Standard Hotel - 848 Washington St - Gansevoort

[Kris]

New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com

Developing beef in Gansevoort

Wednesday, October 15th, 2003

A high-rise hotel that developer Stephen Touhey plans to build in the Meatpacking District will be half-filled with apartments - though residential construction is forbidden there.

What's worse, preservationists and politicians charged yesterday, city officials showed him how to skirt the law.

"The Department of Buildings is colluding," Congressman Jerrold Nadler said at a press conference. He called on Mayor Bloomberg to stop the construction of the proposed 450-foot skyscraper on a site at the corner of Washington and W. 13th streets.

It would be almost as tall as the United Nations Building, dwarfing neighboring properties of seven stories or less. But the possible arrival of apartment dwellers worries the project's opponents more than its overwhelming scale.

The presence of residents in the West Village neighborhood will jeopardize 50 meatpacking companies that employ 500 people, Nadler and others said. Residents will hate the noise of truck traffic while they're trying to sleep, as well as the stink of blood and guts in the cobblestoned streets.

"I'm worried about my men. My men need jobs," said Ray DeStefano, a shop steward at Walmir Meat.

Late-night clubs won't have a prayer if apartments are built. Nearby Hogs & Heifers will be driven out of business within a year, owner Michelle Dell predicted.

Touhey tried to get a variance to build a 32-story apartment tower, designed by famous architect Jean Nouvel. Both the Department of City Planning and the Department of Business Services opposed the variance. In March, Touhey gave up and said he'd build a hotel - which city zoning does allow in the Meatpacking District.

But the Department of Buildings told Touhey to change the wording on his application for a construction permit, so he can build 49% of the units in the tower as apartments, said Andrew Berman, who heads the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

Deputy commissioner Ron Livian signed the application.

Berman's group recently won landmark status for the Gansevoort Market Historic District, but Touhey's development site was excluded from the protected neighborhood.

Buildings department spokeswoman Ilyse Fink said it was "offensive" of Nadler to speak of collusion, and legal for a proposed hotel to be 49% residential in the industrial neighborhood. And the document that caused the fuss is only a request for an opinion of what's allowed to be built at the site, not a construction permit.

"Perhaps Mr. Nadler should go back and read the zoning resolution himself," she said.

[Kris]

http://images.zwire.com/local/Z/Zwire1840/zwire/images/ACF6CB.gif

[TLOZ Link5]

Gah, just make the whole thing into a hotel.

[Jasonik]

http://www.palletnails.com/images/Kerf_Cutter_250.jpg
http://www.dizzypigbbq.com/images/RecipeImages/Roy-cut.jpg
http://zachery.path.med.umich.edu/stuff/pix/wagners_meat.jpg

[Stern]

The irony is that 20 years from now residents in Nouvel's building will be NIMBY's in their own right. "You cant build taller than us, our views will be blocked, it will strain the infastructure, bitch, bitch, bitch."

[TLOZ Link5]

I like the building. I just have to side with the NIMBYs this time. No one wants to live in the Meatpacking District the way it is now. It's a great place to visit, no doubt; but live? I'll pass.

[Kris]

Things change.

[billyblancoNYC]

It should be a hotel or they should somehow make all residents sign "No-Bitch" clauses giving them no rights to complain since they should know damn well what they are getting into. Besides, there doesn't have to residnetial buildings in every corner of Manhattan.

[NYatKNIGHT]

They ought to make the top floor a club. Every resident would know what they're getting into.

[TLOZ Link5]

Things change.

Change should not be forced. The district is still a viable industrial area, as opposed to other parts of the City slated for redevelopment.

[Derek2k3]

I walked around there with my friends from high school last weekend and I've never smelled anything so pungent before...when we got underneath the High Line we actually started to run.

http://www.aiany.org/eOCULUS/2003/2003images/GreenwichVillageTower.jpg

http://www.aiany.org/eOCULUS/2003/01.09.03.htm

[Kris]

November 9, 2003

MEATPACKING DISTRICT

A Tower Returns, to the Neighbors' Dismay

By DENNY LEE

Besides keeping strange hours, meatpackers and nightclub impresarios had little in common until a 32-story tower was proposed for 848 Washington Street, in the heart of the meatpacking district. The apartment tower and its well-heeled tenants, they argued, would ruin the neighborhood's witching hours.

Together, they succeeded in stopping the proposal before the city's Board of Standards and Appeals, where the developers had sought the variance needed to build a residential building. But now the same tower, designed by the same French architect, Jean Nouvel, is back.

