324 E 51st Street is not your typical townhouse. It’s startling, even for New York architecture. But there is reason behind the perforated skin.
The building may remind you of Cassa NY, though on a smaller scale. The architect explains the facade as a way to reference rather than mimic its neighbors: The perforations are the size and shape of bricks.
Why?
Behind the street wall there are no traditional rooms to hold traditional windows. The stair and elevator core was moved to the front, to consolidate space and create a “vertical loft.” See the project video – it makes sense.
Thinking outside the box, even if it looks like a box.
324 E 51st Street Vital Statistics
- Location: 324 E 51st Street between First and Second Avenues
- Year completed: 2009
- Architect: Peter L. Gluck + Partners
- Floors: 4
- Style: Postmodern
324 E 51st Street Recommended Reading
- Gluck + Partners project video
- Curbed NYblog
- Emporis database