Search Results for: architecture firm

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and businesses of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re touring the Financial District offices of SHoP Architects. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! The largest collection of WWII-era spotter planes in the world, a massive copper section of the Barclays Center facade, a materials library with hundreds of samples of everything from fabric to flooring--these are just some of the surprises you'll come across in SHoP Architects' offices in the iconic Woolworth Building. The firm's projects include buildings at mega-developments like the Domino Sugar Factory and Essex Crossing, the twisting American Copper Buildings, and the world's future tallest residential skyscraper 111 West 57th Street, and their office certainly embodies this creativity and range of work. After taking a tour of the space, 6sqft chatted with Associate Principal Angelica T. Baccon about this very special office design, what a typical day is like at the firm, and, of course, the backstory behind those planes. We also met with Materials Librarian Kate Smith to learn a bit more about this rare resource that helps inform the ideas at SHoP.
Take the tour!

July 12, 2018

Is this 32-story building the next residential tower coming to Hudson Yards?

Rendering via B.ARCHs A rendering has been released for a 32-story mixed-use building in the Hudson Yards area, between 36th and 37th Streets. The owner of the three lots spanning those blocks? Gary Barnett's Extell Development, the same group behind the neighborhood's 610-foot tall 555Ten. CityRealty uncovered the image from BARCHs, a New York-based architecture firm which describes the possible project as providing "residential, retail and parking uses to this rapidly developing neighborhood."
More here

Architecture And Design

June 28, 2018

Aspiring real estate developer Kanye West takes a loss on Noho condo sale

By Annie Doge

For those who were skeptical about Kanye West's recently announced foray into real estate ("I’m going to be one of the biggest real estate developers of all time. Like what Howard Hughes was to aircrafts and what Henry Ford was to cars," he humbly said.) here's proof that Yeezy might want to stick to rapping and Kardashian kuddling. TMZ reports that Kanye has just sold his Soho condo at 25 West Houston Street for $3 million, even less than the $3.14 million he paid for it.
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June 15, 2018

Snag a one-bedroom at a passive house in Washington Heights, from $1,650/month

A newly constructed rental that meets passive house standards has launched a lottery for six middle-income apartments in Washington Heights. Designed by PM Architecture, the Uptown six-story building contains 20 units and boasts a facade of charcoal-painted insulated panels. Located at 577 West 161st Street, the building will have a medical office on its first floor, residences above it, and an outdoor recreation space in the back. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the $1,650/month and $1,800/month one-bedroom apartments.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

June 12, 2018

Where I Work: Inside C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries in the Village, the oldest pharmacy in the country

By James and Karla Murray

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and off-beat workspaces of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re touring the oldest pharmacy in the United States, C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries in Greenwich Village, and talking with owner Ian Ginsberg. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries was established in 1838. It is the oldest apothecary in America. It was originally called the Village Apothecary Shop and was opened by the Vermont physician, Galen Hunter. It was renamed C.O. Bigelow Apothecary when it was purchased by an employee, Clarence Otis Bigelow in 1880. The apothecary is in fact so old that it once sold leeches and opium as remedies. According to legend, the chemists at Bigelow even created a salve for Thomas Edison to treat his burned fingers when he was first developing the light bulb. In 1922, the apothecary was sold to the pharmacist, Mr. Bluestone, employed by Bigelow, thereby continuing the unique legacy of passing ownership from employer to employee. Bluestone sold the pharmacy to yet another pharmacist employee, William B. Ginsberg in 1939. And since 1939, three generations of Ginsberg’s have owned and operated the shop, passing down from father to son to most recently grandson, Ian Ginsberg, who 6sqft spoke with at this historic pharmacy in Greenwich Village at 414 Sixth Avenue.
See inside

Where I Work

June 7, 2018

Study: A former freight line on the Lower Montauk branch could help a Queens transportation desert

By Michelle Cohen

How do you connect the fastest-growing census tract in the U.S. to New York City’s public transportation hubs? Architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), whose New York City work includes the master plan for Hudson Yards, One Vanderbilt and Two Waterline Square, has released a "visioning study" that explores how the repurposing of the QNS, an 8.5 mile Lower Montauk Branch rail line, into a new transit line in Queens that could revitalize neighborhoods, provide affordable housing, create jobs and add transit service to the over nine square miles of New York City that contain three of the city’s largest and most successful Industrial Business Zones (Maspeth, Long Island City, and North Brooklyn) and two of Queens’ largest central business districts (Long Island City and Jamaica Center), adding to the long-term growth of those districts and creating thousands of potential new jobs.
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Reading between the lions: A history of the New York Public Library

