The residential building boom spawned several innovations in New York City architecture that, in turn, spurred changes to old neighborhoods and to the way New Yorkers think of apartments. Architects often ripped up the rule book by which their predecessors had designed residential Gotham in favor of modernist experimentation (glass-wall exteriors, anyone?), and the results will stand for decades.
The Real Deal recently quizzed several architects on the design changes wrought in the building boom — and on the changes to come in their own industry now that the sales market has cooled.
Brad Perkins
founder, Perkins Eastman Architects
Q. What is the most interesting architectural trend happening in new residential development in New York?
A. I think for the last several years the big spread between development cost and prices made the developers much more interested in competing on quality rather than space. It gave those of us in the design profession a lot more freedom than we had in the past in terms of residential design. As the margins have narrowed, they are getting a lot more cost conscious than they probably were two years ago. The cost of doing their projects has gone up so much faster than they ever expected.
Q. What is the worst trend in new residential development from an architectural point of view?
A. What happens at the end of a real estate cycle is a lot of amateurs come rushing in, thinking that a lot of people are making a lot of money. They are first-time developers who don’t really know what they are doing. You can’t do a good building without a good client.
Q. What new residential project (besides your own) do you like best and why?
A. The one near Broadway and Grand Street Jean Nouvel designed [40 Mercer Street]. I think it has an elegant skin, which is one of his trademarks. I think there have been a number of good designs done by architects throughout the city and there have also been some pretty terrible ones, but overall the quality is markedly better than 10 years ago. Fresh blood has come into the design of housing.
Q. Looking outside of just residential, what architectural project overall (besides your own) impresses you the most?
A. The new PATH station by Santiago Calatrava promises to be inspirational. It’s something that surpasses expectations. I hope it’s as good as the drawings and models make it look like it will be.
Q. What is the biggest or most notable trend you see for the exteriors of residential projects? What about interiors?
A. For exteriors, the most obvious change is that seven or eight years ago the materials used were bricks and sliding glass windows. It was easy to lay the bricks on top of concrete slabs on each floor. That was the material people felt you could afford to use.
In the last 10 years, a lot more glass is being used and there is a lot more freedom in the change of materials for exteriors. The same has also been true about the interior finishes like kitchen counter tops, hardware and appliances.
There has been a lot more interest in some of the quality choices. I think it will continue for a while because the bar has been raised. I don’t think it will save enough money to go back to the old formula. And they won’t be able to command the prices that the better quality projects are getting.
Q. What neighborhood is seeing the most interesting development now?
A. Probably the most interesting renaissance is really downtown Brooklyn and the surrounding neighborhoods. It’s a combination of all the brownstone blocks that have been brought back. They are some of the nicest neighborhoods in the city. A number of things are happening or are about to happen in Brooklyn’s reemergence as a real downtown. It’s a good thing for New York. Whether they are going in the long run to be good for Brooklyn, issues of scale aside, the impact will be positive.
Another area that is interesting to watch is the whole stretch from Queens West up to the 59th Street Bridge, which will certainly be redeveloped over the next 10 years. Some projects will be quite interesting architecturally.
The third area is Flushing — downtown Flushing and down to the edge of the Flushing River. One of our projects is the first of a number of developments in that area; plus the new Shea Stadium will make for a dramatic transformation.
Q. Are architectural firms less busy and contracting in terms of the number of employees, since many expanded during the boom?
A. People who do residential architecture are pretty good friends. We are all still busy. If we were doing housing in other parts of the country, we wouldn’t be as busy. We added 100 people last year and we are still adding people. We are one of the three biggest firms in New York, and residential architecture is only 20 percent of what we do. We are a 700-person company and we have to do more than many people. It’s a good time for architecture — may it continue for a little while longer.
Karl Fischer
founder, Karl Fischer Architect
Q. What is the most notable trend you see for the exteriors of residential projects? What about interiors?
A. Residential is residential; however, the exterior designs are the most interesting trend today. The designs are modern, creative and inviting. Architects from all over the world are trying to create new looks. Along with this, it’s the amenity package that each project is promoting. Finally, the interior designs are again modern, clean lines and refreshing.
Q. What is the most positive trend in new residential development from an architectural point of view?
A. The most positive architectural trend is creating lots of light and air for the apartments by way of large floor-to-floor ceiling glazing and higher floor-to-floor heights.
