Construction Tour: 368 Third Avenue - VU
Southeast corner from Third Avenue.
Facade installation is nearing completion at Minrav Development’s 36-story residential condo tower the VU at 368 Third Avenue in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan. Designed by SLCE Architects, the tower’s facade features a glass window wall with a grid of faceted metal panel slab and pier caps. Bronze colored metal panel accents complement the tower’s mullion color.
When completed, the tower will offer residential units ranging in size from studio-to-three-bedrooms with interiors designed by Paris Forino. There will be a pair of duplex penthouse apartments at the top of the tower. On the second floor, residents will have access to a full floor of amenities that include a fitness center, party room, and a media room.
Close-up of the tower’s south facade.
Looking up at the east facade from Third Avenue.
Close-up of the podium’s east facade.
Rooftop Views
View northwest towards Midtown.
View west towards NoMad and Hudson Yards.
View southwest towards NoMad.
View southwest towards the Jersey City waterfront.
View south towards Lower Manhattan.
View southeast towards the Lower East Side.
View southeast towards Downtown Brooklyn.
Architect: SLCE Architects; Interiors: Paris Forino; Developer: Minrav Development; Program: Residential; Location: Murray Hill, New York, NY; Completion: 2021.
Construction Update: 685 First Avenue
Southeast corner.
Superstructure has topped out and curtain wall installation is nearing completion at 685 First Avenue, the 42-story residential tower in Murray Hill from Richard Meier & Partners Architects. The tower, composed of a minimalist extruded rectangular massing, will offer 556 residential rental and condo units in the first black glass clad building. An architectural cut-out spanning the 27th and 28th floors marks the transition from rentals to condos.
Close-up of the façade at the southeast corner.
Southeast corner from First Avenue.
East façade.
West façade from East 39th Street.
Architect: Richard Meier & Partners Architects; Developer: Sheldon Solow; Program: Residential; Location: Kips Bay, New York, NY; Completion: 2018.
American Copper Buildings
JDS Development Group re-brands its twin towers at 626 First Avenue and opens up the skybridge for a construction tour.
JDS Development Group has re-branded its twin residential rental towers at 626 First Avenue on the East River waterfront in Manhattan. Designed by SHoP Architects, the towers will now be known as the American Copper Buildings. The change came alongside an event to unveil the skybridge, which connects the sloping 41 and 49-story towers with amenities such as an indoor lap pool and residents' lounge. Structure for the bridge has been completed with cladding yet to come.
Curtain wall installation continues for the project's signature copper cladding on the north and south facades, with only a few floors left to be enclosed on either tower. The east and west facades feature a glass curtain wall that allows for expansive views of the East River waterfront and the Midtown skyline.
Construction is slated to wrap up on both towers by 2017.
Double height amenity space.
Inside the top level of the skybridge.
Close-up of the copper and glass north facade.
A view of the Empire State Building and the copper facade from the skybridge.
Close-up of the south copper and glass facade.
East facade of the skybridge under construction.
Skybridge structure.
Skybridge structure detail.
View of the Queens waterfront and Roosevelt Island from the skybridge.
Architects: SHoP Architects; Developer: JDS Development Group; Program: Residential, Retail, Park; Location: Murray Hill, New York, NY; Completion: 2017.
NYU Langone Medical Center Expansion
Checking in on the progress at two projects underway for the NYU Langone Medical Center's campus transformation.
NYU Langone Medical Center is undergoing a major effort to renovate and expand its campus in the Kips Bay neighborhood. Already, the master plan has seen major renovations to Tisch Hospital. Now, two major new construction projects from Ennead Architects and NBBJ are underway simultaneously as the Science Building and the Kimmel Pavilion both rise at either end of the campus.
NYU Langone Science Building
At the corner of East 30th Street and the FDR Service Road, the NYU Langone Science Building will provide 10 floors of laboratory space dedicated to research within its 365,000 square foot tower. The tower is predominantly clad in a glass curtain wall that features glass fins and a white, horizontal frit pattern that both work to mitigate the sun's impact on its eastern and southern exposure. Currently, the building's steel superstructure is one floor from topping out and curtain wall installation has begun on the lower half of the tower. LEED Gold is being targeted for the tower.
Southeast corner from the FDR Drive Service Road.
Close-up of the southeast corner of the tower facade and mockup of the stone cladding at the ground floor.
Looking up at the east facade from the FDR Drive Service Road.
Looking up at the southeast corner from East 30th Street.
Looking up at the south facade from East 30th Street.
Close-up of the southeast corner of the tower facade.
Southwest corner from East 30th Street.
Close-up of the southwest corner of the tower facade.
Southwest corner from East 30th Street.
Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Pavilion
Located adjacent to Tisch Hospital at the northern edge of the medical campus, the Kimmel Pavilion's 830,000-square-foot tower will bring modernized patient care to the campus. The project includes high-efficiency operating rooms and single-bed inpatient rooms with a connection to Tisch Hospital at imaging and procedural floors. Presently, the steel superstructure has reached floor 18 of 21 and installation of the tower's curtain wall has begun on the western facade.
Northeast corner from East 34th Street and FDR Drive.
Northwest corner from First Avenue and East 34th Street.
West facade from First Avenue.
Close-up of the west facade.
Close-up of the west facade.
