Edward
June 28th, 2003, 10:06 PM
Hotel Gansevoort
*
18 Ninth Avenue
New York, NY 10014 *
The Gansevoort Hotel will offer an event loft with 20-foot ceilings, a rooftop garden and pool, a three-story Italian bar and restaruant, a 5,100-square-foot spa and 187 guest rooms over 13 floors.
Architect: Stephen B. Jacobs
Interior designer: Andi Pepper
Room rates will range from $325 to $425 with suites priced at $675. The rooftop duplex Presidential Suite will fetch $2,000 per night.
Hotel Gansevoort is a new boutique hotel located in the Meatpacking District. Owned and operated by Henry Kallan, who also runs the Library and Giraffe Hotels, the Gansevoort will offer an event loft with 20-foot ceilings, a rooftop garden and pool, a three-story Italian bar and restaruant, a 5,100-square-foot spa and 187 guest rooms over 13 floors. Scheduled to open in December 2003.
Text below is from New York Construction News
On the Cutting Edge: Hotel Gansevoort breaks new ground in Manhattan's Meat Packing District
By Arthur Schurr
The new Hotel Gansevoort uses simple means for complex ends to reflect the transformation of a neighborhood on the cutting edge of hip.
Herman Melville would be pleased with the $60 million, 187-room, 13-floor boutique hotel that bears the surname of his grandfather, a Revolutionary War hero. The hotel will stand as a bold statement declaring the revitalization of the Gansevoort Meatpacking District, particularly since the post-Sept. 11 economic downturn.
The hotel is being developed by father and son William and Michael Achenbaum of Long Island-based WSA Management Ltd. and funded by the German bank Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale.
"Service, location, guest comfort and distinctive amenities are the key to long-term success of a hotel in Manhattan," Michael Achenbaum said. "And the Gansevoort is designed to meet all of these needs. Our architect and designer have worked in tandem to create a singularly dramatic exterior with a luxurious interior."
Featuring a 5,000-sq.-ft. rooftop development - including a 45-ft. outdoor pool with underwater music, a rooftop garden and an events loft - the freestanding reinforced concrete building will have zinc-colored metal panels, glass-sheathed French balconies and projecting bay windows.
The hotel was designed by New York-based architect Stephen B. Jacobs and interior designer Andi Pepper, the team responsible for the Library and Giraffe hotels.
Levine Builders of Douglaston, Queens, serves as the project's general contractor.
"It is very rare that you have a freestanding building on a prominent intersection, in the heart of what is the hottest neighborhood in town," Jacobs said. "And the exciting thing about this building is that it's such an incredible opportunity. There's nothing around there that's this tall and distinctive. This is a signature contemporary building."
Combining elements of the neighborhood's architectural traditions with features asserting the hotel's individuality, the Gansevoort's entrance on cobble-stoned Ninth Avenue will feature a 14-ft.-high revolving door and dramatic glass columns.
Three sandblasted, internally illuminated, opaque glass columns that use specialized LED lighting technology will flank the building's entrance. The "light columns" create the nighttime illusion that they actually support the structure.
Chelsea Lighting, a commercial lighting distributor in Manhattan, supplied the custom fixtures for the columns. The double-height lobby will feature intimate sitting nooks as well as dedicated reception and concierge areas. An extensive canopy will wrap around the corner of Ninth Avenue and 13th Street, echoing the area's early 20th Century structures used for the largely departed meatpacking industry.
For Jacobs, the most dramatic aspect of the Gansevoort is the roof.
"Rooftops are the most underutilized real estate in the city, and I've been an advocate of rooftop uses for more than 25 years," he said. "They offer tremendous potential. At the Gansevoort, we created a huge, two-story room that can be used for functions or as a suite. And it basically opens up to outdoor space in four different directions.
"Combine that with the outdoor pool and the richly landscaped roof garden and you can have a phenomenal party up there."
Before the party could get started, though, the team faced some engineering roadblocks, including foundation problems. With a high water table, the hotel design was limited to having only one cellar level.
Jacobs and his team decided to place a good deal of the mechanical equipment on a mechanical floor at the top of the building. Although a cost-intensive choice - the floor must be built - it served as the most effective solution given the ever-present conflict of priorities for available cellar-level space.
The elevator pits actually went below the high water table - 2 ft. below the slab on grade.
Staten Island-based Peregrine Management Corp. handled the excavation and foundation engineering. The job required driving sheet pilings around the interior elevator footings to minimize the extent of the necessary dewatering. This was done to prevent settlement and any impacts to adjacent buildings.
"The water issue was serious enough that we had to redesign the entire building, said Jack Calucci, a superintendent at Peregrine. "We raised the entire structure a couple of feet."