Photo via Jeffrey Zeldman/Flickr

May 23, 2018

Reading between the lions: A history of the New York Public Library

By Lucie Levine

The New York Public Library first roared into existence on May 23, 1895, educating and inspiring countless millions, free of charge. The Library’s 92 locations include four research divisions and hold over 51 million items. Out of all these tomes, the greatest tale might be Library’s own history: Founded by immigrants and industrialists, it was equally admired by William Howard Taft and Vladimir Lenin; open to all, it has counted among its staff American Olympians and Soviet spies; dedicated to intellectual exploration and civic responsibility, it has made its map collection available to buried treasure hunters and Allied Commanders; evolving with the city itself, it has made branch locations out of a prison, a movie theater, and most recently, a chocolate factory. The history of the New York Public Library is as vital and various New York itself, so get ready to read between the lions.
The 123-year-old history of the NYPL

History

May 15, 2018

The buzz on Boerum Hill: How an iconic Brooklyn neighborhood blends old and new

Shelly Place, an agent with Triplemint, describes Boerum Hill as “the perfect blend of old and new. Geographically, it is smack dab in the middle of Brooklyn, convenient to downtown [Manhattan], and close enough without being in the middle of the hustle and bustle. You can go days or weeks without ever leaving Boerum Hill but, if you want, you have the rest Brooklyn right there.” Known for tree-lined streets filled with historic brownstones, Boerum Hill is one of those unique neighborhoods that has successfully blended past and present in a way few communities have been able to. There are a ton of great restaurants and creative cocktail lounges and independent specialty stores alongside the big brands, like Apple, Whole Foods’ 365, and Lululemon, lining Smith Street and Atlantic Avenue. And with a slew of new contextual developments springing up, it's time to turn your attention to the buzz on Boerum Hill.
Everything you need to know about Boerum Hill

May 15, 2018

Fogarty Finger transforms a former Jersey City propeller factory into a beautiful single-family home

In a stunning renovation, architecture firm Fogarty Finger Architects transformed this Jersey City home, a former 1800s propeller pattern factory in the Paulus Hook neighborhood, into a luxurious single-family residence (h/t Dezeen). The original building was a workshop for Alexander Thomson & Sons Pattern Makers, a company that cast wooden forms into metal for propellers. The firm preserved the historic building shell, added a second floor, and excavated the cellar, increasing the living space from the original 3,500 square feet to 8,500 and incorporating unique outdoor space at each level.
Take the tour

The new Hell’s Kitchen is sizzling with hot restaurants and fresh residential buildings

Hell’s Kitchen via Tdorante10 / Wiki Commons

April 30, 2018

The new Hell’s Kitchen is sizzling with hot restaurants and fresh residential buildings

Hell’s Kitchen used to be a no-go zone. It was a gritty section of New York City with dangerous gang warfare and violent streets. Although West Side Story does not have any specific references (aside from its title), the plot, which was based on fractured race relations, was the story of Hell’s Kitchen pre-1990s--minus all the singing and dancing. But Tyler Whitman, a Triplemint broker and a proud Hell’s Kitchen resident, says there is actually quite a bit of singing that still goes on today. The 'hood retains some grit, in a charming New York way, but it is a genuine residential neighborhood in the midst of big changes, as new buildings and businesses spring up every day. But unlike a lot of other up-and-coming neighborhoods, Hell's Kitchen has flown rather under the radar, with many New Yorkers still believing it's an extension of Midtown or a stopover spot for dinner. Ahead, we break down why those in the know are moving to Hell's Kitchen and all the amenities it has to offer for people to stay awhile.
To hell and back!

