Urban Umbrella Unveils New Scaffolding Product In Downtown Nashville

Premier New York City-based sidewalk scaffolding firm Urban Umbrella recently unveiled a new sidewalk scaffolding product at 411 Broadway in Downtown Nashville at the development site of Garth Brooks’ new multilevel honky-tonk bar and entertainment venue. The Urban Umbrella product will provide a safe and well-lit corridor for pedestrians to walk under on what is one of the busiest sidewalks in the United States. Urban Umbrella CEO Benjamin Krall remarked, “we believe our product is a great addition to Nashville’s renewed focus on pedestrian safety. We are excited to introduce a better alternative to Nashville’s construction market and couldn’t have asked for a better location to do so.”

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221117005271/en/

Urban Umbrella's new product installed at 411 Broadway in Downtown Nashville. (Photo: Business Wire)

Urban Umbrella's new product installed at 411 Broadway in Downtown Nashville. (Photo: Business Wire)

While this marks the first installation of the company’s new product, it isn’t their first project in Nashville. Earlier this year, Urban Umbrella installed its standard premium sidewalk scaffolding product at a new development in Paseo South Gulch. Both Nashville projects were made possible through a partnership with the Nashville branch of global civil engineering company BrandSafway, who has since received much praise for the installations. Mike Robinson, a BrandSafway sales manager who dealt closely with both projects, stated, “Urban Umbrella is a first-class organization committed to providing top of the line products and service.” Their products, he continued, “exceed all of the local safety standards and go beyond the traditional scaffold, providing an added value for owners and contractors on every project. … [Urban Umbrellas] allow owners to showcase their project rather than sacrifice curb appeal.”

The majority of Urban Umbrella’s installations are in New York City, home to the world’s largest sidewalk scaffolding market. While the company has had success launching in ten other cities, usage of its standard product beyond New York has not always been financially palatable. The New York City Municipal Building Code uniquely requires all sidewalk scaffolding product be “heavy duty,” capable of supporting a 300 pounds per square foot (PSF) live load; a large portion the standard product’s price point derives from adhering to this durability standard. Comparatively, most other U.S. cities (including Nashville) mandate sidewalk scaffolding be half the strength. As a result, Urban Umbrella’s standard product was too expensive for contractors in cities like Nashville.

With an eye on expansion, in 2020 Urban Umbrella began developing a new more cost-competitive product better suited for these other cities. Urban Umbrella Director of Product Paul DeFeo is very pleased with the new product: “The launch in Nashville is incredibly exciting for Urban Umbrella,” he said. “I was tasked with designing a new product at the lower strength (150 PSF), with the intention of reducing the price-per-foot, while still maintaining our incredibly high aesthetic standards and making it faster to install. Those were the goals, and after this installation in Nashville, I feel that we have achieved all three.” Urban Umbrella’s new product retains the premium feel the company’s standard product has come to be known for. It features glossy white beams and legs, a decorative white roofing element, white LED arc-lights, and a white perforated parapet. The system is entirely customizable, with plentiful opportunities for signage and branding. In New York, luxury retail clients, renowned hotels, local businesses, and more transform their standard Urban Umbrellas utilizing the company’s marketing capabilities.

With a renewed focus on pedestrian safety in the construction industry in Nashville, Urban Umbrella hopes its new product will catch on with Nashville developers. A new policy was announced this summer by the Mayor of Nashville and Nashville Department of Transportation (NDOT) that disallows construction projects from blocking sidewalks and bike lanes. The policy sets a seven-day maximum permit length for construction-related closures of sidewalks, forcing developers and contractors to adjust their public protection methods so as to not impede pedestrian routes for prolonged periods of time; the clear choice, for many, is to turn to sidewalk scaffolding. Krall remarked, “Urban Umbrella is the perfect solution for Nashville’s new pedestrian safety policy… our products ensure such routes remain open and protected despite ongoing construction, while upholding high aesthetic standards.”

Since going live at 411 Broadway, Urban Umbrella has garnered local praise. A nearby retail tenant commented how she, “didn’t even realize it was scaffolding.” Several pedestrians echoed this sentiment. One expressed how he, “thought it was an art installation,” and another said he’d, “never seen anything like it.” Others noted its sturdiness and how safe it looked, especially in comparison to traditional scaffolding alternatives. The company has received numerous inquiries for their new product from cities across North America and expects the new product to be live in eight new markets by the end of 2023, including Miami, Montreal, Dallas, Austin, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

In 2009, Urban Umbrella beat out over 260 contestants to win an international city-organized design competition aimed at creating a safer, more attractive, pedestrian-conscious alternative to traditional sidewalk scaffolding. Today, Urban Umbrella remains the designer, patent holder, and fabricator of the only alternative to traditional sidewalk scaffolding approved by the New York City Department of Buildings. In addition to sidewalk scaffolding and overhead protection, the company also provides canopies and event staging systems, custom façade netting, construction fencing, and level-five walls. Urban Umbrella is live in eight cities at present and is planning expansions into Miami Beach and Austin, Texas this winter. Additional information about Urban Umbrella is available at https://www.urbanumbrella.com/