Italian
The signature of Treviso native Nereo Parisotto is in the beating heart of Manhattan
USA. The structures chosen for the complex restoration work in the famous 32-story tower in the bustling heart of New York. Thanks to their design, they preserve the passage of over 5,000 people every day and the economy of the building.
In the beating heart of Manhattan lies the ingenuity of Treviso. This is happening at Tower 5 of Times Square, between 41st and 42nd Streets in New York, where the impressive 32-story skyscraper, standing at 175 meters tall, is undergoing renovation. For this overseas construction site, the winning technological choice bears the signature of Nereo Parisotto: a Treviso entrepreneur and expert in temporary structures with decades of field experience; Parisotto has designed a suspended system capable not only of operating safely under viaducts – even at 100 meters high – but also of recreating true “new” walking surfaces above which workers can restore, while below, people can move around freely. This technology, called FlyDeck, has been industrialized and developed through Pilosio, a historic company from Tavagnacco, in the province of Udine, of which Nereo Parisotto is president.
The challenge was significant: to renovate the monumental entrance hall, located at the base of the tower, without disrupting the frenetic pace of the building. Every day, over 5,000 people – an army of managers, employees, and visitors – pass through those turnstiles: halting that flow would mean interrupting the daily activities of the offices and slowing down a part of the American economy.
To win this challenge, the FlyDeck system proved to be the winning card: born from the construction experience of Nereo Parisotto – who originally conceived it to overcome the limitations of traditional scaffolding in complex conditions and structural voids, as in the historic first test in 2006 on the Ganterbrücke viaduct in Switzerland – the New York project was acquired and commercially developed by Sky Climber, the exclusive distributor for North America in collaboration with Pilosio for technical and engineering aspects. The assembly of the structures was entrusted to Doria Scaffolding of New York.
No traditional scaffolding occupying the floor and suffocating the spaces or, worse, blocking them: the structure, a 200 sqm (2,150ft2) work platform anchored to the ceiling, has left the hall completely free, allowing the life of the skyscraper to flow tirelessly between one turnstile and another.
Above, at a height of 4 meters, thanks to the FlyDeck, a true functional and extremely comfortable mezzanine has been created for operations. A “floor” has also been laid on the work surfaces to ensure maximum comfort for the workers: a solution that has effectively “doubled” the space, creating a double hall. Below, people move and live normally; above – in what has effectively become the new, unexpected 33rd floor of the tower – teams of workers and technicians can move and work in total safety even at height.
The technology also utilizes the FlyRail guidance system – another insight from Parisotto to transform manual installation at height into a mechanized, smooth, and controlled sequence – and dedicated engineering design that has allowed for modular configuration of the work surface around the columns and in the corners. Additional safety is ensured by the perimeter guardrails made with Pilosio’s multidirectional MP system.
And then, a detail that is not to be overlooked in the hyperactivity of New York, is that it is a lightweight, manageable system made of aluminum, perfectly in line with ESG principles and with a reduced environmental impact.
“I designed this system many years ago thinking of scaffolders like me, who work a hundred meters high on viaducts in extreme conditions. The aim was to provide them with a safe and concrete solution in the field – says the Treviso industrialist Nereo Parisotto, who went directly to the Big Apple to see the structure for himself. – Seeing it successfully applied today, even in such different contexts and in an extraordinary metropolis like New York, is a source of immense pride. This demonstrates that our construction experience can evolve and meet the most complex challenges around the world, combining safety for operators with the protection of the everyday life of buildings.”
The intervention at 5 Times Square represents an important achievement of Pilosio’s expansion strategy in the North American market, initiated through the exclusive commercial partnership with Sky Climber, distributor of the FlyDeck system in the United States and Canada.
A strategic alliance that is delivering high-level results, as highlighted by Francesca Fuser, also from Treviso and Business Development Manager at Pilosio: “Sky Climber has proven to be a partner capable of understanding the technical peculiarities of our system from the very beginning. The FlyDeck is in demand and appreciated overseas for its extreme flexibility, the ability to integrate into complex contexts with reduced assembly costs and high protection standards.”
