by: Linda G. Miller
New York City’s Floating +POOL Coming Soon
After over 10 years of planning, +POOL, the self-water filtering pool has found a home at Pier 35 on the Lower East Side. The State and City are jointly funding a three-month water filtration project which will provide the necessary data needed to develop the City’s first floating swimming pool. Arup has designed and is providing the system. The scaled version of the filtration system is mounted on a 110-foot by 36-foot floating barge, moored in the waters south of Pier 35. A 2,000-square-foot sample pool will be in place in summer of 2025. The final design will be able to filter water through its filtration system, cleaning more than 1,000,000 gallons of river water a day without chemicals or additives. Test results will reveal how the filtration system meets water quality standards recently detailed by City and State health departments for “novel” and “nontraditional” beaches—without the use of chemical disinfectants while providing consistent recirculation of filtered water sourced from the river. The design is adaptable and can be reconfigured for lap swimming, lounging, watersports, and children’s activities. Each configuration can be used independently, combined to form an Olympic-length pool, or opened completely into a 9,000-square-foot pool for play. The citizen-driven idea for a floating river pool began and is being realized by a grassroots team of designers, architects, naval architects, environmental specialists, and community organizers spearheaded by Friends of +POOL. While +POOL is anticipated to be the first to receive a permit granting river swimming in the NYC harbor, the establishment of new frameworks introduces a path for other creators to propose their own ideas for expanding access to waterways.
Apollo Theater Unveils Design for Full-Scale Renovation
The Apollo has unveiled designs for its first full-scale restoration, renovation, and modernization, led by Beyer Blinder Belle (BBB) in collaboration with a design team including Charcoalblue (theater design and acoustics), Flyleaf Creative (signage design), and Higgins Quasebarth & Partners (historic preservation). The plans for the theater, which has played a major role in the evolution of jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, soul, and hip-hop, were approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). The design honors this legacy while enhancing the audience and performing experience with a renovated and expanded lobby with a café and bar for community gatherings and performances, new and restored seating, significant upgrades to backstage areas for artists, a revitalized, globally recognized historic Apollo marquee, and more. The historic “Wall of Fame” that celebrates the artists who have played The Apollo will be digitized and enhanced using the theater’s extensive archives, creating an interactive experience. The signature wall, which houses decades of artist signatures from when they performed, will also be preserved. Details in the interior architecture will reference The Apollo’s marquee, blade sign, and brand through brass inlay pattern in the terrazzo floor, brass finish and metal-clad theater doors, decorative metal panels behind the bar, and a large faux neon “A” sign at the bar. The project follows the opening of The Apollo’s Stages at the Victoria earlier this year. Located just down 125th Street, this new 25,000-square-foot facility, designed by Kostow Greenwood Architects (KGA), which includes two theaters, is part of the comprehensive Apollo Rising 2.0 Capital Campaign. Construction on the theater is expected to begin this fall and will be undertaken in phases until its completion in spring 2026.
New Residential Skyscraper Rises Above Manhattan’s East Side
Rising 850 feet, Sutton Tower is a new limestone-clad tower topped with a stainless-steel crown located at 430 East 58th Street. Billed as the “tallest residential building on Manhattan’s East Side,” the design of the entrance and the lower floors echoes that of its mid-rise neighbors, and features a custom sculpture created by the building’s architectural designer, Thomas Juul-Hansen. Titled The Drop, the site-specific work illustrates the interplay between stone and water, a theme that is repeated in the building’s outdoor sculpture garden. The approximately 300,000-square-foot tower contains 120 condo residences ranging from one-to-five bedrooms, including a penthouse collection of full-floor and duplex homes. The building contains 22,000 square feet of above ground indoor and outdoor amenities spaces across five floors, including a skylit club lounge and terrace featuring private dining with an adjacent chef’s kitchen, a screening room, gaming, and a library. Health and wellness spaces include a fitness center, spa treatment room, exercise studios, and a 50-foot swimming pool. The SBJ Group serves as the architect of record. The project is developed by Gamma Real Estate and JVP Management.
Supermarket Opens in Art Deco Landmark in the Bronx
A Fine Fare supermarket has opened for business in the former Dollar Savings Bank’s Fordham branch at 2530 Grand Concourse in the Fordham Heights section of the Bronx. Designed by Halsey, McCormack & Helmer, the bank was constructed in 1933 and its use of elegant materials reflected its position in the community. Considered an Art Deco gem, the 10,000-square-foot rectangular-shaped bank hall became a designated New York City landmark in 1994. Aufgang Architects worked with the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) for four years on the restoration and repurposing of the bank hall. The bank’s terracotta corbels, terrazzo flooring, limestone and marble-faced walls, and bronze accents, were repaired or replaced to replicate the original design. The firm was also responsible for the design of a code-compliant supermarket with modern conveniences. The supermarket boasts five murals by mosaicist and illustrator Angelo Magnanti, which depict scenes of the Bronx’s early European settlement such as Jonas Bronck’s purchasing land from Native Americans on its east wall. Sunlight enters the two-story hall through high clerestories along the north and south walls. Cylindrical opaque chandeliers hang from the stylized mosaic ceiling. Analog clocks inscribed with Roman numerals serve as the focal point of both bronze entrance vestibules, which were replaced with motorized sliding doors. The property is being developed by MADDD Equities.
