Pier 57 NYC - Google Offices

 

 

 

Built in 1952 for The Grace Line steamship company, Pier 57, a 274-m-(900-ft)-long water-bound peninsula, was New York’s largest Art Deco dock, supported by three massive caissons. It has now been reborn as Google’s new office space.

Designed by the firm, Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), it serves as Google’s latest addition to its expanding Chelsea campus. This space offers a variety of individual and group work areas, both indoors and outdoors, fostering social interaction. In addition, it provides 4,645 m² (50,000 sf) of vibrant public spaces dedicated to education, art, and dining.

Crafted by American architect and civil engineer, Emil Praeger, Pier 57 stood as the City of New York’s most expansive dock. Initially a bustling shipping terminal, it later adapted to the city’s changing maritime landscape. For thirty years, it functioned as a parking garage for the city’s buses and remained empty since 2003. Recognizing its historical significance, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2004.

Now, apart from hosting the anchor tenant, Google, the building also hosts the largest rooftop public park for New Yorkers. The preservation of the building, led by the architect, Handel Architects, received Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award from the New York Landmarks Conservancy.

The adaptive reuse of Pier 57’s historic core and shell includes a 91-m-(300-ft)-long ramp, once used for vehicular access, now transformed into an interactive inclined walkway accessible on foot or through a motorized, cubic glass inclinator (elevator that climbs an incline). The Visitor Landing, double in height, is adorned with a grid of 54 conical skylights, each strategically oriented to accommodate existing infrastructure.

Spanning three floors, the Google workspace incorporates a network of lounges, circulation spaces, impromptu work and meeting areas, and a cafe. Innovative technologies are employed in large assembly and retreat spaces to ensure maximum programming versatility. A spacious dining terrace features twenty reconfigurable robotic planters on tracks, equipped with mobile power, data, and irrigation systems.

Located at the pier’s western end, Horizon Hall, a theatrical black box, offers multiple spatial arrangements facilitated by a retractable seating system, a custom pop-up jumbotron, volumetric projection, dynamic robotic cameras, and industrial-scale hangar bifold doors. These features transform the space from an acoustically performative, light- and view-controlled silo into an open, multipurpose area with a panoramic view.

 

List of North River Piers Post-Renumbering

[edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (October 2020)

