GMS provided consulting services for the facades and roofing of this new mixed-use and mixed design building at the eastern edge of Chelsea in New York City, 35 West 15th Street. A granite-clad base houses 35,000 sf over six floors of classrooms and a half-court gym for the high school. Floors eight and above can be identified by the “fish-scaled” glass structure and contain a mix of one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom luxury condominiums. Residential amenity space which includes a gym, lounge, children’s play room, shared wine “cave”, and a communal terrace, is located on the seventh floor. Construction began in 2012 and completed in mid 2015. The complicated geometry of the tower façade was executed using a sophisticated unitized curtain wall fabricated in Europe.

The complexity of constraints requiring inventive design features and logistical considerations add to the uniqueness of the development. The podium is a combination of granite and prismatic windows continuing the scale and materiality of the “street wall” and the glass-clad sloped tower give the building two distinct identities. Post tensioned slab, 90ft. flying exterior steel columns, steel and concrete superstructures, a cantilevered tower to extend residential floor area, and a sloped façade with a complex shading system were some of the specifications incorporated into the design. LEED Silver certification is anticipated.

ULI Awards for Excellence recognize the full development process of a project, not just its architecture or design—although these elements play an important role in the overall project. The criteria for the awards include factors that go beyond good design, including leadership, contribution to the community, innovations, public/private partnership, environmental protection and enhancement, response to societal needs, and financial success.

http://uli.org/programs/awards-competitions/uli-global-award-for-excellence/