Attention turned next to the structural system. Arthur Segal of Manhattan-based Rosenwasser/Grossman Consulting Engineers said the 8-in. concrete slab flat-plate structural system with approximately 23-ft. spans provided necessary design flexibility. But it also presented problems.
"The most challenging part was to take these long spans - the perimeter spans - and make them work without spandrel beams," he added. "That's why we used the flat-plate system. And we had to camber the slabs in order to take care of the deflection produced when you don't have spandrel beams. That is one of the main features that keeps construction costs on the structural system to a minimum when you're not using spandrel beams."
For Segal and his team, supporting the rooftop pool on 3-ft.-deep concrete transfer girders was necessary because the main building columns did not continue up to outline the footprint of the pool. The columns were shifted to offset and catch the framing for the pool perimeter.
Adding to the rooftop's complexity are some fancy steel curvatures on the roof over a health club. "That gives the building a more futuristic look," Segal said.
The HVAC for the Gansevoort is also futuristic. A central chilling plant with electric reheat allows any guest to have heating or cooling at almost any time of the year. This is particularly important given that the Gansevoort is essentially a freestanding building with generous amounts of glass.
Manhattan-based George Langer Associates supplied MEP expertise.
Once completed, rooms at the Gansevoort will sport 9-ft. ceilings, and 20 of the 187 rooms will be corner suites. Described as "sophisticated and minimalist," rooms will feature a "color palette of neutrals and grays with a shot of blackberry."
The lobby's glass theme will be carried into the rooms through the use of backlit translucent glass in muted colors in the place of conventional closet and bathroom doors. In addition, the bathrooms will offer a custom-designed stainless steel "Gansevoort" sink and Carrara marble.
Hotelier Henry Kallen (also of the Library and Giraffe hotels) will independently operate the hotel. It will feature Barlotti, a three-tiered Italian bar/restaurant with a covered dining terrace.
A 5,100-sq.-ft. full-service spa and exercise facility will be located on the lower level. Room rates will range from $325 to $425 with suites priced at $675. The rooftop duplex Presidential Suite will fetch $2,000 per night.
"Right now, we're well into the foundation, excavation, dewatering, and pouring and placing the foundation walls," Jeffrey Levine of Levine Builders said. "Fortunately, the geotechnical engineering was on the money. The water was where we expected it to be. It's all going quite well."
http://www.wirednewyork.com/hotels/hotel_gansevoort/hotel_gansevoort_28june03.jpg
http://www.wirednewyork.com/hotels/hotel_gansevoort/hotel_gansevoort_meatpacking_28june03.jpg
*
18 Ninth Avenue
New York, NY 10014 *
The Gansevoort Hotel will offer an event loft with 20-foot ceilings, a rooftop garden and pool, a three-story Italian bar and restaruant, a 5,100-square-foot spa and 187 guest rooms over 13 floors.
Architect: Stephen B. Jacobs
Interior designer: Andi Pepper
Room rates will range from $325 to $425 with suites priced at $675. The rooftop duplex Presidential Suite will fetch $2,000 per night.
Hotel Gansevoort is a new boutique hotel located in the Meatpacking District. Owned and operated by Henry Kallan, who also runs the Library and Giraffe Hotels, the Gansevoort will offer an event loft with 20-foot ceilings, a rooftop garden and pool, a three-story Italian bar and restaruant, a 5,100-square-foot spa and 187 guest rooms over 13 floors. Scheduled to open in December 2003.
Text below is from New York Construction News
On the Cutting Edge: Hotel Gansevoort breaks new ground in Manhattan's Meat Packing District
By Arthur Schurr
The new Hotel Gansevoort uses simple means for complex ends to reflect the transformation of a neighborhood on the cutting edge of hip.
Herman Melville would be pleased with the $60 million, 187-room, 13-floor boutique hotel that bears the surname of his grandfather, a Revolutionary War hero. The hotel will stand as a bold statement declaring the revitalization of the Gansevoort Meatpacking District, particularly since the post-Sept. 11 economic downturn.
The hotel is being developed by father and son William and Michael Achenbaum of Long Island-based WSA Management Ltd. and funded by the German bank Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale.
"Service, location, guest comfort and distinctive amenities are the key to long-term success of a hotel in Manhattan," Michael Achenbaum said. "And the Gansevoort is designed to meet all of these needs. Our architect and designer have worked in tandem to create a singularly dramatic exterior with a luxurious interior."
Featuring a 5,000-sq.-ft. rooftop development - including a 45-ft. outdoor pool with underwater music, a rooftop garden and an events loft - the freestanding reinforced concrete building will have zinc-colored metal panels, glass-sheathed French balconies and projecting bay windows.
The hotel was designed by New York-based architect Stephen B. Jacobs and interior designer Andi Pepper, the team responsible for the Library and Giraffe hotels.
Levine Builders of Douglaston, Queens, serves as the project's general contractor.
