Construction Update: Cornell Tech Executive Education Center and Graduate Hotel
Superstructure has topped out and facade panel installation is underway at Cornell Tech’s Verizon Executive Education Center and Graduate Hotel. Designed by Snohetta, the project includes a 18-story hotel and an adjacent 4-story structure for academic conferences, executive programs and academic workshops.
The hotel will be operated by Graduate Hotels, a chain that operates in college towns throughout the United States. Graduate Roosevelt Island will offer 196 rooms for visiting families, academics and visitors in town for campus conventions and events. Amenities will include a restaurant, rooftop bar, and flexible event space.
Looking up at the east facade of the Hotel.
Northeast corner of the Hotel.
The House at Cornell Tech (left) and the Graduate Hotel (right) from the East River.
Facade installation is nearing completion at the executive education center, which consists of floor to ceiling glass panels with wood and metal vertical fins for sun mitigation.
Looking up at the south facade of the Executive Education Center.
Architects: Snohetta; Client: Cornell Tech with AJ Capital Partners; Program: Hotel, Conference and Meeting; Location: Roosevelt Island, New York, NY; Completion: 2019.
Construction Tour: 130 William
130 William rising on the Lower Manhattan skyline.
Superstructure has topped out at Lightstone’s 130 William, a 66-story residential condo tower in the Financial District. Designed by London-based David Adjaye of Adjaye Associates, the 800 foot tall tower will offer 244 condo units ranging from studios to four bedrooms.
East facade from the East River.
The facade features hand-cast concrete panels in a dark tone that is a signature of Adjaye’s past residential projects. Roughly textured concrete transitions to a smooth concrete band that frames the bronze accented windows integrated into the panels. The bronze exterior accents will carry into the interiors with Adjaye designed faucets, showerheads, and door handles in burnished bronze. Window installation is ongoing on the lower floors and has reached the one third mark.
Closeup of the northeast corner facade.
Northeast corner from Gold Street.
Facade detail at the northeast corner.
Looking up at the north facade from Fulton Street.
Closeup of the north facade panels.
Looking up at the north facade from Fulton Street.
Looking up at the west facade from Fulton Street.
View towards Hudson Yards from the top of 130 William.
View towards Midtown from the top of 130 William.
View towards Midtown from the top of 130 William.
View towards the Brooklyn waterfront from the top of 130 William.
View towards Downtown Brooklyn from the top of 130 William.
View towards Lower Manhattan from the top of 130 William.
Architect David Adjaye discussing the design of 130 William.
Architect David Adjaye capturing the view from the top of 130 William.
130 William rising on the Lower Manhattan skyline.
Architect: Adjaye Associates (Design Architect), Hill West Architects (Architect of Record); Landscape Architect: Weintraub Diaz Landscape Architecture; Developer: Lightstone; Program: Residential; Location: Financial District, New York, NY; Completion: 2020.
Construction Update: Greenpoint Landing
37 Blue Slip (left) and 41 Blue Slip (right) from Hunters Point South Park.
Progress continues at Greenpoint Landing, the waterfront mega project from developers Park Tower Group, Brookfield Property Partners, and L+M Development Partners. Handel Architects is responsible for the design of the master plan and the current sites completed or under construction. The master plan will bring 10 towers and about 5,500 residential units to the Greenpoint neighborhood in Brooklyn. Approximately 1,400 of those units will be permanently affordable, some of which are already being offered through housing lotteries for the first three all-affordable low-rise buildings at or near completion. Also included in the development will be a waterfront park from James Corner Field Operations and a K-8 public school on the corner of Franklin and Dupont Street.
37 Blue Slip (left) and 41 Blue Slip (right).
37 Blue Slip
Greenpoint Landing’s first completed market rate tower is 37 Blue Slip, a 30-story tower designed by Handel Architects. The tower stands 300 feet tall and offers 373 residential units. The materials were selected to tie the tower into the neighborhood's industrial past and the adjacent affordable buildings in the development.
Closeup of the top tower floors of 37 Blue Slip.
