New York, NY

Completion Date: June 2010

Owner: West Chelsea Development Partners, LLC

Program: A 23-story, 130,000-square-foot condominium tower on the Hudson River, next to Frank Gehry's IAC building. The project's 56 units consist of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments; five penthouses; and a single residence that spans the top floor and has a full-roof private terrace. The ground floor includes space for a restaurant and a dining patio. Among the amenities are a gym, a spa, a pool, and garden access.

Design concept and solution: To capitalize on the tower's setting by the Hudson and the IAC building, the Nouvel team sought to harness the site's abundant light and reflect it back out to the city. They also wanted to frame the sights on all sides of the building, from the waterfront to the Midtown skyline. Inspired by the compound eye of an insect, the architects designed the south and west (river-facing) facades of the concrete structure as a curved curtain wall made of a patchwork of 1750 rectilinear windows. The windows tilt in different directions, catching reflections and bouncing light in a shifting array of colors. Beyond the facade, at street level, a five-story mullioned glass wall encloses an outdoor terrace for the restaurant space. A steel grid planted with trees hovers over the seating area and shades residents' private terraces. To set off the shimmering curtain wall, the architects clad the north facade with black-flamed bricks and punch windows in a range of sizes. These windows also tilt in different directions, and on the interior their placement precisely lines up picture-like views of the cityscape. The architects chose a simple color palette: common spaces like the lobby and elevator corridors are black, and the apartments are white, with terrazzo floors, exposed concrete-slab ceilings finished in Kadex, and precast terrazzo kitchen islands.

Location:
100 11th Avenue, New York, NY

Design Architect:
Ateliers Jean Nouvel
10 Cité d’Angoulême 
75011 Paris 
France
tel: [+33] 1 49 23 83 83
fax: [+33] 1 43 14 81 10

 

People

Owner: West Chelsea Development Partners, LLC

Design Architect:
Ateliers Jean Nouvel
10 Cité d’Angoulême 
75011 Paris 
France
tel: [+33] 1 49 23 83 83
fax: [+33] 1 43 14 81 10

Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit:
Architectural design group and partner in charge: Gaston Tolila

Project leader: François Leininger

Architects: Sylvie Erard, Yves Rouby, Athina Faraut, Nabila Zerrouki, Toshihiro Kubota, Jean-Romain Munvez, Rafael Luna, Line Fontana, David Thulstrup, Clémentine Cochard, Nathalie Sasso, Hakan Aldogan, Alexandre Zysman, Paul-Emmanuel Loiret, Sophie Laromiguière

Graphics: Natalie Saccu de Franchi, Rafaëlle Ishkinazi

Interior design: Sabrina Letourneur, Eric Nespoulous, Frederic Imbert

Landscape: Ema Blanc, Irène Djao Rakitine, Rémy Turquin

Computer imagery: AJN (Georges Batzios, Mizuho Kishi, Jean-François Winninger), Artefactory

Lighting design: Odile Soudant, Mathieu Gabry (Conceptual Design/Design Development phase)

Models: Jean-Marc Kurzewski, Étienne Follenfant

Architect of record:
Executive Architect:
Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP

Engineer(s):
Structural:
DeSimone Consulting Engineers, PLLC

Mechanical/Electrical :
Atkinson Koven Feinberg Engineers, LLP (AKF)

Geotechnical:
Langan Engineering & Environmental Services

Consultant(s)
Landscape:
M. Paul Friedberg and Partners

Lighting Designer:
Whitehouse Lighting Design, LLC

Acoustic:
Cerami & Associates, Inc.

Other:
Building Code Consultant:
JAM Consultants, Inc.

Zoning:
Development Consulting Services, Inc.

Environmental:
Roux Associates, Inc.

Elevator Consultant:
Lerch, Bates & Associates, Inc.

Window Washing Consultant:
Entek Engineering, PLLC

Masonry Contractor:
Del Salvio Construction Corporation

Superstructure Contractor:
Cross Country Construction, LLC

Foundation/ Excavation Contractor:
Civetta Cousins JV, LLC

Mechanical Contractor:
Orion Mechanical Systems, Inc

Electrical Contractor:
Gateway Electric Group, LLC

Plumbing Contractor:
Parkview Plumbing, Inc

Fire Protection Contractor:
FD Sprinkler

Elevator Contractor:
Thyssen Krupp Elevator Corporation

Swimming Pool Contractor:
Urban Suburban Recreation, Inc.

General contractor
Gotham Greenwich Construction Company, LLC

Photographer(s):
Philippe Ruault
philippe.ruault@numericable.fr

Roland Halbe
contact@rolandhalbe.de

 

Products

Exterior cladding
Curtainwall/Façade:
Front, Inc

Curtainwall/Façade
Gilsanz Murray Steficek, LLP

Exterior Wall/Roofing
Frank Seta & Associates, LLC

Curtainwall Design-Build Contractor           
China Architectural Engineering