"It is very rare that you have a freestanding building on a prominent intersection, in the heart of what is the hottest neighborhood in town," Jacobs said. "And the exciting thing about this building is that it's such an incredible opportunity. There's nothing around there that's this tall and distinctive. This is a signature contemporary building."
Combining elements of the neighborhood's architectural traditions with features asserting the hotel's individuality, the Gansevoort's entrance on cobble-stoned Ninth Avenue will feature a 14-ft.-high revolving door and dramatic glass columns.
Three sandblasted, internally illuminated, opaque glass columns that use specialized LED lighting technology will flank the building's entrance. The "light columns" create the nighttime illusion that they actually support the structure.
Chelsea Lighting, a commercial lighting distributor in Manhattan, supplied the custom fixtures for the columns. The double-height lobby will feature intimate sitting nooks as well as dedicated reception and concierge areas. An extensive canopy will wrap around the corner of Ninth Avenue and 13th Street, echoing the area's early 20th Century structures used for the largely departed meatpacking industry.
For Jacobs, the most dramatic aspect of the Gansevoort is the roof.
"Rooftops are the most underutilized real estate in the city, and I've been an advocate of rooftop uses for more than 25 years," he said. "They offer tremendous potential. At the Gansevoort, we created a huge, two-story room that can be used for functions or as a suite. And it basically opens up to outdoor space in four different directions.
"Combine that with the outdoor pool and the richly landscaped roof garden and you can have a phenomenal party up there."
Before the party could get started, though, the team faced some engineering roadblocks, including foundation problems. With a high water table, the hotel design was limited to having only one cellar level.
Jacobs and his team decided to place a good deal of the mechanical equipment on a mechanical floor at the top of the building. Although a cost-intensive choice - the floor must be built - it served as the most effective solution given the ever-present conflict of priorities for available cellar-level space.
The elevator pits actually went below the high water table - 2 ft. below the slab on grade.
Staten Island-based Peregrine Management Corp. handled the excavation and foundation engineering. The job required driving sheet pilings around the interior elevator footings to minimize the extent of the necessary dewatering. This was done to prevent settlement and any impacts to adjacent buildings.
"The water issue was serious enough that we had to redesign the entire building, said Jack Calucci, a superintendent at Peregrine. "We raised the entire structure a couple of feet."
Attention turned next to the structural system. Arthur Segal of Manhattan-based Rosenwasser/Grossman Consulting Engineers said the 8-in. concrete slab flat-plate structural system with approximately 23-ft. spans provided necessary design flexibility. But it also presented problems.
"The most challenging part was to take these long spans - the perimeter spans - and make them work without spandrel beams," he added. "That's why we used the flat-plate system. And we had to camber the slabs in order to take care of the deflection produced when you don't have spandrel beams. That is one of the main features that keeps construction costs on the structural system to a minimum when you're not using spandrel beams."
For Segal and his team, supporting the rooftop pool on 3-ft.-deep concrete transfer girders was necessary because the main building columns did not continue up to outline the footprint of the pool. The columns were shifted to offset and catch the framing for the pool perimeter.
Adding to the rooftop's complexity are some fancy steel curvatures on the roof over a health club. "That gives the building a more futuristic look," Segal said.
The HVAC for the Gansevoort is also futuristic. A central chilling plant with electric reheat allows any guest to have heating or cooling at almost any time of the year. This is particularly important given that the Gansevoort is essentially a freestanding building with generous amounts of glass.
Manhattan-based George Langer Associates supplied MEP expertise.
Once completed, rooms at the Gansevoort will sport 9-ft. ceilings, and 20 of the 187 rooms will be corner suites. Described as "sophisticated and minimalist," rooms will feature a "color palette of neutrals and grays with a shot of blackberry."
The lobby's glass theme will be carried into the rooms through the use of backlit translucent glass in muted colors in the place of conventional closet and bathroom doors. In addition, the bathrooms will offer a custom-designed stainless steel "Gansevoort" sink and Carrara marble.
Hotelier Henry Kallen (also of the Library and Giraffe hotels) will independently operate the hotel. It will feature Barlotti, a three-tiered Italian bar/restaurant with a covered dining terrace.
A 5,100-sq.-ft. full-service spa and exercise facility will be located on the lower level. Room rates will range from $325 to $425 with suites priced at $675. The rooftop duplex Presidential Suite will fetch $2,000 per night.
"Right now, we're well into the foundation, excavation, dewatering, and pouring and placing the foundation walls," Jeffrey Levine of Levine Builders said. "Fortunately, the geotechnical engineering was on the money. The water was where we expected it to be. It's all going quite well."
http://www.wirednewyork.com/hotels/hotel_gansevoort/hotel_gansevoort_28june03.jpg
http://www.wirednewyork.com/hotels/hotel_gansevoort/hotel_gansevoort_meatpacking_28june03.jpg