Events & Things To Do

Construction is underway at the World Trade Center performing arts center

Rendering by REX

April 30, 2018

Construction is underway at the World Trade Center performing arts center

Construction of the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center is officially moving forward, with the first pieces of the center's structural steel now visible above street level, according to CityRealty. The idea for an arts center at the World Trade Center was included in the original vision for rebuilding the area after Sept. 11, a plan proposed nearly 15 years ago. Designed by REX, the flexible "Mystery Box" will be wrapped in translucent marble, the same material used on the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, and laminated with insulated glass. Named for Ronald O. Perelman who gifted $75 million to the project, the center will include 200,000 square feet of space, three halls and a rehearsal space, a restaurant and a gift shop.
More details here

REVEALED: Jeanne Gang’s 51-story condo next to Downtown Brooklyn Macy’s

Rendering via Tishman Speyer

April 9, 2018

REVEALED: Jeanne Gang’s 51-story condo next to Downtown Brooklyn Macy’s

Tishman Speyer released on Monday the first renderings for its new luxury residential tower in Downtown Brooklyn, 11 Hoyt. Designed collaboratively between Hill West Architects and Jeanne Gang's architecture firm, Studio Gang, the 51-story, 480-unit condominium project will offer a variety of apartment layouts, with more than 190 different floor plans. The tower's rippling exterior seems to borrow elements used in two of Gang's Chicago projects, the Aqua Tower and the Vista Tower, which is currently under construction. The project will rise next to the Macy's on Fulton Street, which is currently undergoing renovations by Tishman Speyer, who are also planning a 10-story office tower on top of the store. Sales will launch at the tower this summer, but interested buyers can now check out the building's newly launched teaser site.
See them here

Richard Meier’s East side master plan moving ahead with three condos and biotech offices

Rendering courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners / Solow / BloomImages

April 9, 2018

Richard Meier’s East side master plan moving ahead with three condos and biotech offices

By Annie Doge

Across the street from Richard Meier’s nearly-complete new black glassy-facaded condo/rental tower at 685 First Avenue (known as 685 First), between First Avenue and the East River, a boarded-up construction site has remained quiet for the better part of a decade. Now, Curbed reports, the site’s developer, Solow Building Company, headed by Sheldon H. Solow, 89, and son Stefan Soloviev, confirms the site's awakening and imminent transformation into three condominium buildings and a fourth building, to be a biotech office, using the 2012 master plan penned by Meier's architecture firm.
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Adrian Grenier put a $10,000 toilet in his mom’s Clinton Hill townhouse renovation

Adrian Grenier image via Wikimedia Commons

April 5, 2018

Adrian Grenier put a $10,000 toilet in his mom’s Clinton Hill townhouse renovation

By Annie Doge

In 2015, 6sqft reported that "Entourage" star, filmmaker and local green renovator had just purchased an impressive five story home in the heart of the Clinton Hill historic district. Nosy neighbors and friendly observers have noted steady progress in the massive renovation effort that has followed at 112 Gates Avenue. Now the New York Post tells us that the home, which the actor adorably bought for his Brown Harris Stevens broker mom, will not only retain its Landmarks-mandated charm but will be positively flush with modern conveniences–starting with $10,200 Toto Neorest 750H high tech toilets courtesy of a sponsorship by the Japanese manufacturer.
'before' photos a-head

Celebrities

$165M sale of South Bronx waterfront site is the borough’s priciest development deal ever

An original rendering of 2401 Third Avenue via Hill West Architects

April 4, 2018

$165M sale of South Bronx waterfront site is the borough’s priciest development deal ever

Somerset Partners and Chetrit Group have sold their massive South Bronx waterfront site to Brookfield Properties for $165 million, the priciest transaction for a development in the Bronx on record. As the New York Post reported, the project includes two sites on either side of the Third Avenue Bridge. At 2401 Third Avenue, original plans called for a 25-story standalone tower and a 25-story and 16-story building rising from an eight-story base. Developers also planned to bring three 24-story buildings and a 22-story building on top of a six - and seven-story base at the second site at 101 Lincoln Avenue.
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April 4, 2018

ODA’s proposed Chinatown ‘Dragon Gate’ pavilion interweaves tradition and modernity

As many other New York City ethnic neighborhoods have diminished or disappeared over the years, Chinatown continues to grow and prosper. Roughly bound by borders at Hester and Worth Streets to the north and south, and Essex and Broadway to the east and west, Chinatown is home to largest ethnic Chinese population outside of Asia. With this in mind, architecture firm ODA New York, known for prioritizing people over architecture, has proposed a unique and beautiful new gateway to the neighborhood at the Canal Street Triangle. ODA’s typical designs can be a bit boxy, constructed with heavier materials, but there is always a lightness to them, whether through the infusion of glass, archways, or greenery. Combining new technology with traditional Chinese symbolism, “Dragon Gate” will delicately weave the duality of Chinatown’s old and new into a strong structure, both in symbolism and material.
More renderings and details ahead