Q. What is the worst trend in new residential development from an architectural point of view?
A. The worst trend is when new developments are out of scale with the neighborhood.
Q. What new residential project (besides your own) do you like best and why?
A. Richard Meier’s two-tower project at [173-176 Perry Street]. I like the exterior design, the open concept planning and lots of glazing to allow light and air into the apartments.
Q. Looking outside of just residential, what architectural project overall (besides your own) impresses you the most?
A. The Time Warner Center.
Q. Is the cooling housing market going to negatively impact residential design and how? Are developers going to watch their wallets more?
A. The cooling housing market has already taken effect. Developers are more cautious and the apartment sizes are getting smaller. We have to be more conscious of the cost of the project.
Q. What is the biggest or most notable trend you see for the exteriors of residential projects?
A. The use of glass by way of window wall and curtain-wall systems.
Q. What are you seeing in terms of changes in materials being used as construction costs rise dramatically?
A. Construction costs are very high, particularly in Manhattan. Everything that goes into a building is scrutinized to see if lower-cost alternatives are available.
Q. What’s changing in terms of apartment layout or mix in the size of units?
A. Apartment sizes are being reduced in square footage to make them more affordable. There will be more one-bedrooms on the market.
Q. What other new twists are you seeing in projects from an architectural point of view as far as amenities or common space or other secondary aspects of projects?
A. Amenities will make a project more successful. When there are too many units on the market, the amenity package will sway a buyer.
Q. What are developers asking for in the cooling market and how are architects responding?
A. More efficient building designs, which translate into more saleable square footage.
Q. What neighborhood is seeing the most interesting development?
A. Long Island City and Williamsburg.
Q. Are architectural firms less busy? Are they cutting jobs from boom-time expansion?
A. I believe we will be less busy in the near future.
Matthew Grzywinski
co-principal, Grzywinski Pons Architects
Q. What new residential project (besides your own) do you like best and why?
A. I like Herzog & de Meuron’s 40 Bond project because, despite its size, it’s ultimately an infill project. Residential urban projects have the opportunity to create tension and juxtaposition on the street and I think their building will do that well as it simultaneously addresses and departs from its context on Bond Street, which is something we always aspire to do.
Q. What is the most disheartening residential project or type of project?
A. Where do I start? I’m always amazed and dismayed at how shoddy and horrible buildings sneak by the public with hardly a peep of opposition when they apply a thin veneer of faux contextualism, often complete with thru-wall a/c units. It seems that as long as one uses brick, or poor approximations of it, there is absolution from crimes against the street.
Q. Looking outside of just residential, what architectural project overall (besides your own) impresses you the most?
A. I’m excited as a New Yorker to see that some of our forthcoming transportation hubs are beginning to be well-designed — e.g. the Fulton transit hub — as these are spaces and structures that are used constantly by everyone and speak about us as a city and a culture. Since the days of Grand Central Terminal and the original Penn Station, we have ceased to celebrate these opportunities to build inspiring spaces for our time.
Q. What’s your opinion of the past few years’ changes in residential design?
A. I think there has been a vast improvement, at least in the upper echelon of residential design in New York. In order for something to fly in New York City, it has to make sense for the bottom line — particularly for developers — so it was only after it was substantiated that well-designed projects could sell better and for more that the attitude shifted a bit in the right direction.
For too long, river-to-river mediocrity was sufficient with the only salient criteria being location — still a huge factor — while expensive appliances and fixtures were the only defining characteristics of a high-end project.
Q. Is the cooling housing market going to negatively impact residential design and how? Are developers going to watch their wallets more?
A. That is indeed a danger. There are those, of course, who always build with exceedingly poor quality irrespective of market conditions. Our hope lies in two principles, the first of which is that there isn’t a direct relationship between expenditure and well-designed projects. If things are value-engineered responsibly, even spending a modest premium can yield dramatic results.
The second thought or hope we have is that as the market gets tighter, certain developers will want to differentiate their product more to compete for selective buyers, and one of those vehicles is design, where in the recent past it was largely amenities.
Q. What changes are you seeing in terms of apartment layout or mix in the size of units?
A. Apartment mix and size for us and our clients is often site and project specific. We often make decisions or adjustments with a location in mind, creating, for example, larger spaces or unit types in emerging neighborhoods where we are designing what we hope will be a destination building.
Q. What are developers asking for differently in the cooling market and how are architects responding?
A. We have noticed a large number of our residential developer clients are asking us to design with flexibility in mind as far as bringing residential units to the market as either condominiums or rentals, which is a bit of a shift as we usually approach these programs a bit differently.
