Originally constructed in 1941 by Architect H.I. Feldman, 130 West 12th Street is a refined, sustainable design that blends the best of its existing pre-war elegance with a modern vision of the luxury apartment home. The reconstructed Greenwich Village residences feature bespoke interior finishing and details that respect the building`s heritage, including hardwood flooring in a distinct chevron pattern and custom cove and casing elements. Also exclusive to the building is custom-designed cabinetry, lighting fixtures, and hardware in the kitchens and baths. Refined for modern life, the building was redeveloped to incorporate gracious layouts and high-performance, sustainable mechanical systems. In addition to a landscaped, accessible green roof, exterior improvements included custom UV filtering casement windows designed to achieve a dramatic increase in thermal performance over the building`s original steel sash windows. Creating a healthy indoor environment was also paramount to the building`s design. Fresh outside air is delivered through a 95% efficient high filtration system shielding residents from pollutants and allergens. In addition, interior adhesives, finishes, paints, and materials meet low volatile organic compounds (VOC) standards to vastly improve air quality indoors. Residents have also been provided with the highest degree of individualized control and comfort. Utilizing a state-of-the-art four-pipe fan-coil system, the building will effectively reduce energy consumption by more than 40% over standard systems. To improve the energy efficiency of the building, an on-site natural-gas-fired cogeneration plant provides a clean, efficient power source for 50% of the building`s annual energy requirements, a major strategy to achieving the building`s LEED Silver Certification.

130 W 12th Street

The opening scenes of Moby Dick are set in the counting houses of the South Street Seaport, when the area was characterized by a thriving shipping, dry goods and grocery commerce. By the end of the 20th century, these historic brick warehouses had suffered decades of decay, with many on the brink of collapse. Years later, Cook+Fox joined a massive effort to transform eleven historic but neglected buildings into a thriving, modern neighborhood. Like Melville`s story, told through a series of episodes, Front Street weaves the buildings` rich individual stories into a contemporary narrative. Three modern structures, respectful of the neighborhood`s human scale, have been inserted into the voids, while minimally-invasive restoration work continues a conversation about the Seaport`s evolving sense of place. Front Street is now a mixed-use neighborhood of 95 rental apartments and small-scale, independent retailers. Into the existing fabric of masonry buildings, careful incisions bring light, air, and views. Residents enter through two garden courtyards that open up the block, preserving the commercial character of the streetwall while offering urbanites daily encounters with the natural elements. The project`s three new buildings, while clearly modern, continue an authentic dialogue with the nautical history of the site. Details invoke intangible artifacts, such as whale skeletons and ships` rigging. Demonstrating a commitment to modern environmental stewardship, ten geothermal wells, driven more than a quarter mile into bedrock, provide cooling for the entire project. This technology eliminates the need for rooftop cooling towers on sensitive historic buildings&mdash;uniting the related ethics of preservation and conservation. Historic Front Street was selected as part of &ldquo;The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture and Design&rdquo; exhibition at the non-profit National Building Museum in Washington, DC.

Historic Front Street

The Riverside Park Fund and the Riverside Clay Tennis Association are launching a $6 million capital campaign to transform an abandoned parking lot south of the 96th Street Red Clay Tennis Courts into a landscaped Hudson River overlook with a wildflower meadow, a sustainable park maintenance building, and a carbon neutral public restroom, using compost toilet technologies, green roofs, solar energy, rainwater collection, and recycled materials. Originally conceived by Frederick Law Olmstead in 1875, Riverside Park extends along four miles of Manhattan`s shoreline. Part of Robert Moses` larger West Side Improvement Initiative, the Park and the Henry Hudson Parkway permanently shaped the waterfront`s character. For over 25 years, the Riverside Clay Tennis Association (RCTA) has maintained the ten world-class clay tennis courts near 96th Street in Riverside Park, its members transforming the courts largely through volunteer work and fundraising. The precedent-setting Green Outlook will be a sustainable complex that addresses the environmental, practical and cultural needs of both the RCTA and surrounding area with an aim of restoring the natural health of the site. The project aims to achieve net-zero impact, prioritizing environmental stewardship and aesthetic beauty, while keeping the original, transit-oriented park in mind. A planned wildflower meadow will incorporate a raingarden, functioning as a stormwater management tool, and a bed for soil fertilized by installed composting toilets; this advanced technology would minimize the need for off-site waste disposal. The obsolete parking lot, left from Moses` automobile era, will be transformed into a meadow landscape scattered with branched sculptures, which will incorporate solar photovoltaic systems. The re-appropriation of this portion of the site offers an opportunity for restorative, native landscaping and will also be a beautiful rest stop for bikers, runners, strollers, and neighbors.