March 30, 2018

Our 1,400sqft: A vibrant couple in their 80s ditches the suburbs for the West 70s

Marv and Fran Lifson have been married for 32 years. After combining their families (she had five children, he four), and spending three decades in Westchester, this self-described "active, older couple" decided to sell their home and relocate not to Florida or the Carolinas, but the Upper West Side. Luckily for them, Fran's son David Katz has his own architecture firm and he stepped right in to help them with their search and, ultimately, renovation. After finding their dream home two years ago, a fixer-upper on 72nd Street and Central Park West, David combined a studio and one-bedroom into a spacious two-bedroom that's just as fresh and modern as its residents. 6sqft recently visited Fran and Marv to learn about why they'd grown tired of the suburbs, what they love about their new urban lifestyle, and how the renovation process went.
See the whole place and hear from Fran and Marv

City Council wants half-priced MetroCards; Sales launch at Soo Chan’s flashy High Line condo

Photo by Ged Carroll/flickr (L); Rendering of Five One Five courtesy of Neoscape

March 26, 2018

City Council wants half-priced MetroCards; Sales launch at Soo Chan’s flashy High Line condo

By 6sqft

The City Council is urging Speaker Corey Johnson to fund the $200 million “Fair Fares” proposal that will provide half-priced MetroCards for low-income New Yorkers. [NYDN] A report from Comptroller Scott Stringer shows that, although the number of subway riders between 5am and 7am increased by 14 percent and those between 7pm and 11pm by 13 […]

Uncategorized

Design contest winner would turn Park Avenue into a concert venue and basketball court

Rendering of “Park Park” courtesy of Maison

March 14, 2018

Design contest winner would turn Park Avenue into a concert venue and basketball court

Last month, Fisher Brothers unveiled the 17 finalists for its “Beyond the Centerline” design competition, a call for creative and ambitious ideas for how to transform Park Avenue's traffic medians between 46th and 57th Streets. Proposals called for everything from an Alpine mountain to a High Line-esque walkway to a massive aquarium, but in the end, it was the "Park Park" entry that the jury selected as the winner. This proposal, courtesy of Ben Meade, Anthony Stahl, and Alexia Beghi of design firm Maison, transforms the iconic thoroughfare via a series of raised platforms that hold a concert space, art galleries, gardens, a restaurant, and a basketball court, "intended to inject new energy into the currently staid Park Avenue landscape."
More details and the runner up

Architecture And Design

March 5, 2018

Concept renderings for West Midtown skyscraper show super-slender ‘high performance office tower’

By Michelle Cohen

Architecture firm RB Systems has just published a set of renderings that explore the new supertall tower typology that's been gaining popularity in New York City in recent years. First spotted by New York Yimby, the "New York’s Super Slender” tower in the renderings is shown on a small (only 30 meters by 30 meters) vacant West Midtown site at 265 West 45th Street. The tower was designed to squeeze onto a 98-foot wide lot, which would put it among New York City's most slender towers. Rising 1,312 feet high, the theoretical building would provide modern, ergonomic, sustainable office spaces. The project reflects a likely path for skyscraper design in the coming years, when the city's towers will need to meet the challenges of dense city centers and a dearth of large vacant lots coupled with a demand for new properties.
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March 2, 2018

How COOKFOX Architects outfitted their Midtown office with wellness technology and outdoor space

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and off-beat workspaces of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re touring the Midtown offices of architecture firm COOKFOX. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! When COOKFOX Architects started looking for a new office space three years ago, it was a no-brainer that they'd incorporate their signature biophilic tools, but their one non-negotiable requirement was outdoor space to connect employees directly with nature. And though the firm has come to be associated with so many contemporary projects, they found their ideal space on the 17th floor of the 1921, Carèrre and Hastings-designed Fisk Tire Building on 57th Street. Not only did it offer three terraces (that the team has since landscaped with everything from beehives to kale), but the large, open floorplan allowed the firm to create their dream wellness office. 6sqft recently took a tour of the space to see how employees utilize the space day-to-day and learn more about how COOKFOX achieved LEED Platinum and WELL Gold status by incorporating natural materials for finishings and furniture, temperature control systems, lighting that supports healthy circadian rhythms, and, of course, plenty of connections to nature despite being in the middle of Midtown Manhattan.
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New construction photos show One Vanderbilt’s 1,401-foot ascent

Photo courtesy of Max Touhey

February 28, 2018

New construction photos show One Vanderbilt’s 1,401-foot ascent