Construction Tour: 1 Wall Street
Construction is ongoing at the conversion of One Wall Street, the landmark fifty-story limestone Art Deco tower located on an entire block at the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street in the Financial District. Developer Macklowe Properties is converting the Ralph Walker designed office tower into residential condo and rental units with retail at the base. The tower was completed in 1931 and then expanded in 1963, bringing its total gross floor area to 1.1 million square feet.
When completed, the project will offer 566 residential condominium units and a range of amenities totaling over 100,000 square feet.
Superstructure is going up on a five story addition at the south side of the tower, which will house additional residential units as well as an indoor swimming pool and rooftop terrace. The concrete slabs poured for these floors are cobiax slabs that employ voids to reduce the amount of concrete used while maintaining the concrete’s strength. This method also allows for larger spans without beams and reduces the distortion of the ceiling.
The void elements used in the cobiax slabs.
At the base of the project, existing masonry has been removed and the floor plate expanded for a 44,000 square foot Whole Foods and two additional retail tenants. This new stepped volume will be clad in a glass curtain wall, with a pleated design that mimics the limestone facade of the original tower.
Architect: Robert A.M. Stern Architects (Design Architect), SLCE Architects (Architect of Record); Developer: Macklowe Properties; Program: Residential Condo and Rental, Retail; Location: Financial District, New York, NY; Completion: 2020.
Construction Update: 611 West 56th Street
Southeast corner from 11th Avenue.
Superstructure has surpassed the one third mark at 611 W 56, a 420 foot tall residential tower in Hell’s Kitchen from developers Sumaida + Khurana and LENY. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza, the 37-story tower is the architect’s first building in the United States.
Rendering courtesy of Sumaida + Khurana and LENY.
East facade from 11th Avenue.
When complete, the tower will offer 80 residences designed by Gabellini Sheppard Associates and ranging from one- to four-bedrooms and penthouses.
Looking up at the southeast corner.
Southeast corner from 11th Avenue.
East facade from 11th Avenue.
Architects: Álvaro Siza Arquitecto (Design Architect), SLCE Architects (Executive Architect); Interiors: Gabellini Sheppard Associates; Developers: Sumaida + Khurana and LENY; Program: Residential; Location: Hell’s Kitchen, New York, NY; Completion: 2020.
Construction Tour: Tammany Hall
December, 2018.
Once the headquarters for Tammany Hall, the landmarked structure at 44 Union Square is undergoing an extensive renovation by BKSK Architects. The 1929 neo-Georgian building’s brick and limestone exteriors will be preserved, with a wholesale renovation of the interiors. In recent years the building served as a theater and a film school, but will now be converted into office and commercial space. At the roof, a new metal and glass domed addition is taking shape, recalling a turtle that the Lenape Chief Tamanend stands upon, part of the historic symbolic roots of the Tammany political organization which promoted nation-building ideals of the Revolutionary War period.
April, 2019
December, 2018.
December, 2018.
March, 2019.
March, 2019.
March, 2019.
Architect: BKSK Architects; Program: Commercial; Location: Union Square, New York, NY; Completion: 2020.
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.