41 Blue Slip
Superstructure has topped out at Greenpoint Landing’s second market rate tower at 41 Blue Slip. Designed by Handel Architects, the tower stands 40 stories tall and is situated to the south of the first market rate tower at 37 Blue Slip. Installation of the metal and glass window wall is near the half way mark on the tower.
37 Blue Slip (left) and 41 Blue Slip (right).
41 Blue Slip.
Base of 41 Blue Slip.
37 Blue Slip (left) and 41 Blue Slip (right).
Architect: Handel Architects; Landscape Architect: James Corner Field Operations; Developers: Brookfield Property Partners (37 and 41 Blue Slip), Park Tower Group (37 Blue Slip, 41 Blue Slip, 7 Bell Slip, 5 Blue Slip, 33 Eagle Street), L+M Development Partners (7 Bell Slip, 5 Blue Slip, 33 Eagle Street; Program: Residential, Retail, Education, Park; Location: Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY.
Tour: Glenstone Museum
Glenstone, a private museum of contemporary art, is located on 230 acres of land in Potomac, Maryland. The museum was developed and financed by local billionaire Mitchell Rales, and opened to the public in 2006 under the curation of Emily Wei Rales. Glenstone is named for the nearby Glen Road and the areas stone quarries. The Gallery, a 30,000 square foot Modernist structure designed by Charles Gwathmey, housed the collection at the museum’s 2006 opening. In 2010, Thomas Phifer was awarded a commission to design the five fold expansion of the museum after a two stage competition. Phifer, who had previously worked for Gwathmey and fellow New York Five Architect Richard Meier, is known for numerous museums and civic buildings.
Arrival Hall
Upon entering the grounds of the museum property, visitors drive to the Parking Grove. An adjacent Arrival Hall offers information and a book store. Alaskan yellow cedar, a soft wood chosen for its complementary tone to the concrete of the pavilions, clads the exterior of the Arrival Hall. Inside, the spaces are clad in a maple wood.
Detail of the maple wall, flooring, and bench.
Bookstore.
Pavilions
The pavilions are situated in a meadow of undulating topography that denies the visitor a clear view of all twelve structures as you follow the winding path to their entrance. Phifer’s site strategy is inspired in part by the dry garden at Ryoan-ji that features fifteen stones in a rectangular gravel field seen from a platform. Visitor’s are never able to see all fifteen stones at the same time, embodying a meditation strategy that favors intuition over reason.
Phifer’s concept for the pavilions was to treat them as a series of rooms, with unique proportions tied to specific artwork, surrounding a water court. Pavilions are sited on the cardinal points to emphasize the changing natural light throughout the day.
Entry.
The cast-in-place concrete used at the pavilion interiors is an architectural concrete made with a mixture of pure white and common grey cement and locally quarried aggregate stones. Finnish plywood panels were used on the handmade formwork to produce a smooth finish for the exterior surface of the concrete. The resulting concrete has slight variations of color and visible lift lines from the removal of the formwork.
Room 1.
Twenty-six thousand precast concrete blocks, measuring six feet by one foot, clad the exterior and interior walls of the pavilions. Blocks were cast off site and vary based on weather conditions during casting and curing. Darker blocks were poured in winter due to temperature and the slower evaporation of water. Surface finish was even affected by removing the formwork in rain or sunny weather. Time will further the contrast of the blocks as they are further exposed to the elements.
Stair handrail detail.
Phifer has situated the twelve pavilions around an 18,000 square foot Water Court which can be viewed through large panels of glass. These German made panels are set in stainless steel mullions and reach heights up to thirty feet.
A platform made of Ipe wood and a teak bench allow visitors to sit and reflect outside in the Water Court. Plantings include water lilies, irises, rushes, cattails, and hardy canna.
Terrazzo made of granite is employed for the floors of the pavilions and complements the surrounding concrete and glass. Although typically polished to a high gloss, the Glenstone’s terrazzo has a matte finish and has a lighter than normal color due to the small aggregate used in the mix.
