Second Avenue Apartments

Organization Name: Curtis + Ginsberg Architects LLP

Project Title: Second Avenue Apartments

Project Location: Upper East Side, Manhattan, NY

Project Description:
Consisting of two buildings, this eleven and six story mixed-use development on the Upper East Side provides inclusionary multifamily housing with a community facility and commercial space. A total of twenty-eight affordable units are provided across both buildings, which is situated next to the new Second Avenue subway line. The project’s materiality and scale are designed to complement the fabric and history of the neighborhood. Brick and cast stone façades with punched window openings, alternating metal panel accents and masonry patterns, along with the varied massing are a sensitive and understated response to the surrounding context. The brick fenestration along the 92nd Street façade provide a play of light and shadow that break down the scale of the building mass while being reminiscent of the historic architecture to the neighborhood. At the base of the building a cast stone and glass storefront create large openings at the pedestrian scale that enhances the street life along Second Avenue and 92nd Street.

Community Impact:
As one of the first completed buildings since the opening of the Second Avenue Subway, the spacious yet affordable development creates homes for lower income residents in a neighborhood that is increasingly pricing such residents out. With the influx of new development and the proximity to the subway, this building provides a neighborhood amenity of new retail and community facility spaces, and preserves diversity in the community while commercial activity is enhanced. The buildings community spaces include roof terraces for the residents, in addition to the ground floor community facility. These roof terraces at each building provide a communal amenity to the residents, with open space above the bustle of the busy avenue and provide views to the south, north and east.

Organization Description:
Curtis + Ginsberg Architects LLP, a certified WBE, was founded in 1990 with a mission to provide quality design while improving the built environment in an environmentally sustainable and socially conscious manner. In this effort C+GA specializes in providing architecture and planning services for residential and institutional projects, with a focus in sustainable housing. We provide quality sustainable and resilient design where the needs of the client, the environment, and the community, from the building users to the community at large, take priority.

Team Members:

Developer: Extell Development Company
Structural Engineer: GACE Consulting Engineers PC
MEP Engineer: JMV Consulting Engineers PC