Pei Cobb Freed (PCF), co-founded by the legendary architect I.M. Pei, is one of the city’s best known corporate architecture firms with recent designs including the Goldman Sachs headquarters in Battery Park City and 7 Bryant Park in Midtown. The firm’s long-time home at 88 Pine Street was designed by I.M. Pei and embodies the firm’s pure Modernist aesthetic of clean lines and minimal frill.
Residential design for 250 Water by Platt Dovell White Architects (PBDW)
Several blocks north of their New York office is a full-block parking lot at 250 Water Street. Bound by Pearl and Beekman streets, the property sits at the edge of the South Street Seaport Historic District and across from Southbridge Towers. The Milsteins purchased the site in 1979 and put forth a myriad of plans that were mostly rejected by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. After decades of disputes, in 2003 the City Council voted to significantly limit the size of development on the lot, capping its height to 120 feet and roughly 290,000 square feet.
Rendering of 8x8 Tower via Pei Cobb Freed and Partners
PCF’s proposal, dubbed 8X8 Tower, appears to be purely conceptual and is a study of how our energy-guzzling skyscrapers can be less detrimental to the environment. Most of the 250 Water Street site would be covered with a public park and the building bulk is shifted to the block's southeast corner. Here, a square 88’ x 88’ tower is depicted to rise some 40 stories tall above a flood-protected podium and double-height lobby.
Each floor would be punctuated by four perimeter open-air atria. Each of the four one- to two-bedroom units in the plan would have a balcony overlooking an atrium. Opposite the balconies would be biophilic living walls of vegetation that would be naturally ventilated in the summer and somehow closed off in the winter. Spanning the atria would be diagonal spandrel panels that would cross to the next floor. Resembling staircases, they lend the tower a dynamic, Escher-like appearance.
Each floor would be punctuated by four perimeter open-air atria. Each of the four one- to two-bedroom units in the plan would have a balcony overlooking an atrium. Opposite the balconies would be biophilic living walls of vegetation that would be naturally ventilated in the summer and somehow closed off in the winter. Spanning the atria would be diagonal spandrel panels that would cross to the next floor. Resembling staircases, they lend the tower a dynamic, Escher-like appearance.
Typical floor plan (PCF)
Other eco-friendly features specified in the concept include floor slabs made of CLT wood, wider spandrels on the north façade to reduce heat loss, increased glazing on the south façade to minimize heat gain and operable windows. High-efficiency building systems that utilize stormwater collection, low flow fixtures, and water reuse for irrigation, flushing, and the cooling tower.
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