The architects employed radiused corners and transferred much of the scheme’s structural load to an expressionistic double-height parabolic arch at grade to make the building sit softly within its block all the while drawing inspiration from the round headed windows, arched cornices and rounded quoins of the heritage buildings on the neighboring streets.

The building’s mass has been articulated in three sections. While the constraints of a small floor plate precluded actual formal setbacks, the architects employed dramatic but ordered material shifts throughout the building’s strata to define a pediment and crown. This tiered approach also allows the building to become more light and transparent as it rises.
The base of the building is clad in rusticated, nickel finished metal panels composed in our modern take on a progressive ordered scale. The fenestration on all three building tiers is comprised of the same nickel finish metal and the coffered panels serve as spandrel covers and artful ventilation grilles while harmonizing the stratified facade.
Above this pediment the architects used a warm grey hand-laid waterstruck brick with projected soldier courses at the spandrels and a projected cornice below the material shift at the base of the crown. The brick spandrels and other transitional detailing imbue the already richly textured skin with even more depth.

The diaphanous crown of the building was designed to be equally proportionate to the base and is clad completely in glass block. The architects specified a winged block (the wings serve to hide the grout joints) that is thermally efficient, beautifully luminous, and like the brick below, has texture, gravity and permanence. The subtle, diffuse luminance of the rooms when lit from within softly animate the crown. The volume feels solid and ephemeral all at the same time and the activation of the interior spaces by residents yields a naturally kinetic glow.
For maximum thermal and acoustic efficiency, the crown’s envelope is a twin-wall assembly with the outer skin acting as both spandrel and parapet. The parapet wall has been raised to completely cover all of the equipment on the roof while it's translucency generates a diffuse and gentle termination of the top of the building into the sky.

In the public spaces of the project, this integration from the inside out is fundamental. The principle organizing element of these areas is the parabolic arch. Legible from the street through expansive glazing, it also supports and defines the mezzanine within to the double height space at grade while consolidating the load of the front half of the building above. The structural expressionism is softened with an integrated timber balustrade and fluted paneling, clay plaster finishes, dress curtains and soft furnishings. The floors and skirtings of fixed joinery are clad in brick congruent to the building’s facade.

The architects created vitrines from rhombic volumes clad in porcelain and glass to display and elevate the curated merchandise of the concept store and surrounded them with curved banquettes, sofas and soft stools that promote lingering. The space, like the contents of the vitrines, lies at the crossroads of art and commerce. Equal parts gallery, lounge, coffee shop, retail concept and living room, the space beckons to the street and is as welcoming as it is inscrutable.

"It is our hope that passers-by will feel compelled to come inside to further discern what, exactly, it is, and then feel free to get comfortable and stay a while."

Photography  Nicholas Worley
Architecture  Grzywinski + Pons