Lee Harris Pomeroy

Lee Harris Pomeroy (born November 19, 1932) is an award-winning American architect and the founding principal of the firm Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects.[1] He is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects,[2] and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Pomeroy’s work includes design and planning for corporate, transportation and institutional facilities in the United States and Asia. Working with New York City Transit over many years he has completed the restoration and modernization projects for a number of historic subway stations.

Education

Pomeroy attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1955. He followed this by obtaining his Master's degree, also in architecture, from Yale in 1961.

Career

In the Technological Development Area (TEDA) in Tianjin, China, Pomeroy designed the one million SF Binhai International Convention and Exhibition Center,[3] built in the shape of a Chinese fan with curving steel saw tooth roof.[4] Steel trusses suspended by cables attached to masts rising nearly 115 feet support the roof allowing for large clear spans which provide flexible exhibition space.

Part of a project by the governments of India and West Bengal to update their connected rail lines, Pomeroy’s firm completed the design of six underground subway stations for the new Kolkata Metro Metro Line in India. The new East-West Corridor will span 14.67 kilometers with 8.9 kilometers consisting of underground bored tunnels. In addition to the station design, the firm was responsible for developing land use plans in the station areas. When completed, the new line will link suburban residential areas of Salt Lake and Howrah to the central business district. The new metro will connect with major rail terminals in Howrah and Sealdah, as well as an existing North-South metro line. Intermodal connections to ferries, buses, surface rail and taxis will be accessible to the line. When completed in 2015, the new line will accommodate an estimated 480,000 passengers daily.[5]

Pomeroy was an early proponent of adaptive reuse. His 1963 design for the Henry Street Studios [6] in Brooklyn converted a turn of the 20th century factory building in to artists’ studios and housing. The renovated candy factory in New York City’s first designated historic district, Brooklyn Heights, received a Progressive Architecture Award at a time when historic buildings were routinely being demolished rather than repurposed.

In New Rochelle, NY, Pomeroy, along with architects John Lebduska and Fred W.Lyon, designed another notable adaptive reuse project which involved the conversion of an automobile garage into an award winning 75,000-SF, three-level New Rochelle Public Library. New Rochelle Public Library The main section of the building was refurbished from a former parking garage The project won an 'Award of Excellence for Library Architecture' from the American Institute of Architects and the American Library Association in 1980.

At the Fulton Street Pedestrian Mall, an eight block long shopping street open only to pedestrians and public buses, in downtown Brooklyn, Pomeroy was responsible for pedestrian and traffic surveys; transportation planning, urban design and coordination of engineering consultants along with extensive community and agency involvement. He designed street furniture and equipment for the project including large, free-standing canopies, vendors’ kiosks, directory and telephone kiosks; and high mast lighting. The graphics program, which he also designed for the project, consists of informational, directional and street signage. The Mall, which has been in operation since the 1970s, is one of the most profitable, culturally diverse and lively public spaces in New York City. The project was awarded an Bard Award from the City Club of New York.

In the 1980s, Pomeroy, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, played a key role in the establishment of the Broadway Theater District, protecting architecturally significant historic theaters from demolition while encouraging large scale commercial development through the transfer of air rights. As a consultant to Actors' Equity and New York City preservation advocates, Lee Pomeroy devised a plan to revise the design of the proposed Portman Hotel and preserve the historic Morosco and Helen Hayes Theaters.[7] Those theaters were eventually demolished, but for his work in trying to preserve the them, Pomeroy received a Certificate of Merit from the Municipal Art Society.

In the area of historic preservation, Pomeroy transformed long-empty spaces in a turn-of-the-century apartment house in a New York City landmark district into a multi-level penthouse apartment with sweeping views New York's Central Park.[8] He also designed a major renovation and extension to St. James' Episcopal Church (New York City) at 71st Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan. Beginning in 2001, the church and parish house were completely rebuilt providing additional classrooms and meeting spaces, as well as a new atrium.[9] At Trinity Church in lower Manhattan, Pomeroy was responsible for the design of a footbridge spanning Trinity Place and linking the historic church with its parish house.[10]

In New York City, Pomeroy has been involved in the conservation and modernization of many historic rail stations. His work for New York City Transit, includes projects for the East 180th Street Station, the Bleecker Street Station, the DeKalb Avenue Station, the 14th Street/Union Square Subway Station, the 66th Street/Lincoln Center IRT station, the Fulton Center station, and the 53rd Street/MoMA Station. Many of these projects involved innovative collaborations with artists engaged in the agency’s Arts for Transit Program.[11]

Other selected projects

References

  1. ↑ "Architecture Firm Directory: Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects". AIA New York Chapter. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  2. ↑ "AIA New York Chapter Fellows". AIA New York Chapter. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  3. ↑ "International Projects". Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Exterior Scene". Tianjin Binhai International Convention & Exhibition Centre. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Kolkata Metro Rail System, East-West Corridor". Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  6. ↑ Dixon, John Morris (August 2, 2013). Henry Street Studios "P/A Award: Henry Street Studios by Lee Harris Pomeroy". Architect. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Proposal to Save Morosco and Helen Hayes Theaters". Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Discover Copper Online". Copper Development Association. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Mission & History". St. James Church. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Trinity Bridge and its predecessor". Forgotten New York. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  11. ↑ "MTA Arts & Design". Metropolitan Transit Authority. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  12. ↑ Lueck, Thomas J. (June 3, 1990). "Reaching for the Sky to Add a Room". New York Times. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  13. ↑ Iovine, Julie V. (January 23, 1994). "Books in the Belfry". New York Times. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  14. ↑ Dunlap, David W. (February 1, 2013). A Revived Century-Old Landmark (Not That One). The New York Times, p A19.
  15. ↑ Dunlap, David W. (April 15, 1990). "The Swiss Bank Tower; A Building Designed to Suit Needs and Neighbors". New York Times. Retrieved March 21, 2015.