Neil Denari is sometimes called an architect’s architect: An award-winning architectural theorist, pioneer in the use of computer-generated design and renowned lecturer, teacher and former director of the Southern California Institute of Architecture, his designs have been exhibited around the world.
Never heard of him? Outside the rarefied world of academic design journals, few people have. That’s because until he received a commission to build HL23, a 14-story luxury condo fronting the High Line in Manhattan, exactly zero of Denari’s pet ideas had ever been built.
Yet when HL23 is completed in the summer of 2009, it will join a parade of other cutting-edge projects designed by marquee architects in West Chelsea. And with its unique configuration, the building seems to fit in quite well with its cutting-edge surroundings.
Whereas residential developments in many other parts of the city emulate historic buildings from several generations ago, West Chelsea and the area adjacent to the High Line are embracing more venturesome forms. The area is becoming a living museum of cutting-edge architecture, and an estimated $900 million is being spent by developers on nearly 30 neighborhood projects.
Yet HL23 will be different from its neighbors in several important ways. Zoning regulations require other buildings adjacent to the High Line to be set back by 15 feet, but a precious 5 feet of HL23 will actually connect the residential tower with the High Line, allowing residents to step through the front door into the park.
Also, unlike its neighbor, HL23 will cantilever from a narrow base out over the elevated former railroad trestle, so that anyone looking down from their unit will be viewing a landscaped park.
HL23’s site is so narrow that to some developers, the building might not have been worth building. Yet Alf Naman, the developer, knew the planning commission would be sympathetic to thoughtful design.
Naman is the developer behind one of the hottest Manhattan buildings, the Jean Nouvel-designed project at 100 Eleventh Avenue, also in West Chelsea. The developer wagered that in exchange for an eye-catching building, the planning commission might grant some exceptions.
“I said to Neil [Denari],” recalled Naman, “‘build me something that starts out small, and the floor plate gets larger as it goes up the building and steps away from the High Line.'”
Designed in less than two months, the result is a tower that up-ends perceived notions about the shape and scale of a typical building.
The planning department liked what it saw. Within a year, the project won seven exceptions to the zoning code, including the rights to build over the High Line and to place a private garden adjacent to the park, an amenity for the duplex that will occupy the second and third floors.
The materials that will be used in HL23 are also distinctive. The design included elements rarely, if ever, incorporated into a residential high-rise building.
The east-facing façade that hovers over the High Line is composed of giant undulating stainless steel panels, “among the largest ever used that are stamped [the process in which steel is bent into shape],” said Marc Rosenbaum, an architect who collaborated on the project.
Presently, the foundation is being laid. Construction is scheduled to begin in March.
“It’ll take a lot of engineering to get the right erection procedures,” said Naman.
Or, as Denari put it, “You have to work very hard to overcome the laws of physics. It’s building completely in reverse.”
The building will have two duplexes occupying the bottom and top floors, and nine floor-through units from about 1,900 square feet to 2,600 square feet. The 3,700-square-foot penthouse will have a 1,000-square-foot terrace. Prices for the units, which go on sale Feb. 21, range from $2.65 million to $10.5 million.
HL23 is pursuing LEED green certification at the Gold level.
The kitchens in the single-floor units will open onto oversized living rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows facing south; the bedrooms and master baths will have panoramic views along the High Line running north.
Each unit will have rift-cut solid oak floors with recessed baseboard moldings and quarter-inch reveals. Motorized shades on the north and south glass walls will allow residents to control their exposure to the High Line.
Although it’s not finished, HL23 will be the subject of an upcoming exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York in June—and it’s allowing Danari to finally shed his reputation as a “paper architect.” The innovative design may also have helped him win several other commissions.
“Architecture is a profession that rewards very late and takes very few risks,” he said. “We’re making up for lost time.”