Room 7 features a monumental bench made of hickory and the largest glass panel in the pavilions, offering visitor’s a stunning view of the surrounding meadow. Maple clads the interior surfaces of the room.
Room 7.
Phifer has specified a plaster for the gallery walls that is made of Italian marble dust and a lime paste from the rocks of the Ticino River in Switzerland.
The clerestories in the pavilions are made of glass that has been acid-etched to produce a uniform and semitransparent surface. This process involves washing clear glass in a light acid bath, creating a smoother surface than sandblasting, to filter natural light entering a space.
Every detail is thoughtfully considered, even the accommodation of sprinkler heads and fire extinguishers.
Water fountains outside of the restrooms.
Located near the pavilions’ entrance, Michael Heizer’s Compression Line is surrounded by argillite, a sedimentary rock of hardened clay particles. This type of argillite comes from the southwest United States and resembles the rusted steel of the sculpture it surrounds. Another piece by Heizer, Collapse, is located in Room 5 and surrounded by the same argillite rock.
Compression Line by Michael Heizer.
Collapse by Michael Heizer.
The Gallery
Glenstone’s first art gallery was designed by the late Charles Gwathmey and opened in 2006. The exterior is clad in zinc and gray granite.
The Gallery (2006).
Sylvester by Richard Serra (2001).
Landscape
The nearly 300 acre landscape of Glenstone is designed by landscape architect Peter Walker and Partners and includes paths, trails, streams, meadows, forests, and outdoor sculptures.
Split-Rocker by Jeff Koons, 2000.
Sculpture in the surrounding landscape includes Jeff Koons’s Split-Rocker, 2000, which is planted each year in the spring with New Guinea Impatiens.
Split-Rocker before its spring planting.
Clay Houses (Boulder-Room-Holes) by Andy Goldsworthy, 2007.
Architects: Thomas Phifer and Partners (The Pavilions), Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects (The Gallery); Landscape Architect: Peter Walker and Partners; Client: Glenstone Museum; Program: Museum; Location: Potomac, Maryland; Completion: 2006 (The Gallery), 2018 (The Pavilions).
Construction Update: 77 Greenwich Street - Jolie
Southeast corner.
Curtain wall installation is underway at Trinity Place Holdings’ 77 Greenwich, a 42-story residential condo tower in the Financial District. FXCollaborative is leading the exterior design of the 500-foot tall tower, with interiors by Deborah Berke Partners. The base of the tower will house a new elementary school that incorporates the adjacent Robert and Anne Dickey House, a landmark structure built in 1810 and currently being renovated.
Looking up at the east facade.
Superstructure has surpassed the three quarters mark, with concrete recently surpassing the 34th floor. Starting 150 feet above street level, the residential portion of the tower will offer 90 residences ranging from 1 to 4 bedrooms. A pleated glass curtain wall will clad the tower and offer views of Lower Manhattan and the harbor.
South facade.
Southwest corner.
Residents’ will have access to an amenity package that includes a penthouse club level, residents lounge and private dining room with a catering kitchen, children’s playroom, a double height fitness center, and two outdoor terraces.
Closeup of the west facade.
Architect: FXCollaborative; Interiors: Deborah Berke Partners; Developer: Trinity Place Holdings; Program: Residential, School, Retail; Location: Financial District, New York, NY; Completion: 2020.
Construction Update: Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
Saban Building.
Construction continues at Renzo Piano Building Workshop’s Academy Museum in Los Angeles. Situated on the “Miracle Mile” adjacent to LACMA, the museum for motion pictures’ program will be contained within two structures. A 1939 structure that once housed the May Company department store, now renamed the Saban Building, will house 50,000 square feet of gallery space, project spaces, an outdoor piazza, an education studio, a restaurant, and store. A new concrete structure, the Sphere Building, will house the 1,000-seat David Geffen Theater and be topped by the Dolby Family Terrace with its steel and glass canopy.
Skybridge connecting the Saban building to the Sphere Building.
