56 Leonard Street, New York / Herzog & de Meuron

Yesterday, I was visiting the Skyscraper Museum in New York, and I saw an incredible aerial photo that shows the evolution of downtown Manhattan during the last century, from the water reclamation to the black towers to the new skyline without the twin towers. Undoubtedly, this city changes its shape very often.

And as of now, new residential buildings are bringing new forms to this skyline. First, we have OMA on the 23rd street with its structural facade and cantilevered volume, and now the 56 Leonard Street building by Herzog & de Meuron, which entered the construction phase.

This 57-story residential in the Tribeca area will house 145 residences, each one with its own unique floor plan and private outdoor space. This typology makes the building look like a stack of houses, away from the traditional skyscraper form. I wonder how the concrete structure works on this building, which was done by consultant firm WSP Cantor Seinuk (who also worked on the Freedom Tower).

With this height, it will surely impact the city skyline as you can see on the panoramic above.

The building features several interior design details done by Herzog & de Meuron, and also a sculpture comissioned to artist Anish Kapoor.

All photos  Copyright Herzog & de Meuron, Basel, 2008

Location
56 Leonard Street, between Church Street and West Broadway, in the Tribeca Historic District of Manhattan, New York City (map).

Schedule
Site Preparation:  Spring/Summer 2008
Construction Commences:  Fall 2008
Projected Occupancy:  Fall 2010

Developer/Sponsor
Alexico Group LLC, New York, NY
Principals:  Izak Senbahar, Simon Elias
Client Representative:  Eric Anderson

Design Architect
Herzog & de Meuron, Basel, Switzerland
Partners: Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Ascan Mergenthaler
Project Architects: Vladimir Pajkic (Associate), Philip Schmerbeck , Mehmet Noyan
Project Team: Zachary Vourlas, Jason Whiteley, Daniela     Zimmer,    Mark Chan, Simon Filler, Sara Jacinto, Jin Tack Lim, Mark Loughnan (Associate), Jaroslav Mach, Donald Mak, Hugo Moura, Jeremy Purcell,     James Richards, Heeri Song, Charles Stone (Associate)

Executive Architect
Costas Kondylis and Partners, New York, NY

Construction Management
Hunter Roberts, New York, NY
Site Area: 12,500 square feet

Building Footprint: 12,500 square feet

Building Dimensions
Width:  125 feet
Depth:  100 feet
Height:  830 feet

Gross Floor Area (GF): 425,000 square feet. plus technical, parking and structure

Floors: 57 above (+1 below)

Exterior Materials
Structure:  concrete
Facade:  glass, stainless steel, aluminium, concrete

Interior Materials:
Lobby:  granite floors, absolute granite tile walls, concrete ceilings
Elevators: terrazzo floor, stainless steel mosaic tile walls, polished stainless steel frame