252 East Fifty Seven
Superstructure has reached past the 40th floor at 252 East Fifty Seven, a 65-story residential tower in the Midtown East neighborhood of Manhattan. From developers World Wide Group and Rose Associates, the tower joins the already completed public schools PS 59 and the High School of Art & Design, as well as a Whole Foods in an adjacent base completed in 2012. While originally designed by Roger Duffy of SOM as an iconic, angular structure, the final design under construction is a basic extruded rectangular volume. To break up the facades, a concave slice rips vertically through the three street facing elevations, and the glass curtain wall transitions from flat panels to curved. As the façade flexes inward, a balcony clad in similar curved glass railing is formed alongside. The building will include 175 rental units on the lower floors and 93 condo units above, starting on the 36th floor. Completion is expected next year.
Architects: SOM (Design Architect), SLCE (Architect of Record); Interior Architect: Daniel Romualdez; Engineer: WSP; Developers: World Wide Group and Rose Associates; Program: Residential; Location: Midtown East, New York, NY; Completion: 2016.