Danish Architects to Design Different Residential Building at West 57

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(ABU DHABI - COPENHAGEN - NEW YORK) --  For the second week in a row, I find myself writing about a Danish firm of architects who have been winning international competitions and gaining huge contracts. Normally, I would try to find another topic for the column, but since this concerns my home town the Big Apple and frankly real estate news in the UAE and GCC is kind of slow, here we go again, writing about BIG, the Bjarke Ingels Group which has been selected for its first project in North America.

This week Durst Fetner Residential (DFR) announced that BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group would design West 57, a 600-unit 80/20 residential building on West 57th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues. The building's residential units of different scales are to be situated on a podium with a cultural and commercial program. The building will strive for LEED Gold Certification.

"It's extraordinarily exciting to build a building whose architecture will attract visitors from around the globe," said Hal Fetner, DFR's CEO. "BIG's design is innovative, evocative, and unique, and the building's beauty is matched only by its efficient and functional design that preserves existing view corridors while maximizing the new building's access to natural light and views of the Hudson River."

Fetner said he expects West 57 to "establish a new standard for architectural excellence, and its creative design, sustainable-construc­tion and operations, breathtaking views and distinctive amenities will make it New York's most sought after residential address."

The building is a hybrid between the European perimeter block and a traditional Manhattan high-rise. West 57 has a unique shape which combines the advantages of the compactness and efficiency of a courtyard building providing density, a sense of inti­macy, and security, with the airiness and the expansive views of a skyscraper.

By keeping three corners of the block low and lifting the north-east corner up towards its 467 ft peak, the courtyard opens views towards the Hudson River, bringing low western sun deep into the block and graciously preserving the adjacent Helena Tower's views of the river.

"New York is rapidly becoming an increasingly green and livable city. The transformation of the Hudson River waterfront and the Highline into green parks, the ongoing effort to plant a million trees, the pedestrianization of Broadway, and the creation of more miles of bicycle lanes than the entire city of my native Copenhagen are all evidence of urban oases appearing all over the city. With West 57 we attempt to continue this transformation into the heart of the city fabric - into the center of a city block," said Bjarke Ingels, Founder, BIG.

The form of the building shifts depending on the viewer's vantage point. While looking like a warped pyramid from West Side Highway, it turns into a slender spire from West 58th Street. The courtyard which is inspired by the classic Copenhagen urban oasis can be seen from the street and serves to extend the adjacent greenery of Hudson River Park into the West 57 development.

"The communal intimacy of the central urban oasis meets the efficiency, density and panoramic views of the tall tower in a new hybrid typology. The courtyard is to architecture what Central Park is to urbanism: a giant green garden surrounded by a dense wall of spaces for living," Ingels explained.

The slope of the building allows for a transition in scale between the low-rise structures to the south and the high-rise residential towers to the north and west of the site. The highly visible sloping roof consists of a simple ruled surface perforated by terraces--each one unique and south-facing. The fishbone pattern of the walls is also reflected in its elevations.

Every apartment gets a bay window or a balcony to amplify the benefits of the generous view and encourage interaction between residents and passers-by. Last Spring DFR commissioned Copenhagen-based to introduce a new residential typology to Manhattan. In 2011 BIG opened an office in New York to oversee the development and construction of West 57.

Durst Fetner Residential is a collaboration between two commercial and residential development com­panies in New York City--The Durst Organization and Sidney Fetner Associates. DFR develops, builds, owns, and manages premier properties throughout the New York metropolitan area that set new standards in environmental responsibility and user efficiency.

BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, founded in 2005 by Bjarke Ingels, is an architectural office currently involved in a large number of projects throughout Europe, Asia and North America. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark and with a new office in New York, the office is led by six Design Partners, including Bjarke Ingels, Andreas Klok Pedersen, Finn Norkjaer, Thomas Christoffersen, Jakob Lange, David Zahle and two Management Associate Partners, Sheela Maini Sogaard and Kai-Uwe Bergmann.

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