DFR selects BIG-Bjarke Ingels Grp. to design 600 residential units

Durst Fetner Residential (DFR) has selected Danish architect firm BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group to design West 57, a 600-unit 80/20 residential building on West 57th St. between 11th and 12th Aves. This is their in­augural North American project. The building's program consists of over 600 residential units of different scales 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, CEO of Durst Fetner Residential. The building is a hybrid between the European perimeter block and a traditional Manhattan high-rise. West 57th has a unique shape which combines the advantages of both the compactness and efficiency of a courtyard building, with the airiness and the expansive views of a skyscraper. The project team includes: SLCE Architects, architect of record; Starr Whitehouse, landscape architects; Thornton Tomasetti, sturctural; Dagher Engineering, MEP; Langan Engineering, civil; Hunter Roberts, construction manager; Philip Habib & Assoc., transportation; Israel Berger & Assoc., building envelope; Nancy Packes, marketing; Van Deusen & Assoc., vertical transportation; Cerami & Assoc., acoustical; CPP, wind; AKRF, environmental; German Glessner, renderings and animation. "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 57th 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 appearing like a warped pyramid from the West-Side-Highway, it turns into a slender spire from West 58th St. 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 the Hudson River Park into the West 57th development. "The building is conceived as a cross breed between the Copenhagen courtyard and the New York skyscraper. 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," said Ingels. 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 balconies which encourage interaction between residents and passers-by. DFR commissioned Copenhagen based BIG in the spring of 2010 to introduce a new residential typology to Manhattan. As of 2011 BIG has opened a new office in New York in order to oversee the development and upcoming construction of West 57th.