In Lower Manhattan, NYC Tests Two New Sidewalk Shed Designs by PAU at 280 Broadway

The green-and-black sidewalk shed is a fixture of New York street life, and two possible replacements are now standing in Lower Manhattan Outside the Department of Buildings headquarters at 280 Broadway, Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) has installed prototypes of its Baseline Shed and Speed Shed It is the first time either design has been deployed on a city sidewalk, and the public can walk up and see them in person No end date has been set. The scale of the problem explains the project At any moment the city has more than two million feet of sidewalk shed, nearly 400 miles, mostly in its densest districts Most follow a 1980s template: a flat deck, plywood parapet, steel columns, cross-bracing, railings and electric lighting They are cheap and code-compliant, but widely regarded as a nuisance The Department of Buildings chose six new designs, three from PAU and three from engineers at ARUP PAU worked with LERA Consulting Structural Engineers. Baseline Shed uses polycarbonate decking and an angled roof that lets in light The slope removes the need for a parapet, opens the sidewalk to the sky and discourages climbing, a recognized safety issue with current sheds Rainwater runs to a gutter at the back, behind a debris screen, then down a downspout to the nearest storm drain Speed Shed has a roof of rockfall netting and detachable wheels, so it can be moved quickly where urgent protection is needed. Other changes include dropping street-level bracing, spacing posts farther apart and eliminating corner columns, which block pedestrians and are exposed to vehicles Lighting firm Fisher Marantz Stone is developing softer, less conspicuous fixtures Because New York sidewalks vary widely, PAU proposes a standardized kit of parts to keep costs in check The Department of Buildings expects to finalize its rules by the end of 2026.