A lot of the most spectacular new buildings in the city in recent years are unconventional and have shapes that seem to come from damaged cookie-cutters. 

One of the most startling and prominent is HL 23 at 515-517 West 23^rd Street on the northwest corner at the High Line Park. 

The 14-story, 11-unit building was developed by Alf Naman and designed by Neil M. Denari, a California architect who from 1997 to 2002 was the director of the Southern California Institute of Architects. 

BOTTOM LINE

HL23 at 515-517 West 23^rd Street is a shiny, prismatic and way cool building that struts its stuff next to and over the High Line Park at the center of the action in West Chelsea. 

The building’s angularity is a bit ungainly but in New York what could be more welcome, especially in Far West Chelsea, a land once known for its big trucks and leather jackets, than a macho building, one given to shoulder jerks and shuffles and maybe even “high-fives.”

The building has large apartments, a 24-hour doorman and is seeking a L.E.E.D. Gold Certificate.

DESCRIPTION

Much of its facade is glass set in some large diagonal braces.  Its facades are definitely not uniform and that glass gives way to an invasion of curving embossed stainless steel panels on the side directly facing the High Line. 

The building juts out a bit in various directions as if it was been pinched in somewhat by the High Line even as it overpowers and hems in another new “High Line” residential building 519 West 23rd Street with its “cloud”-like balconies. 

The north and south curtain walls of the reverse tapering tower have angled cantilevers and the glass panels are more than 11 feet high and six feet wide each. 

In his April 25, 2011 review, Nicolai Ouroussoff described the building “as sleek and muscular as an Italian sports car.”  “Seen from 23^rd Street, the building’s bulging glass south façade has an aerodynamic look.  Seen from the High Line, the folded steel surface of its eastern side – whose panels were manufactured in Argentina on presses used to make body parts for Mercedes trucks – conjures a hood scoop on a car,” he wrote. 

“The machine aesthetic is everywhere,” he continued, adding that “many of the glass walls are mechanized, sliding open a few inches at the touch of a button.” 

“In Chelsea,” he concluded, “Mr. Denari has created a building that, intentionally or not, is as much about the desire to recapture that vision of America as about the pretty views.  Inevitably, it makes you wonder where that dream went wrong.”

AMENITIES

HL23 at 515-517 West 23^rd Street has a 24-hour doorman, a 900-square foot fitness center and bicycle storage. 

Sustainably built, HL23 is seeking an LEED-Certified Gold Rating as 100 percent of the buildings grid-supplied energy requirements are met by the use of green power.

Indoor air quality is 30 percent better than today's building codes require and is achieved through optimal ventilation and further improved by the use of materials that have low VOC content (Volatile Organic Compounds).

Eco-efficient water fixtures and appliances reduce water consumption by at least 30 percent and integrated mechanical systems and a tight building envelope reduce energy consumption by 15-25 percent.

Abundant natural day lighting and exposure precludes extensive electric lighting systems and highly reflective roofing products reduce the urban heat-island effect. The construction management plan required and achieved that at least 75 percent of waste has been diverted from area landfills. Use of recycled building materials has reduced the waste and use of virgin materials.

APARTMENTS

The building is notable for its column-free interiors.  Apartments range in size from about 1,900 to 3,600 square feet and some living rooms at 24 by 45 feet. 

Apartments have keyed elevator access and entry foyers. 

The building, which is known as HL 23, is 40 feet wide and has a two-floor maisonette, a duplex penthouse and nine-full-floor residential condominium units. 

Ranging in size from approximately 1,900 to 3,600 square feet, the apartments have very large living rooms facing south and the master bedrooms have views to the north. 

The 11^th floor apartment has a wood-burning fireplace. 

Apartments have Aprilaire temperature sensors with remote thermostat, recessed base moldings and Nanz hardware throughout. 

Kitchens have Poliform cabinetry, Corian countertops and Miele appliances. 

Bathrooms have Statuario marble slab walls and floors, and an integrated Corian sink and vanity, wet-room with Boffi Swim tub and a radiant floor heating system. All windowed bathrooms include 'bottom-up' motorized shades, providing both privacy and natural light. 

Floors throughout the building are rift cut solid oak planks with two layers of sub-floor for high levels of sound insulation. 

The 5^th floor, two-bedroom apartment has an entry foyer that leads into a 17-foot-long library that opens onto a 19-foot-long living room adjacent to an 11-foot-long, pass-through kitchen and a 16-foot-long dining room. 

 The 9^th and 10^th floor, two-bedroom apartment apartments are similar but have narrow north-facing windows in the libraries and the 10^th floor apartment moves the kitchen to the east side of the building to create a larger living/dining area. 

The 11^th floor apartment is like the 10^th floor but it converts the library space into a third bedroom.

HISTORY

In his April 4, 2011 review in the Los Angeles Times, architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne notes that the building is a “standout” in “ways that begin with – but aren’t limited to – its gymnastic form.” 

“The design has without a doubt,” he continued, “yielded a building of drama and cunning – particularly in its relationship with the High Line.  Thanks in part to seven separate zoning waivers from New York’s planning commission, which sanctioned its bulging form, HL23 behaves a like a flower planted along the park’s underside that manages to grow up and out over its urban host.  That connects it in spirit with the small number of other Manhattan buildings that either lean out over public space or grow wide as they rise.” 

Interiors were designed by Thomas Juul-Hansen.  Marc I. Rosenbaum was the collaborating architect. 

A more unified and beautiful design can be found nearby at 245 Tenth Avenue, a stainless steel club residential building designed by Della Valle Bernheimer.