For a 28 ft x 184ft site on the north side of New York’s Union Square, Neil M.Denari Architect was commissioned by Richard Kusack and RKCR Development to design a 15 story building consisting of one living loft per floor with commercial lease space on the ground floor. The site, a block-through parcel, contains 5,210 sf. The client asked for an expressive yet economical building that would make a dramatic presence on one of New York’s most dynamic urban park’s. The local zoning laws demand a vertical street wall up to 125 ft high with a 1:2.5 slope above. A total of 40,000 square ft is allowed for development on the site. This FAR limits the building floor plates both in size and number and ultimately determines the strict massing of the building.

The floor to floor heights are greater at the bottom to both allow for more sun penetration and to push the maximum number of units above the adjacent buildings. The glass envelope works as a sun control skin and as an expressive surface. Each 6’x6’ panel (5×6 on the uppermost floors) of double glazing has a single graphic form that when rotated and flipped, creates a subtly changing pattern across the gentle accordion folded facades. Since the building may not have operable windows on the east and west sides of the building (due to the party wall condition), the air-tight sides must control the sun/temperature through a combination of opaque and clear portions of glass. The pattern is a ceramic frit with low iron glass.