The “bluffs” zone includes five granite slides and boulder scrambles; renderings courtesy of BKSK Architects & Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners

As the threat of climate change grows, parks in New York City are working to become more resilient. Officials on Thursday broke ground on an $18.3 million waterfront playground at the Battery in the Financial District. The Battery Playscape, as it’s being called, is expected to be one of the city’s largest sustainable parks. It will triple the size of the current playground and will feature a rainwater runoff system and a wide variety of durable plants.

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Renderings courtesy of Terreform ONE, Mitchell Joachim, PhD

Architecture and urban design research group Terreform ONE has offered a proposal for a 12-story commercial building in the works across from Petrosino Square in Nolita that goes beyond any of the city’s existing architectural curveballs, angles, and anomalies. The non-profit group has revealed plans to create an eight-story-high monarch butterfly sanctuary, or “Lepidoptera terrarium,” that would serve as the building’s façade and line its atrium.

More sanctuary in the city, this way

As the former Jehovah’s Witnesses headquarters continues its transformation into a modern, five-building mixed-use complex in Brooklyn Heights, photos of the project’s first phase have been revealed. Designed by landscape architecture firm terrain, the former Watchtower complex, now known as Panorama, features three public gardens at grade level, as well as an architectural staircase. An open-air courtyard facing Furman Street will serve as a landscaped pocket park steps from the Brooklyn Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge Park.

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Images by Eric Laigel and Imagen Subliminal, Courtesy of ODA

Five years in the making, the sprawling Denizen Bushwick is now complete. The 1.2 million-square-foot complex designed by ODA New York and developed by All Year Management stands on part of the former Rheingold Brewery Site and covers two city blocks with addresses at 54 Noll Street and 123 Melrose Street. Perceived as a monolith from the street, the complex’s interior features a series of interconnected courtyards and a green promenade. Also of note are 15 large-scale murals painted throughout the building’s circulation corridors by local artists. With an extensive amenities package that seems to include everything under the sun, it’s no wonder the project has been described as a “city within the city.”

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Rendering courtesy of Susan T. Rodriguez Architecture | Design and the Central Park Conservancy

The $150 million plan to build a new pool and ice rink at the northern end of Central Park is facing backlash from local swimmers and skaters. Last September, the Central Park Conservancy revealed a project to replace the aging Lasker Rink and Pool and create space for year-round recreation. But a group of hockey players and swimmers is asking the conservancy to revise its plan, which they claim would reduce the space they can use, eliminating some of the programs offered.

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Image by Scott Frances for Related-Oxford

Adding to Hudson Yards’ height superlatives, the city’s highest outdoor residential amenity space has opened at 15 Hudson Yards. Rising 900 feet in the air, “Skytop” features 6,000 square feet of curvy indoor-outdoor space, which follows the shape of the building’s crown. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro with interiors by Rockwell Group, the amenity space offers unobstructed views of the Hudson River and beyond.

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Courtesy of Related Companies

Sales have officially launched at Thomas Heatherwick’s condo project on the High Line, developer Related Companies announced Tuesday. Located at 515 West 18th Street, Lantern House consists of two bubbled towers that straddle the elevated park, one at 10 stories and 22 stories. Pricing for the residences, which include one- to four-bedroom units, start at roughly $1.395 million and go up to about $17 million. And more details on the building’s amenity spaces were released, with renderings now available of the Equinox-curated health club with a swimming pool, outdoor terrace, roof deck, and private dining space.

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Renderings courtesy of Extell Development Company

As Extell Development’s Central Park Tower nears the finish line, newly released renderings of the Billionaires’ Row supertall are giving us a peek into the private residential club that will occupy the 100th floor with a suite of high-end amenities. Reaching over 1,000 feet in the sky, the amenity space, called the Central Park Club, will be the highest lounge of its kind in the world, offering hard-to-beat views over Billionaires’ Row and Central Park.

And the views are exceptional

Image via Google Maps

Preservationists who have long fought against the Frick Collection’s planned expansion are proposing a rather unique solution: the museum could take over Jeffrey Epstein’s “cursed mansion” across the street instead. “The fact that it’s so convenient to the museum means that the Frick could potentially lay Jeffrey Epstein’s name to rest by purchasing it and changing the function,” architect Theodore Grunewald, who runs preservationist group Save The Frick, told the Daily News. “It could essentially be cleansing the house.”

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