Ismael Leyva
founder, Ismael Leyva Architects
Q. What changes are you seeing in terms of apartment layout or mix in the size of units?
A. Less studios, mostly junior fours and two-bedrooms.
Q. What neighborhood is seeing the most interesting development compared to the past and how is it becoming interesting?
A. Manhattan on the West Side. Brooklyn in the Flatbush Avenue extension area and on the Greenpoint and Williamsburg waterfront.
Q. Is any neighborhood seeing a decline of interesting architecture?
A. In some areas of Williamsburg, new developments are not improving the neighborhood.
Q. Are architectural firms contracting, following boom-time expansion?
A. We are still expanding.
James Davidson
partner, SLCE Architects
Q. What is the most interesting architectural trend in new residential development?
A. The biggest trend in new residential development is the huge increase in the variety of themes to help distinguish individual projects from each other. Due to a huge amount of competition, the buildings that are being designed and built today are more interesting and varied than the great number of buildings that were built in the 20 years after World War II.
In the 1960s and ’70s, the residential end of architecture in New York City was a very mundane kind of practice. Slowly, the level of design and refinement and pursuit of different approaches changed not only toward how the buildings looked but also [toward] what is contained within the building.
Features that were rare in the ’70s, like extensive health clubs, meeting rooms, children’s play areas and conference centers, were all meant to establish the building as not just a collection of apartments in a structure but a lifestyle that extends beyond the apartments. Every building now seems to be vying for a feature-rich environment that goes beyond the entrance door of an individual apartment.
We are working on four buildings in the Lincoln Center area, which has created a competitive neighborhood because they are all coming online at the same time; but it is also the amenities that are provided in a building that draw people to your project as opposed to someone else’s.
Q. Looking beyond residential development, what architectural project (besides your own) impresses you the most?
A. The Frank Gehry office building along the Hudson River [in Chelsea for IAC/Interactive Corp.’s headquarters] is an interesting departure from more conventional office building construction and is certainly distinctively different.
Q. What’s your opinion of the past few years’ changes to residential design?
A. We as a firm have never seen such a harried pace of quality architectural projects. We are larger now than we’ve ever been. The industry as a whole is probably experiencing the same robust environment.
Q. What is the biggest or most notable trend you see for the exteriors of residential projects?
A. A lot more curtain wall and/or window wall construction as well as large-scale decorative pre-cast elements are becoming more a part of the building vernacular. It has been a slow transition, possibly started in the ’90s, where brick masonry would have been the natural choice for high-end residential construction.
That is simply no longer the case, though we may see a return to including more brick or a mixture of brick, pre-cast and curtain wall as we look for new themes in designs for individual projects.
Q. What are developers asking for in the cooling market and how are architects responding?
A. More experienced developers are trying to get the best value for their construction dollar. They have to be more careful because construction costs have increased. Costs are approximately 30 percent more than three to four years ago.
Q. What are buyers asking for in the cooling market?
A. Buyers are asking for value per square foot in a tightening market with interest rates that are modestly on the rise. A buyer is looking for efficient use of space at the entry level. Buyers at the high-end level are looking to combine units. First-time buyers are looking for value per square foot, and the more established are looking for space, and that would influence where they will live.
Working on 15 Central Park West, 10 West End Avenue and the Element at 555 West 59th Street is an interesting study because they are all on the same street. You can see the variety of products offered based on location and view. I’m aware of a lot of smaller units at Element that are being combined into larger units.
Q. What neighborhood is seeing the most interesting development?
A. Williamsburg in Brooklyn, Lincoln Square and, in the future, the neighborhood around the High Line. The High Line is a large area for development that has yet to figure itself out. It could be three years out or 20 years; it depends how many jobs are in New York and how many people are drawn to New York.
Peter Weingarten
senior associate, FX Fowle Architects
Q. What is the most interesting architectural trend happening in new residential development?
A. Although residential buildings form a key component in any urban area, they typically become “background” buildings — meaning that they don’t receive the same type of attention and ingenuity as high-rise commercial buildings. However, there are many high-rise residential design opportunities emerging in Manhattan as consumers are beginning to mandate a more advanced quality of life.
Q. What is the most positive trend in new residential development from an architectural point of view?
A. There seems to be a movement to raise the bar on the quality of high-rise residential architecture from both performance and design viewpoints. There are several key issues that are in the forefront of these trends and they are primarily focused on lifestyle and health choices, along with significant environmental awareness and sustainability.
These issues are not only changing the way we live, but they’re also impacting and reinventing how we design and build high-rise residential buildings.