While many opponents of the tower weren't paying close attention, the developer asked the city's Department of Buildings to rule that the tower would not violate the site's zoning if only 49 percent of the units were apartments, and the rest were hotel rooms. The department gave its approval earlier this year, which means that the tower can be built on a site that lies just outside the recently created Gansevoort Market Historic District.

"This developer is trying to sneak a 450-foot-tall Trojan horse into the meatpacking district," said Andrew Berman, executive director of Save Gansevoort Market, an advocacy group. "It doesn't make sense for the city to designate this a historic district and then allow this development."

The developer, Stephen Touhey, said there was no subterfuge involved in his effort to build the tower. In fact, he said he has since modified his project, and is now planning to "build a pure hotel" with about 100 rooms and no residential units.

If all goes as planned, Mr. Touhey said, "We will finalize our agreement with a hotel operator in the next 30 days and break ground in the late spring." Still, he added, "I can't say at the end of the day that it won't have any long-term apartments."

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

[ZippyTheChimp]

From another thread, the site at present. View north on Washington St. The tower would be on the left of the High Line.

http://www.pbase.com/image/14379710.jpg

[Kris]

The Exception to Prove the Rule

This Manhattan quarter nearby the meat market, along Hudson River, is crossed by what remains of an old railway and old metal bridges across the 12th and the 13th streets, a few steps from Washington Street.

The building site is crossed by the rails. The realism incites to build a massive block above the rails. The analysis of the site characteristics, in a neighborhood where the inhabitants are willing to keep the meat market and what remains of the past, leads me to construct around the rails by maintaining bridges and tracks, by creating an urban terrace, a public terrace for bars and restaurants. This leads to the construction of three buildings above three tiny places: two triangles and one trapezoid. Shops are under the tracks in the continuation of the sidewalks of Washington Street.

A thin tower rises up in the sky, an industrial like tower above a proportion of a harbor chimney. It contains large apartments with quadrate views over the "land-marks" of Manhattan, and over the fabulous light of the Hudson sunset, through all kinds of windows, small or large. This explains the atypical façades, the light effects being accentuated by the use of different materials, the steel becoming shimmering above the rails:

- to diffract the rising and setting suns and create light gaps against the sunlight

- to assert the exception of an arrow of shade and light rising up in the middle of warehouses.

Jean Nouvel


Status : In Design
Location: Washington Street, Manhattan, New York
Dates: Initial Design August 2001
Net floor area: 140 250 sq ft, 13 000 m2
Gross floor area: 165 000 sq ft, 15 300 m2
Program: A 150 meter high tower with 34 luxury loft apartments
Construction cost: 50 000 000 €, 45 000 000 $
Client: Landmark Development

www.jeannouvel.fr (Under "Projects: Landmark.")

[Kris]

June 10, 2004

Hotel Back In Play for Meatpacking District

By TRACIE ROZHON

ANDRÉ BALAZS, the hotelier who transformed the Chateau Marmont, a seedy hangout on the Sunset Strip, into a celebrity haunt, and a SoHo factory into the Mercer, said yesterday he is planning to build a hotel on a much-fought-over lot in the meatpacking district.

Mr. Balazs bought the property last week despite one unusual obstacle. His hotel will have to straddle the High Line, the raised rail bed that runs up the West Side.

Details are sketchy — no announcement has been made of architect, room count or completion date — but Mr. Balazs said the hotel will be part of his Standard chain, with rooms starting for less than $100. He plans to open a Standard on an island off Miami in October, making the one in New York his fifth.

He also said he will keep down the height. Several years ago, Jean Nouvel, the French architect, designed a black, industrial-looking 31-story condominium tower for the site. The neighborhood went into shock, not because of the design — opponents said they liked it — but rather because they said it would attract wealthy homeowners who might try to clean up the bawdy late-night atmosphere and early-morning butchering.

Interviewed yesterday, Mr. Balazs said he was sensitive to the neighborhood. The property is bordered by West Street, West 13th Street, Washington Street and Little West 12th Street.

"What we're doing will be very, very substantially lower" than the previous design, he said, and it will be a hotel, not a residential tower. "I don't even think the word `tower' will apply to us," he said.

He said his plans are for an "as of right" development, which means no requests for variances from the existing zoning. "Absolutely everything — the size, the scale — will be as of right," he said. "We're not seeking to do anything different."

Is there a chance he will choose Mr. Nouvel as the architect?

"No, I don't believe so," he said.

The site had been optioned by Stephen T. Touhey, the developer, who needed a city variance to allow residential use in the area, which had been used for manufacturing. In March 2002, Mr. Touhey jettisoned a plan for a three-building complex, leaving only the 31-story main condominium tower. But opposition was vociferous, and eventually the option lapsed.