SHoP Architects and OSD Unveil Design for Historic Governors Island Building Transformation
Building 140 located next to the ferry dock at Soissons Landing on Governors Island will be transformed by SHoP Architects and OSD into a year-round restaurant and event space. Constructed in 1875 as a munitions warehouse, the building was used over the years as a bank and post office during the Island’s history as a US Army and Coast Guard Base. The 10,000-square-foot project includes three distinct venues: Priscilla’s, a café with an expanded menu on its waterfront terrace, The Riverline, an indoor-outdoor full-service restaurant that will have the ability to host special events, and a reimagined family-friendly Taco Vista. The design preserves and restores the historical detail of the building’s Romanesque Revival exterior, while creating new ADA-compliant accessibility and improving the adjacent waterfront landscapes. The building will be one of the first adaptive reuse projects on Governors Island with 100 percent electric operations (including an electrified commercial kitchen) and will include several sustainability and resiliency improvements, with the potential for generating solar power on the roof. Following a Request for Proposals released in July 2022 inviting operators of event, food and beverage, and hospitality venues to ground lease, redevelop and operate the building, the Trust for Governors Island awarded the project to the team that runs the existing and adjacent seasonal Governors Island vendor Taco Vista. The project was approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Construction is anticipated to begin in Winter 2024 and be completed in Fall 2025.
Woods Bagot Converts 19th Century Building in Bed-Stuy into Luxury and Affordable Housing
Expected to be completed this fall, The Hartby, a new 200,000-square-foot luxury residential building, occupies an entire city block at 788 Willoughby Avenue in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. Woods Bagot has rebuilt, restored, and renovated what was formerly the St. John’s College building into what is now 212 rental apartments ranging from studios to two-bedrooms. Thirty percent of the units are rent stabilized. Originally designed by Patrick Keely—known for his vast portfolio of church architecture along the Eastern Seaboard—and built in 1872 in the Romanesque Revival style, the five-story building served the parish until the 1950s. The cornerstone was removed and transported to the St. John’s University campus in Queens. The exterior of the five-story building features an intricate pattern of brickwork, a Mansard roof, arched windows, turrets and towers, dormers, bays, bows, and a domed cupola. The three wings of the building surround a landscaped central courtyard with controlled and private access for tenants. The project contains over 10,000-square-feet of amenities, including a rooftop terrace with dining capabilities, a fully equipped exercise room, communal lounge, and shared workspaces for residents. The project is developed by Property Resources Corporation and design collaborators include Alchemy Studio (interior design), and Starr Whitehouse (landscape architect).
In Case You Missed It…
The NYCEDC announced that the plan for the UN Esplanade, led by AECOM, has been given the green light. The decade-old plan to fill a gap on the East River greenway, which runs from 41st to 53rd Street, is part of the 32-mile pedestrian and cycling path along the waterfront.
Work has begun on the Gans & Company-designed renovation of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum’s rear courtyard in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. In collaboration with Nancy Owens Studio Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, the project addresses critical infrastructure needs while setting the groundwork for enhancing the Museum’s outdoor spaces, ultimately creating 20,000-square-feet of accessible, outdoor, programmable space. The NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) is managing the project for The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA).
Due to damage sustained during Hurricane Beryl last month, the Rothko Chapel in Houston has determined that it must remain closed to the public for an indefinite period of time. The closure comes during a major renovation at Rothko Chapel’s campus by Architecture Research Office (ARO) and Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBW).
Located at 809 United Nations Plaza, The Kaufmann Conference Center—one of five realized works in the United States by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, and the only remaining in New York—will be dismantled. The Alvar Aalto Foundation is to become the steward of the contents of the 4,500-square-foot space, which opened in 1964; the foundation will find a new home for the collection for public view in the future. The Foundation, in collaboration with the Consulate General of Finland in New York and Finnish Cultural Institute in New York tapped Office of Tangible Space to manage the project.
L.E.FT has designed the adaptive reuse of the circa 1915 Pratt House at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY. Originally designed by York & Sawyer, the project converted the three-story, Gothic Revival style red brick former residence into a new center for the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life and Contemplative Practices (RSLCP), which serves twelve religious and spiritual student groups.