DXA studio embarks on three townhouse projects in Manhattan

319 East 6th Street, East Village - Manhattan, NY

Manhattan, NY According to DXA studio, they are working on multiple townhouse projects ranging from 5,000 to 12,000 s/f in three Manhattan neighborhoods – TriBeCa, the East Village and the Upper West Side.

“We are delighted to see shovels in the ground in the next four weeks on these three exciting projects. Seeing the old Knickerbocker Ice building get new life in Tribeca, an old wound healed in the Upper West Side with the replacement to a lost landmark, and a south facing glass façade across from a park in the East Village–it’s a thrill that this diversity of projects is happening together,” said DXA partner, Jordan Rogove.

“While all three are from the same design studio and are located in New York City, the projects are clearly distinctive, based on technical and aesthetic opportunities of each site, and the individual perspective of each client. We love that the resulting solutions share the common approach of a careful response to each challenge,” said DXA partner, Wayne Norbeck.

The projects include:

17 Leonard Street - Manhattan, NY

• 17 Leonard St.: Former home to the Knickerbocker Ice Company, this 1855 three-story masonry loft building in the TriBeCa East Historic District is being converted into a six level, six-bedroom luxury townhouse. Two additional stories that house living, dining and kitchen areas sit atop the original building, with large sliding glass doors opening onto over 2,000 s/f of landscaped terrace area. A full floor master suite; a four-bedroom floor with a recreation room; two service quarters; a screening room and parking occupy the lower three floors. A swimming pool with a gym, sauna and steam room compose the below grade level.

The townhouse’s design focuses on maximizing the quality of natural light to spaces throughout the building. Two glazed atrium-like opening’s run from the roof to the lower stories, illuminating the central stairs and surrounding rooms. The material palette shifts incrementally from dark to light, floor to floor, starting with earthy stone finishes in the spa level below grade and culminating in lighter and more luminous materials in the penthouse levels.

• 110 West 88^th St.: The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission recently approved this five-story, single-family townhouse in the Upper West Side-Central Park West Historic District. The contemporary and contextual design draws inspiration from the district in utilizing a single material, limestone, to express a multitude of architectural features. The verdant character of the block on which it resides is continued inward in the form of integrated flower boxes along the facade and a continuous living wall that spans the full five stories of an open, centralized stair.

110 West 88th Street - New York, NY

• 319 East 6^th St.: This ground-up building faces an inner-block garden on 6^th St. in the East Village. A desire for full expanses of glass to view the garden and the skyline beyond presented a challenge with the heat gain associated with direct southern exposure. The design includes flexible, folding wood slat screens within steel frames that provide solar shading when needed, but that allow unencumbered views when repositioned to the sides of the facade.

 The facade is clad in a Danish handmade brick and includes a full width mural along a sidewall that links the building in character with its East Village neighbors where street art abounds. The five residential units, from a small studio up to a dramatic three-bedroom apartment with office and double height duplex on the top floors, incorporate a simple and timeless palette of materials throughout.