Detail of the canopy structure on the Sphere Building.
Detail of the canopy structure on the Sphere Building.
Detail of the canopy structure on the Sphere Building.
Architect: Renzo Piano Building Workshop in collaboration with Gensler (Architect of Record) and SPF:a; Client: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) ; Program: Museum; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Completion: Late 2019.
Construction Update: 515 W 18
Southeast corner from 10th Avenue.
Window installation is underway at the east tower of Related’s two-tower residential development at the High Line in Chelsea. Designed by Thomas Heatherwick’s Heatherwick Studio, the 21-story west tower and 10-story east tower flank the High Line and connect to each other underneath the park’s elevated railroad structure. The facade features custom masonry and Heatherwick’s modern take on the bay window.
East facade from 10th Avenue.
Northwest corner from the High Line.
South facade from the High Line.
Architect: Heatherwick Studio (Design Architect); Developer: Related Companies; Program: Residential, Retail; Location: Chelsea, New York, NY; Completion: 2020.
Tour: Conrad Washington DC
Southeast corner from I Street NW.
Hilton’s luxury hotel brand Conrad has opened a new location at CityCenterDC in Washington, DC. The 10 story, 360-key hotel is developed by Hines and Qatari Diar. Herzog & de Meuron are responsible for the design which features an organic massing with rounded corners and clad in a glass curtain wall.
Southwest corner from I Street NW.
The ground floor retail features storefronts clad in rounded glass panels. Earlier renderings seemed to show the entire building clad in these rounded panels, but traditional flat glass panels were employed everywhere but the corners above the ground floor in the built project.
Tiffany & Co. retail storefront.
Northwest corner from New York Avenue NW.
Hotel entry on New York Avenue NW.
After entering the main entrance on the ground floor, hotel guests head to the third floor and its central atrium. A chain mesh veil hangs around the perimeter of the organically shaped atrium void and natural light fills the space from numerous circular skylights at the roof above. At the third floor, a collection of hotel amenities radiate around the central atrium, including restaurant Estuary, a lobby bar, conference rooms, and reception desk.
Hotel main entrance.
Atrium.
Looking up at the atrium skylight.
Detail of the chain mesh veil at the atrium.
Estuary entry.
Estuary.
Third floor terrace.
Signage.
Hotel corridor at the 10th floor.
Atrium screen at the 10th floor.
Hotel room entry.
Construction Update: 180 Broome Street
Superstructure has topped out at 180 Broome Street, part of the nine-building Essex Crossing development on the Lower East Side from a joint venture of L+M Development Partners, BFC Partners, and Taconic Investment Partners, and Goldman Sachs. Designed by Handel Architects, the 26-story mixed-use tower will offer 10,000 square feet of ground floor retail, 175,000 square feet of office space on floors two through five, and a tower with 263 rentals.
Facade installation is ongoing, with the 5-story podium nearly enclosed. The design of the curtain wall features a running bond pattern of glass and white metal panel slab covers and verticals.
Architect: Handel Architects; Developers: Delancey Street Associates (Taconic Investment Partners LLC, L+M Development Partners, BFC Partners, Goldman Sachs); Program: Residential, Office, Retail; Location: Essex Crossing, Lower East Side, New York, NY; Completion: 2020.
Construction Update: 98 Front Street
Southeast corner from York Street.
Concrete superstructure has topped out at Hope Street Capital’s 98 Front Street residential building in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn. Designed by ODA New York, the 10-story building features the firm’s signature eroded massing that will allow for outdoor space in the form of terraces and void spaces throughout. Window installation has begun at the ground floor at the east facade.
Looking up at the south facade from York Street.
Southeast corner from Adams Street.
Looking up at the east facade.
East facade detail.
Window installation underway at the east facade.
East facade from Adams Street.
Northeast corner from Front Street.
Architect: ODA New York; Developer: Hope Street Capital; Program: Residential, Community Facility; Location: DUMBO, Brooklyn, NY; Completion: 2020.
Snohetta · Roosevelt Island · 2021