Piers of the North River by number, location, key dates, and notes

Number	Location	Opened	Rebuilt	Closed	Notes
A	Battery Park	1886
1	West St. and Battery Pl.
2	West St. north of Battery Pl.		Between 1923 and 1930		Rebuilt into new PRR pier complex
3	West St. north of Battery Pl.			Between 1923 and 1930	Rebuilt into new PRR pier complex
4	West St. south of Morris St.			Between 1923 and 1930	Rebuilt into new PRR pier complex
5	West St. and Morris St.			Between 1923 and 1930	Rebuilt into new PRR pier complex
6	West St. north of Morris St.			Between 1923 and 1930	Rebuilt into new PRR pier complex
7	West St. south of Rector St.
8	West St. and Rector St.
9	West St. south of Carlisle St.
10	West St. and Albany St.
11	West St. and Cedar St.
13	West St. south of Dey St.
14	West St. and Fulton St.
15	West St. north of Vesey St.
16	West St. and Barclay St.
17	West St. and Park Pl.
18	West St. and Murray St.
19	West St. and Warren St.
20	West St. and Chambers St.
21	West St. and Duane St.
22	West St. north of Jay St.
23	West St. north of Harrison St.
24	West St. and Franklin St.
25	West St. and N. Moore St.				Currently part of Hudson River Park
26	West St. and N. Moore St.				Currently part of Hudson River Park[1]
27	West St. and Hubert St.
28	West St. and Laight St.
29	West St. and Vestry St.
31	West St. and Watts St.
32	West St. and Hubert St.
33	West St. and Canal St.
34	West St. and Spring St.		1927[10]		Part of Hudson River Park, connects to Holland Tunnel ventilation shaft.[10]
35	West St. north of Spring St.
36	West St. south of Charlton St.
37	West St. and Charlton St.
38	West St. and King St.
39	West St. and W Houston St.
40	West St. and Houston Street		1962		Parking garage and sports facility. Original Pier 40 located at Clarkson St.
41	West St. and Leroy St.
42	West St. and Morton St.
43	West St. and Barrow St.
44	West St. and Christopher St.
45	West St. and W. 10th St.
46	West St. and Charles St.
51	West St. and Jane St.
52	West St. and Gansevoort St.				Deteriorated and demolished. Site now location of Gansevoort Peninsula beach
53	Bloomfield St.				Now forms northern bound of Gansevoort Peninsula. Home of FDNY Marine Company 1.
54					Deteriorated and demolished. Site now part of Little Island at Pier 55
55					Deteriorated and demolished. Now site of Little Island at Pier 55
57	West 15th Street	1907[11]	1954		Replaced a wooden pier #57 that stood from 1907 to 1947. Current structure built in 1954 for Grace Line, converted to a bus garage in 1969. Currently part of the Hudson River Park
59					Currently part of Chelsea Piers
60	West 20th Street				Currently part of Chelsea Piers
61					Currently part of Chelsea Piers
63	West St. and W. 23rd St.
64	West St. and W. 24th St.
65	West St. north of W. 25th St.
66	West St. north of W. 26th St.
67	West St. north of W. 27th St.
68	West St. north of W. 28th St.
69	West St. and W. 29th St.
70	West St. and W. 30th St.
71	West St. and W. 31st St.
72	West St. and W. 32nd St.				Wooden posts remain in the river
73	West St. and W. 33rd St.
74	12th Ave and W. 34th St.				Demolished. Former mixed-use pier for France & Canada Steamship Corporation[12]
75	12th Ave and W. 35th St.				Demolished
76	12th Ave and W. 36th St.				Original rail-ship transloading pier for the New York Central Railroad demolished. Current pier formerly industrial space and then used as an NYPD tow pound; now part of Hudson River Park.[13]
77	12th Ave and W. 37th St.				Demolished. Former Pennsylvania Railroad freight pier
78	12th Ave and W. 38th St.				Partially demolished. Former Pennsylvania Railroad freight pier
79	12th Ave and W. 39th St.				Demolished
80	12th Ave and W. 40th St.				Demolished
81	12th Ave and W. 41st St.
83	12th Ave and W. 43rd St.				Former New York Central Railroad freight pier. Currently hosts Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises
84	12th Ave and W. 44th St.				Former Cunard Line pier. Currently part of Hudson River Park
86	12th Ave and W. 46th St.		2006		Former freight pier demolished in 2006. New pier hosts the Intrepid Museum
87	12th Ave and W. 47th St.				Demolished
88	12th Ave and W. 48th St.		1937		Original pier demolished for New York Passenger Ship Terminal expansion in the 1930s. Currently one of two remaining operational Manhattan Cruise Terminal piers.
89	12th Ave and W. 49th St.			1930s	Demolished for New York Passenger Ship Terminal expansion
90	12th Ave and W. 50th St.		1937		Original pier demolished for New York Passenger Ship Terminal expansion. Currently part of Manhattan Cruise Terminal
91	12th Ave and W. 51st St.			1930s	Demolished for New York Passenger Ship Terminal expansion
92	12th Ave and W. 52nd St.		1937		Original pier demolished for New York Passenger Ship Terminal expansion. Currently exhibition space
93	12th Ave and W. 53rd St.
94	12th Ave and W. 54th St.
95	12th Ave and W. 55th St.
96	12th Ave and W. 56th St.
97	12th Ave and W. 57th St.	1921-1934			Former Swedish American Line, now part of Hudson River Park
98	12th Ave and W. 58th St.				Currently a Consolidated Edison fuel transfer facility
99	12th Ave and W. 59th St.				Currently a DSNY freight pier
B	West 63rd Street				Formerly a car float pier for the New York Central Railroad
D	West 64th Street	1880s[14]		2011[14]	Formerly a car float pier for the New York Central Railroad,[14] dismantled in 2011[15]
E	West 65th Street				Formerly a car float pier for the New York Central Railroad
F	West 66th Street				Formerly a car float pier for the New York Central Railroad
G	West 67th Street				Formerly a car float pier for the New York Central Railroad
I	West 70th Street		2001		Formerly a car float pier for the New York Central Railroad. Currently part of Riverside Park[16]