Architects: Ennead Architects with NBBJ; Client: NYU Langone Medical Center; Program: Healthcare; Location: Kips Bay, New York, NY; Completion: 2018.
335 E 27
Construction scaffolding has come down at New York City's first micro units building, revealing its monochromatic brick facade.
Construction scaffolding has come down at Monadnock Development's micro unit apartment building at 335 East 27th Street, also known as Carmel Place, fully revealing the masonry facade. The monochromatic facade is composed of grey brick in a gradient of four tones, from dark grey at the tallest northern bay to light grey of the shortest southern bay.
Designed by nARCHITECTS, the project is the first micro units apartment building in New York and consists of 55 studio apartments for both market rate and affordable tenants. Each apartment is one module, offering 260 to 360 square feet of space. All modules were fabricated at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Completion of the project is slated for sometime this year.
Looking east from Bellevue South Park.
Southwest corner from Mount Carmel Place.
Close-up of the brick facade at the southwest corner.
Looking up at the southwest corner from Mount Carmel Place.
Looking up at the south facade.
Southeast corner.
Close-up of the south facade.
Close-up of the east facade.
Looking up at the east facade.
Southeast corner.
East elevation.
Close-up of the east facade at the upper floors.
East elevation from First Avenue.
Architect: nARCHITECTS; Module Manufacturer: Capsys; Developer: Monadnock Development; Program: Residential; Location: Kips Bay, New York, NY; Completion: 2016.
335 E 27 - Carmel Place
New York's first micro units apartment building, Carmel Place, has started to reveal its monochromatic brick facade.
Installation of the brick facade is wrapping up at Monadnock Development's micro unit apartment building at 335 East 27th Street, also known as Carmel Place. The monochromatic facade is composed of grey brick in a gradient of four tones, from dark grey at the tallest northern bay to light grey of the shortest southern bay. Now that brick installation is complete, the scaffolding that has shrouded the project since the stacking completed has started to come down, revealing the facade.
Designed by nARCHITECTS, the project is the first micro units apartment building in New York and consists of 55 studio apartments for both market rate and affordable tenants. Each apartment is one module, offering 260 to 360 square feet of space. All modules were fabricated at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Completion of the project is slated for sometime this year.
East elevation from First Avenue.
East elevation from First Avenue.
Close-up of the east facade at the upper floors.
East elevation from First Avenue.
Southeast corner.
Close-up of the southeast facade at the upper floors.
Looking up at the south facade.
Southwest corner from Mount Carmel Place.
West elevation from Mount Carmel Place.
Northwest corner from Mount Carmel Place.
North elevation.
Architect: nARCHITECTS; Module Manufacturer: Capsys; Developer: Monadnock Development; Program: Residential; Location: Kips Bay, New York, NY; Completion: 2016.
335 E 27 - Carmel Place
Stacking has completed at Monadnock Development's micro unit apartment building at 335 East 27th Street, recently renamed Carmel Place. The last of the project's 66 modular units was lifted into place late last week. Designed by nARCHITECTS, the project is the first micro units apartment building in New York and consists of 55 studio apartments for both market rate and affordable tenants. Each apartment is one module, offering 260 to 360 square feet of space. All modules were fabricated at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Now that the unit stacking has completed, the exterior brick facade should soon begin installation. Completion of the project is slated for late 2015.
West elevation from Bellevue Park South.
Northwest corner from Mount Carmel Place.
Time sequence of unit stacking from the northwest corner.
Southwest corner from Mount Carmel Place.
Southeast corner.
East elevation from First Avenue.
East elevation.
Architect: nARCHITECTS; Module Manufacturer: Capsys; Developer: Monadnock Development; Program: Residential; Location: Kips Bay, New York, NY; Completion: Late Fall 2015.
626 First Avenue
Facade installation is underway at JDS Development Group's 626 First Avenue, a two tower rental site in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan. The project is one of many currently under construction in New York by SHoP Architects, a firm that has proven to be innovators of both form and facade. Here they have employed 41 and 49 story towers that slope towards each other, with a connecting sky bridge that houses an indoor pool and lounge. Currently, superstructure has reached the twelfth floor on the northwest tower, while the southeast tower lags behind at the third floor. The two towers will be clad in glass curtain wall on the east and west facades, while the more solid north and south walls feature openings set amongst copper cladding. Both facade types are now present on site, with installation of facade panels on the second floor of the northwest tower on the three primary facades. The design of the glass panels is fairly typical, with glass spanning from slab to slab without a visible spandrel panel. The less common opaque copper panels look to be a stunning feature that will help the building stand out on its waterfront location. Construction is scheduled to finish by early 2017.
P.S. 281 at the southwest corner of the site from First Avenue.
West facade of P.S. 281 (right) and the northwest tower (left).
The northwest tower (left) and P.S. 281 (right) from First Avenue.
Northwest tower's facade.
Northwest tower's facade.
North facade of the northwest tower.
Northeast corner of the northwest tower.
East facade of the northwest tower.
Northwest tower.
North facade of the southeast tower.
Southeast corner of the site from East 35th Street.
Looking north from East 35th Street.
Southwest corner of the site from East 35th Street.
Architects: SHoP Architects; Landscape Architects: SCAPE; Structural Engineers: WSP; Developer: JDS Development Group; Program: Residential, Retail; Location: Murray Hill, New York, NY; Completion: 2017.