Riverside Park

Green Outlook at Riverside Park

Prior to its renovation, 401 West 14th Street was a badly-weathered mercantile warehouse just inside Manhattan`s newest Landmarks Preservation District, the Gansevoort Market. While its shell was integral to the neighborhood`s commercial legacy, the building had little future as an empty, unusable warehouse. To retain the Arts and Crafts style market building as a working part of the historic fabric, virtually every element of the building was replaced while preserving the integrity of the whole.To upgrade the building to the standards of a high-end tenant, the multi-lite windows with operable, center-pivot sections were replaced in kind with a modern, insulating glass equivalent &ndash; preserving the thin profile while radically improving their thermal and acoustic performance. Several thousand damaged Hebron bricks were replaced with originals discovered in a Midwestern brickyard. The fa&ccedil;ade`s terra cotta medallions and distinct stucco panels were also cleaned, restored, or replaced to original conditions. The building`s facades were redesigned to restore original street-level connections. Along 14th Street, a broad sidewalk canopy of corrugated glass replaces an older canopy of corrugated metal, recreating an element distinctive to the Gansevoort Market while letting daylight pass through to pedestrians. In cooperation with the Landmarks Preservation Commission, an office space of approximately 5,200 SF was added to the roof, almost entirely concealed behind the existing billboard. Street-level simulations were used to study the impact of alternate schemes so that the structure is minimally visible from all sides. Its standing seam construction speaks a material language similar to the steel supports of the billboard that conceals its presence, and also recalls metal shipping containers and other industrial artifacts relevant to the site.

401 West 14th Street

The first legitimate Broadway theater built in over a decade, the Stephen Sondheim Theatre is a state-of-the-art performing arts venue with a rich artistic history. Built on the site of the 1918 Henry Miller`s Theatre, whose Landmarked fa&ccedil;ade has been retained and fully restored, the new theater re-interprets Henry Miller`s ideals for the &ldquo;new American Theater.&rdquo; The design team filtered through many relics from the checkered past of Henry Miller`s Theatre to craft a narrative of time and place. Throughout the interior spaces, vignettes of artifacts layered onto the new architectural fabric include Adamesque decorative plasterwork and doors from the former auditorium. The oval box office lobby mediates the transition from the restored historic fa&ccedil;ade to the new theater within. Where pieces of the historic fabric were lost or too badly damaged, new walls and detailing complete the room, maintaining its spatial integrity and color scheme without falsifying its status as a contemporary layer. Its distinctive black and white checkered floor has been carefully reconstructed, using marble sourced from the same Vermont quarries as the original. Uniting the room, the original plaster ceiling with its ornate central medallion, a relief of the Greek muses, has been restored and reinstalled. Constructed as part of the adjacent One Bryant Park, The Sondheim is structurally and acoustically separated from the LEED Platinum skyscraper, but shares its energy-efficient on-site power cogeneration and water recycling systems. Essential to the goal of creating a comfortable environment for audiences and a healthy workplace for cast and crews, a fresh air system filters out 95% of particulate matter, while carbon dioxide sensors deliver extra ventilation as necessary. The project has received LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council, making it the first Broadway theater to attain a high level of environmental responsibility.

Stephen Sondheim Theater

The Hegeman is a residential community in Brownsville, Brooklyn providing housing for low-income and formerly homeless individuals. Developed by Common Ground Community &ndash; an innovative non-profit whose mission is to end homelessness &ndash; the Hegeman Residence will also provide a range of on-site social services, in a model known as supportive housing. One of the first projects developed under Common Ground`s Green Campaign, the Hegeman Residence emphasizes good health and indoor air quality, restorative and biophilic design, and best practices to save tenants money on energy bills. Efficient energy performance is accomplished through various measures including individual room-metering capabilities with entry-activated control systems. Infrastructure has also been put in place for a future co-generation system. Views to green space and natural daylight are prioritized, even in below-grade office spaces. An inner courtyard provides protected green space with room for urban agriculture; a gently winding, paved path makes the courtyard accessible to residents of all ages and physical abilities. Overhead, 3,400 square feet of greenery on the roof cool the building and slows stormwater run-off from the site. In addition to the extensive green roof, an array of solar panels produces renewable energy for exterior lighting requirements. Individual units are finished with durable, non-toxic materials and are designed to save energy and water, helping the building earn an anticipated LEED Silver certification.

