On March 3, the Landmarks Preservation Commission will consider an application for a certificate of appropriateness for a six-story "ice-sculpture" building at 401 Greenwich Street with a facade made of glass designed by Joseph Pell Lombardi, one of the city's leading converters of old properties in Lower Manhattan.
The design of the building looks like a conventional 19th Century cast-iron or brick loft building, but it will be fabricated of glass and be transparent and/or translucent. The project is known as the Glass Atelier.
According to an article by Julie Shapiro in the February 20-26, 2009 edition of the Downtown Express, Mr. Lombardi presented his design last week to the landmarks committee of Community Board 1 and "the committee was split on the project, concerned about everything from the modern design to the practicality of building with glass." The vote in the committee was two against, one for and one abstention. The full meeting of the Community Board will consider the application February 24.
Mr. Lombardi has been working with Owens Corning for six months to analyze how the building can be constructed. "The building will be made of steel beams, which along with the mechanicals will be coated in concrete so as to appear ghost-like behind the glass exterior. A thing layer of mortar, lightly tined blue, will join the solid glass bricks. Even the window sashes and frames will be a transparent acrylic, while the sides of the building will be a frosted glass. The project's English developer intends to put two retail stores on the ground floor and eight rental apartments above, but the building may house all offices at first because new residential units are now allowed in northern TriBeCa," the article said, adding that Mr. Lombardi maintained that "there's no question the financing is there."
The developer, 102 Greene Street L.L. C., is working with the architect on two other projects, one which involves converting the former Dia Museum on West 22nd Street into a non-profit display space, and another converting 102 Greene Street.
Mr. Lombardi is most famous for his conversion of the Liberty Tower at 55 Liberty Street, the former headquarters of the Sinclair Oil Company, in the Financial District, 30 Crosby Street in SoHo, and many well-known projects in TriBeca such as the Ice House at 27 North Moore Street, the Mohawk Atelier at 161 Duane Street, the Pearline Soap Atelier at 414 Washington Street, the Juilliard Building at 18 Leonard Street, and the United States Sugar Building at 79 Laight Street.
The design of the building looks like a conventional 19th Century cast-iron or brick loft building, but it will be fabricated of glass and be transparent and/or translucent. The project is known as the Glass Atelier.
According to an article by Julie Shapiro in the February 20-26, 2009 edition of the Downtown Express, Mr. Lombardi presented his design last week to the landmarks committee of Community Board 1 and "the committee was split on the project, concerned about everything from the modern design to the practicality of building with glass." The vote in the committee was two against, one for and one abstention. The full meeting of the Community Board will consider the application February 24.
Mr. Lombardi has been working with Owens Corning for six months to analyze how the building can be constructed. "The building will be made of steel beams, which along with the mechanicals will be coated in concrete so as to appear ghost-like behind the glass exterior. A thing layer of mortar, lightly tined blue, will join the solid glass bricks. Even the window sashes and frames will be a transparent acrylic, while the sides of the building will be a frosted glass. The project's English developer intends to put two retail stores on the ground floor and eight rental apartments above, but the building may house all offices at first because new residential units are now allowed in northern TriBeCa," the article said, adding that Mr. Lombardi maintained that "there's no question the financing is there."
The developer, 102 Greene Street L.L. C., is working with the architect on two other projects, one which involves converting the former Dia Museum on West 22nd Street into a non-profit display space, and another converting 102 Greene Street.
Mr. Lombardi is most famous for his conversion of the Liberty Tower at 55 Liberty Street, the former headquarters of the Sinclair Oil Company, in the Financial District, 30 Crosby Street in SoHo, and many well-known projects in TriBeca such as the Ice House at 27 North Moore Street, the Mohawk Atelier at 161 Duane Street, the Pearline Soap Atelier at 414 Washington Street, the Juilliard Building at 18 Leonard Street, and the United States Sugar Building at 79 Laight Street.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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