515 West 18th Street, NYC, photo by Nadia Bouzid
Address: 515 West 18th Street, NYC
Neighborhood: Chelsea
Developer: Related Companies
Total Residences: 180
Layouts: 1,2,3 + 4 Bedroom condos
Towers: 2
There is no mistaking which part of this building Thomas Heatherwick wants you to look at. The windows at 515 West 18th Street push out of the brick façade in these enormous, faceted bays. Some are installed, others are still missing, and the unfinished sections make their construction particularly interesting to follow.
The photographs are from August 26. Related Companies is developing the project, with approximately 180 apartments planned across two buildings on opposite sides of the High Line. The buildings will connect beneath the park, making the old railway part of the arrangement of the property itself.
Heatherwick has taken the bay window quite far here. There is something slightly excessive about the repetition, but the brickwork holds it together. It gives the windows weight and a setting that makes sense in Chelsea, where the studio has drawn on the neighborhood’s industrial buildings. This is new construction borrowing from that history, with very little intention of disappearing into it.
If the windows look familiar, think of the Silo Hotel in Cape Town. Heatherwick used projecting, faceted glazing there as part of the conversion of the grain silo complex that also houses Zeitz MOCAA. Here, he is working with a new residential development, so the windows are being designed into the building from the beginning. They are already giving it a recognizable face before the façade is complete.
What I like about a bay window is the small territory it creates within a room. There is somewhere to pull up a chair, put a table or simply stand without being quite in the middle of everything. These are unusually large versions of that idea. Heatherwick Studio describes them as a way to open up panoramic views for residents, and the angled panes suggest an apartment with several directions to look.
Of course, beside the High Line, looking goes both ways. The relationship between an apartment and the walkway will depend very much on its floor and position. I would want to see that from inside before falling completely for the exterior.
For now, the close photographs are my favorites. With the brick, glazing and exposed concrete all visible, you can see how much work is going into something as apparently simple as a window. I hope the finished apartments give those bays enough room to be enjoyed. It would be a shame to put all this effort into the façade and then leave nowhere to sit.
Occupancy is anticipated for 2020
515 West 18th Street, NYC, photo by Nadia Bouzid
515 West 18th Street, NYC, photo by Nadia Bouzid
515 West 18th Street, NYC, photo by Nadia Bouzid
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