The Hegeman

 Rick Cook discusses incorporating green techniques into the design of affordable housing to improve the indoor environment of The Hegeman. 

 A 49-Story Art Deco-inspired tower with 110 residences. Dramatic fa&ccedil;ade features cascading loggias, Juliet balconies, oversized casement-style windows and fluted columns. Grand curvilinear 24-hour attended lobby features terrazzo flooring with metal trim detail and fluted paneling. 

The hand-cast stone panels were installed first before the large glass panes with black-colored mullions went in.  

The Park Row Club&amp;mdash;a richly appointed amenity suite designed by Studio Mellone, featuring vast leisure spaces, soaring ceilings, and grandly-scaled windows overlooking City Hall Park. The Club offers a library and screening room, a lounge, a billiards room, a bar, a dining room, a playroom, a golf simulator, and a fitness center with a yoga studio and a 65-foot swimming pool. The Park Row Club Garden and Dining Terrace offers over 7,000 square feet of outdoor space for entertainment, relaxation, and play&amp;mdash;including lounge and living spaces, a grilling kitchen, a trellised dining area, and a naturalistic playscape and a lawn. On-site parking for purchase and a discrete Theatre Alley entrance offer privacy and convenience.    

25 Park Row

 Cook + Fox moved into this top floor office space partially because of the access to the roof. They were able to create the first LEED Platinum office in Manhattan since the LEED Ratings changed. In addition to the green roof, the firm keeps bees. 

641 Avenue of the Americas

 One of the reasons that Cook + Fox decided to construct their office in 641 Avenue of the Americas was roof access and the potential for creating a green roof as both a sustainable feature and an aesthetic one. The firm also keeps bees. 

 Rick Cook speaks about the firms office space in the penthouse of 641 Avenue of The Americas. 

Designed to set a new standard in high-performance buildings, for the office workers who occupy the tower and for a nation awakening to the modern imperative of sustainability, the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park is a 55-story, 2.2 million sf project that is the first commercial high-rise to achieve LEED Platinum certification. Drawing on concepts of biophilia, or people`s innate need for connection to the natural environment, the vision was to create the The building`s floor-to-ceiling glass curtain wall minimizes solar heat gain through low-e glass and heat-reflecting ceramic frit while simultaneously providing exquisite views. Waterless urinals, greywater recycling, and rainwater harvesting systems save millions of gallons of potable water and reduce the building`s water consumption by nearly 50%. With an under-floor air system and 95% filtration, fresh air delivered to offices can be individually controlled and is actually cleaner when it is exhausted from the building. Recognizing its impact in the heart of a dense metropolis, thermal ice-storage tanks in the building`s cellar produce ice at night, reducing the building`s peak demand on the city`s over-taxed electric grid. In addition, an onsite 4.6 megawatt cogeneration plant provides a clean, efficient power source for nearly 70% of the building`s annual energy requirements. One Bryant Park represents a shift in thinking about modern building design, achieving at scale many of the green building movement`s most transformative ideas for water and energy conservation, material efficiency, and indoor environmental quality. It has fundamentally transformed the market for large-scale commercial developments. In the city defined by the modern skyscraper, the tower also makes a highly visible statement on regeneration, urban stewardship, and global citizenship for the twenty-first century.

One Bryant Park

                                            
                                            
                                            
                                                 Cook+Fox Architects 
                                            
                                        

 Rick Cook discusses the development of the first green skyscraper in Times Square. 

Inspired by both its proximity to the High Line and our pursuit of biophilic design, 510 West 22nd Street provides maximum visual and physical connection to the landscaped environment of the High Line and views of the Hudson River beyond. The building is designed to achieve a LEED Platinum rating. A glass-enclosed lobby captures natural light from the High Line above and offers tenants and visitors a view of the ground level garden as they approach the elevator banks. Relating to the park’s infrastructure, the glass curtain wall is interspersed with structural elements in dark charcoal metal and all terraces feature natural wood ceilings that recall the plantings and wood benches below. The rooftop garden further enhances the connection to the surrounding natural environment with mobile planters installed on tracks that resemble the High Line’s original train tracks as well as the rolling chaise lounges in place in the park today. Office spaces at 510 West 22nd have been designed to create a professional environment that supports the health, well being, and productivity of its employees. Large, light-filled floors with a state-of-the-art under-floor air distribution system are adaptable to a wide range of users, engineered for comfort and high-performance, and create direct connection between tenants and the sights and sounds of the surrounding neighborhood.

