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Architects: CannonDesign
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Photographs:Courtesy of Cannon Design
Text description provided by the architects. Site Characteristics
The project is located on the corner of 46th Street and Tenth Avenue in New York City’s Clinton historical district. Most of the urban fabric consists of six story brick masonry tenement buildings in addition to lower scale brownstones. This building typology is arranged into long rectilinear blocks with their street walls located on the property lines. Setbacks are provided in the rear yards, creating units that face the street and some that face the inner courtyards and gardens.
Description of Client
Commercial Real Estate Firm
Program Requirements
The program required providing 20 residential units with a ground floor commercial space. The units needed to have ample daylight as well as prime views. These requirements would need to be fulfilled while keeping in character with the area’s brownstone tenement content and reconstructing the original urban block by infilling a corner void. Strict Historical district requirements were required to be adhered to.
Design Solution
A six story mass is located at the street intersection of the site to define and complete the street wall and corner. The required open area is located on the western portion of the site to serve as a private garden and create a second corner opportunity. The vertical circulation core is adjacent to the north party wall, maximizing the building perimeter for glazing opportunities on the three exposed sides. Four units consisting of a studio, two one bedroom and a two bedroom are designed to wrap around the offset core. Living areas are situated along the building’s outer corners, providing two different exposures to each unit at these locations. Kitchens are provided with ample natural light, views and natural ventilation.
The building’s main volume features a rain-screen façade clad in fiber-cement panels that complement the material texture and colors of the existing street fabric. The large scale of these cladding elements maximizes the harvesting of natural daylight through punched openings consisting of large, almost full-height windows in the living spaces and smaller scale windows provide a more intimate interior in the bedrooms and kitchens. This compositional arrangement gives the building an animated and contemporary look. The wrap around windows in the corner unit’s living spaces provides two exposures and frame uninterrupted views of the skyline. This open corner arrangement was achieved thru a reinforced concrete cantilever truss façade structure. To adhere to zoning requirements, level 7 is recessed back from the street wall. A split level penthouse unit is clad into continue a band of cladding that originates at the garden and continues up the West façade of the building terminating at the penthouse.
The ground floor consists of retail space and a separate residential entrance and lobby. The residential entrance located off 46th street is chamfered and recessed yet fully visible from 46th Street and Tenth Avenue. This element is enhanced by the use of limestone panels as a cladding material and a minimalist glass storefront which wraps into the garden area. The enclosure wall dividing the garden from street is clad in a second limestone type and it returns into the glass entry opening emphasizing the main entrance. A floating stainless steel canopy helps tie the composition together.
A private garden is accessible only from the building’s main lobby and contains water features which act as a back drop to the lobby. The garden is defined by green walls and exposed concrete elements and houses a reflecting pool, waterfall, and trees that provide shade and help create a microclimate. The entrance to the retail space is prominently located on Tenth Avenue to capitalize upon the street’s energized commercial life. The entry is defined by angled corten steel panels which balance the overall façade composition. The basement harbors a well-equipped fitness room, tenant storage and bicycle racks.
