Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Daring Design for Related's New High Line Condo

The Related Cos. is preparing to construct a unique 11-story residential property at 520 West 28th Street overlooking the elevated High Line Park. The building will include 37 residences, including a 5,500-square-foot penthouse. All will boast state-of-the-art features worthy of the cutting-edge architecture, as well as more old-school amenities, like 11-foot ceilings and private elevator landings. The curvaceous condo will join a growing number of daring designs constructed, or presently under construction, in the West Chelsea area.

The developer has announced it has selected Zaha Hadid, the Iraq-born, British architect, to design the new condominium project.

Wrapped in looping bands with floor-to-ceiling glass that create balconies overlooking the renowned former railroad trestle, the development is the first building in New York by the only female winner of architecture's highest honor, the Pritzker Prize.

"We are proud to partner with Zaha Hadid Architects and to continue Related's commitment to the very best in urban architecture," Related CEO Jeff Blau said in a press release. "This development will be truly unique within the city's architectural offerings, and will pave the way for future architectural achievements on Manhattan's West Side."

The High Line has already attracted many such stand-out pieces of work, including Frank Gehry's headquarters for IAC, The Standard Hotel, Jean Nouvel's 100 Eleventh Avenue, and HL23, which cantilevers over the park at 23rd Street.

Two years ago, the Bloomberg administration announced that the linear park had generated more than $2 billion in private economic development on a public investment of only $150 million.

Since then the economic impact has grown substantially, especially as Related continues to move forward at Hudson Yards with buildings from some of the world's top designers.

The building will include 37 residences with floor-to-ceiling glass walls and wrap-around terraces, as well as a 6,500-square-foot ultra-luxury penthouse suite with an indoor/outdoor pool and spa.

All the building's units will boast state-of-the-art features worthy of the cutting-edge architecture, as well as more old-school amenities, like 11-foot ceilings and private elevator landings.

Ms. Hadid won the Pritzker, often called "architecture's Nobel Prize," in 2004, and has come to be known for her sometimes jagged, sometimes curvaceous, always unusual buildings that could have been transplanted from the world of Blade Runner.

She is best known for her design of the Olympic Aquatics Center built for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.