510 W 22nd Street

Rick Cook discusses the design of a high quality work place on the High Line at 510 West 22nd Street.

Bryant Park is a 9.6-acre public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Just blocks from Times Square and the Theater District and mere feet from the New York Public Library, the park is an ideal resting spot for the thousands of tourists and residents who pass by its boundaries each day. Highlights include the Benito Ju&aacute;rez Monument, the Gertrude Stein Statue, the Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, the Jose Bonifacio De Andrada E Silva Statue, the Josephine Shaw Lowell Memorial Fountain and the William Earl Dodge sculpture. This European-style public park, with ample seating, a symmetrical design, and well-kept trees and lawns is watched over by a massive branch of the New York Public Library. The rehabilitation of the park recaptured a derelict public space by introducing amenities, careful interventions in the landscape and proper maintenance. To draw pedestrian traffic, hedges were removed and openings made in the central lawn's balustrade. New entrances and ramps to the north and south were added, and access points were altered to encourage easy visitation. The park is anchored by four neoclassical food kiosks and the grand-caf&eacute; style Bryant Park Grill and Caf&eacute;, allowing patrons to dine inside, outside and on a roof terrace. These amenities have become a permanent part of the New York Public Library's landscaped perimeter, unanimously approved by the Landmarks Commission and universally praised by visitors.

Bryant Park

A description of various artworks in and around Bryant Park.

 Jean Parker Phifer, NYC architect and author of Public Art New York, reads a selection about Bryant Park, discussing its renovation in the 1990s after its takeover by drug dealers during the 70s and 80s. 

Hugh Hardy of H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture discusses his work on the renovation of Bryant Park, from a drug-infested area to a clean and safe community area.

Jean Parker Phifer, NYC architect and author of Public Art New York, reads a selection about the William Cullen Bryant Memorial, a bronze statue located in Bryant Park.

Step below grade at the subway to check out the Arts for Transit work by Sam Kunce -Under Bryant Park' from 2002. According to the Arts for Transit website: -The artist based the project on the idea of systems. In her words, 'People travel the subway system, water and other utility services are delivered by pipes, and plants and trees that provide grace and softness against the city's sharper edges find their way to water and nutrients underground through a system of roots. In a similar way, literature is shared by systems of learning and lending, and many animals inhabit systems of burrows just as humans systematically divide portions of larger habitats above ground."

To celebrate the richness of the public art around Grand Central, we put together a walking tour which is modeled on the acoustiguide you might get in a museum.  You can listen to the entire tour below, download it to your ipod, or just a section that interests you. In addition to our narrative, we also recorded Jean Parker Phifer reading excerpts from her book about Bryant Park and some of the sculptures found there and Richard Haas talking about some of the murals he has painted in the area.

Matthew Broderick reveals to us the hidden world of the chess tables, the players, and the strategies.

Matthew Broderick takes us back to his childhood, as well as introduces us to the German writer and poet Goethe.

Matthew Broderick invites us to observe the daily interplay between the City's movers and shakers at the Bryant Park Grill.

Matthew Broderick invites us to come meet him at Bryant Park, located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan.

Matthew Broderick helps us to see the park through the eyes of one of its most important and eloquent employees.

Matthew Broderick takes us back in time to an older New York, through the power of the written word.

Matthew Broderick shows us the philosophical path of most enjoyment, through the game of petanque.

Matthew Broderick gives us a new way to appreciate the relationship of the Park and the City. 

 COOKFOX Architects LLP is a studio dedicated to a vision of integrated, environmentally responsive design. Guided by a passion for design excellence and a belief in the collaborative process, COOKFOX seeks out select projects that fundamentally re-think how buildings interact with people and the natural environment. Starting with intensive research, we seek to understand each project in its environmental, cultural, and contemporary context, so that our work may engage with layers of time and a strong sense of place. Inspired by concepts such as biophilia, we are pursuing architecture that goes beyond LEED to restore, regenerate and contribute to the urban environment. 

COOKFOX Architects

SITES

PLAYLISTS CURATED by COOKFOX Architects

Podcasts