The first renderings are up for an 8-story development at 75 First Avenue, in the East Village; the site’s developer is Orange Management, and the project’s designers are HTO Architects and NO Architecture.
NO Architecture’s Architizer page has additional information on the building, which apparently has to deal with byzantine fire codes; in their own words, “glass on the north facade is a gradient of glazing apertures, each floor changing the percentage of opening from low to high corresponding to more sought-after views above and more stringent fire ratings below.”
Beyond the innovative work-around of the fire codes, 75 First Avenue takes another step to minimize the appearance of mechanicals, and “roof HVAC bulkheads [will be] clad in a metal lattice framework for a vertical garden, adding desirable lushness and evaporative cooling to the roof deck.”
Integrating elements that are typically unappealing into a project’s design and turning them into beneficial attributes rather than simple afterthoughts is a hallmark of good design. The collaboration between HTO and NO appears to be promising, though 75 First Avenue is currently the subject of a stop-work order.
Permits indicate the development will span 34,055 square feet, with the bulk of the project dedicated to residential use. 8,456 square feet will be given to ground-floor retail, while the remaining 25,599 square feet will be divided between 27 units. 75 First Avenue will stand 80 feet in total.
A slightly older plan for 75 First Avenue — image via NO Architecture
Orange Management’s website gives a 2015 completion date for 75 First Avenue, and given the relatively small scope of the development, that would seem to be a likely bet.
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