architecture.
Integrating exterior, structural, and auxiliary systems on a complex site is often the most challenging aspect of construction and a common source of project delays. The true advantage of BIM in this and similar projects lies in early collaboration between design and construction teams.
By virtually integrating all building lifecycle components using digital technology, potential issues are identified and resolved before construction begins, maximizing the building’s potential and overall value.
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