Start to finish, it’s all about the details.
One Thirty West 12th Street, a 1941 Art Moderne masterpiece by architect H. I. Feldman, is now a 13-story condominium project with 43 impeccable units designed by COOKFOX Architects.
“It’s a transitional building, from pre-war to modern,” says Rick Cook, partner in the Manhattan firm, about the apartments completed just before the start of World War II.
The architects started with a 105,000 square-foot shell in the heart of the West Village, striving to re-think it in terms of LEED-Gold sustainability. Their efforts paid off. On Monday, the owners of the building – a multi-generational real estate family – were awarded a Global Green award in Global Green USA’s 13th Annual Sustainable Design Awards.
“We wanted to create the most comfortable and healthy living environment possible,” Cook says. “It was a primary concern that the air and water be healthy.”
Fresh air is delivered through a 95-percent-efficient filtration system that shields from pollutants and allergens. Interior adhesives, finishes, paints, and material meet low VOC standards, also to improve indoor air quality.
“It’s green living, using existing building stock,” he says.
But it’s the design details and materials that impress most.
Hardware from Nanz was one of the first selections the firm made, to establish a level of quality. “It’s one of those things you touch to establish the feel of the apartment,” he says. “It had to be beautiful, with light colors and a soft palette – even the weight of the hardware.”
Artwork in the model condo was curated by collector Beth Rudin DeWoody, who’s among the third generation in the firm that owns the building.
The interiors faced the challenge of living up to the exceptional quality of the masonry building itself, with cast stone exterior walls, a curved bend into the entry and glass corners. Set back at street level, it rises like a sculpture into the sky, and seems to cascade down from four penthouse units and a utility cube atop.
“We were trying to find that light spot between pre-war and modern,” Cook Says. “We’re modern architects who found this challenge interesting – how to maximize the potential and make this building a perfect example of its setting.”
They appear to have done it all, from beginning to end, with a great deal of style.
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For more on COOKFOX Architects, go to http://cookfox.com/
For more on One Thirty West 12th Street, go to http://130west12.com/#!Home
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