33 Vestry Street Residential Building

By Caterina Testa - 5 May 2017

The sober alignment of compact building fronts on the streets of TriBeCa speaks clearly of this New York neighborhood’s not-so-distant past. The ubiquitous worksites speak of its far-reaching transformation. Until the 1970s, TriBeCa - an acronym for Triangle Below Canal Street - was the hub of the cotton and textile trade, as testified by the buildings on Hudson Street, West and Harrison Street. As the industry declined and disappeared from TriBeCa in the Sixties and Seventies, the plentiful, now empty, commercial spaces began to attract several artists eager to leave the pricey Soho neighborhood nearby. The influx of the art world gave a whole new lease of life to the TriBeCa, which also received a commercial and residential boost, making it now one of the most attractive, sought-after areas of New York. Architect firm Archi-Tectonics has added another residential piece to the mosaic on Vestry Street where several former warehouses have already been converted to housing. The 33 Vestry Street project resonates with its context but at the same time marks a departure from traditional TriBeCa features. Flanked by two converted industrial buildings, number 33 aligns with the street wall and cornice heights but stands apart for the design and materials of its façade. One of the stated aims of the project was to be a new TriBeCa landmark while at the same time respecting the essential features of its surrounds. The building conforms in its proportional systems, extreme ceiling heights, tripartite stone façade subdivisions, and street façade alignments. At the same time, however, the street-side façade reflects a distinctive typology and distribution system. No longer a traditional residential condominium, it is rather a set of stacked custom-designed townhouses - each with its own identity, occupying a whole floor or distributed over two or three levels. Their extremely generous size (between 300 and 450 sqm) includes large outdoor...