JLGA designed a new entrance pavilion and welcome station for one of NYC’s premier green recreation spaces, the newly dedicated Jack McManus Field and Park on Roosevelt Island. The now ADA-accessible, sustainably designed, and energy-efficient building serves as a public welcome station, concession stand, and park storage.

JLGA’s design strategy focused on two core challenges: salvage and transform an outdated, irregularly shaped existing structure into a more integrated, sustainable, and welcoming presence—and create a recognizable and accessible principal entrance that unifies and readily identifies this recreational greenspace to the community.

The sloped green roof, a focal point of an array of sustainable design strategies implemented, employs an extensive vegetation system that supports and sustains all-seasons growth. The vegetation helps manage storm water, mitigate air pollution, provide wildlife habitat, foster biodiversity, and reduce urban heat island effects.

Our design strategy leveraged the structure’s atypical footprint to express an artful, unique form for this public building that features an asymmetrical green roof.

Designed as an independent structure able to support its plant loads, the 2,000 sq. ft. roof tips upward like a bird’s wing, creating a strong aesthetic gesture visible to surrounding area, emphasizing the site’s natural landscape, and visually connecting to the green field and park.