In what turned out to be his last residential commission, the late Philip Johnson and his partner, Alan Ritchie, designed the Urban Glass House, a 12-story, totally glass condo building that was meant to serve as the urban counterpart to Johnson’s Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut.
project
Urban Glass House
Pavarini McGovern was selected to build the striking 93,000sf structure, which has bold geometric lines and a daring sense of transparency. One of the major focus areas of the project team was the design of the exterior skin. The team spent a considerable amount of time on the proportions, detailing and color selections for the window elements and fascias. The façades have a high fenestration factor, and the large square windows have five panes. The curtain wall also incorporates tall zero-sight line operable casement windows at each bay and an all-glass railing system at the stepped terraces. The Urban Glass House’s careful articulation and the terraces at each of the setbacks emphasize the complexity of the cast-in-place concrete structure and offsetting of the columns.
A major construction issue confronting the team was the careful attention it took to construct the building next to several important structures, including one of the oldest buildings in New York City – the historic Ear Inn, a two-story, 200-year-old timber-framed structure. In addition, directly adjacent to the project site is a seven-story commercial warehouse constructed in the early 1900s on a pile foundation. During the excavation and foundation phase, our team took great care with both of these foundations when performing the required underpinning. Due to the building’s proximity to the Holland Tunnel’s vent shaft building, our preconstruction team also coordinated with the Port Authority of NY and NJ regarding sheeting and shoring operations prior to excavation.
COMPANY
sectors
Architect
Philip Johnson+Alan Ritchie, Selldorf Architects, SLCE
Client
Spring Washington, LLC
Location
330 Spring Street New York, NY
Sf
93,000sf/12-stories
ARchitect
Philip Johnson+Alan Ritchie, Design Architect; SLCE Architects, Architect of Record; Selldorf Architects, Interiors
Contract
CM-at-Risk
Owners Rep
Faithful & Gould
Awards
NY Construction’s 2006 Residential Project of the Year; 2007 Greater NY Construction User Council Award –
Outstanding Residential Project; Buildings Citation of Excellence – 2008 New Construction Awards