Mr. Balazs said yesterday that he had been watching and was ready to jump. He declined to say how much he paid for the problematical lot, but said it was cheap enough to be able to offer hotel rooms to a mostly younger clientele. Rooms will look toward the Hudson, the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty, he said.

Will guests understand the somewhat raucous atmosphere of the district?

"Absolutely," said Mr. Balazs, who lives in SoHo, also among gritty buildings. "That is our Standard clientele."

And the Standard, if it is built, will be only a few blocks from the Gansevoort, a 14-story hotel that opened in March — also built as of right — which features exterior columns that glow like a jukebox, in hues of red, purple, blue and yellow.

But there is already one big difference: rooms at the Gansevoort start at $325.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

[krulltime]

But there is already one big difference: rooms at the Gansevoort start at $325.

oh, my!...That is expensive. :|

[krulltime]

"What we're doing will be very, very substantially lower" than the previous design, he said, and it will be a hotel, not a residential tower. "I don't even think the word `tower' will apply to us," he said.

Oh well that is a shame. I was hoping something big to alter the skyline a little bit. But not all wishes come true I am afraid. At least something is happening.

[Lemonsoda]

Is there a chance he will choose Mr. Nouvel as the architect?

"No, I don't believe so," he said.

I liked the uneven distribution of windows in Jean Nouvel's proposal. Just one somewhat original or slightly different building can substantially enhance a street's ambiance.

Now why don't architects copy more good features off each other's buildings? Is spawning the next universal glass box really more fun?

[Derek2k3]

So this is the third Nouvel project proposed for the city that will never be built. It's almost like the city is allergic to good architecture. :(

[BrooklynRider]

The whole block bounded by Washington Street / West 13th Street / West Street has been demolished in the last month. Is this the Nouvel project?

[monknyc]

A 2001 Muschamp review of the Nouvel design from the Times, courtesy Andre Balazs Properties:

http://www.andrebalazs.com/residence/nyt_m40_2.pdf

[monknyc]

Condo Attitudes

Hotelier Andre Balazs wants to put his name on a slice of Manhattan's residential sector. The 48-year-old entrepreneur, who helped popularize the boutique-hotel fad of the 1990s, is offering condominiums on the edges of New York's SoHo district and is readying a second building nearby.

Mr. Balazs, whose hotels include the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, just opened his second hotel in New York, the Hotel QT in Midtown. Meanwhile, he has sold about 80% of the 53 units at One Kenmare Square, according to Douglas Elliman, which is handling sales for the building. (Prices at the building, to be completed this fall, range from $540,000 for studios to $5.5 million for two-bedroom penthouse suites.)

Architect Richard Gluckman, designer of the Guggenheim in Berlin, designed the 11-story Kenmare Square building, which has a slightly curved glass facade. Apartments at Mr. Balazs's other project, the Jean Nouvel-designed 40 Mercer, go on sale in June. In 2004, the median price for condos below 42nd St. reached $667,000, surpassing for the first time units on the Upper West and East sides, while prices for prewar condos below 14th St. hit a record $1.275 million, according to the Real Estate Board of New York.

Mr. Balazs has just made another residential purchase: the Staatsburg, N.Y., onetime home of former Penthouse magazine publisher Bob Guccione for $5.9 million. The 15-room estate sits on 75 acres on the Hudson River, about 80 miles north of New York City. Kennedy Funding, a private lending firm in Hackensack, N.J., acquired the estate last year. Heather Croner Real Estate had the listing. Mr. Balazs declined to comment on his plans for the home.

[Edward]

(The property is bordered by West Street, West 13th Street, Washington Street and Little West 12th Street.) View East, with West 13th Street on the left. 9 April 2004.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/hotels/standard/848washington.jpg (http://www.wirednewyork.com/hotels/standard/)

[Stern]

I saw an ad in today's NYTIMES, I like the buildings curve and wanted to find out more, but to no avail. Check out the website:

http://www.kenmaresquare.com/main.html

[AJphx]

So this new building is the same site as that jean nouvel proposal? only its not a jean nouvel design anymore? and obviously its a lot shorter.

[Edward]

Here, diged out a photo during demolition stage. 5 February 2005.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/hotels/standard/meatpacking_balazs.jpg

[Edward]

The site of Andre Balazs' Standard Hotel. 1 May 2005.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/hotels/standard/standard_balazs.jpg (http://www.wirednewyork.com/hotels/standard/)

[BrooklynRider]

Anyone have any idea why Structuretone, the notoriously crooked and indicted CM firm, would be CM on this project, when they have so little core & shell experience? They basically do build outs and renovations. This doesn't bode well for the "quality" of this project.

[krulltime]

cool Photos! Thanks Edward... So where is the rendering of this new hotel?

[Derek2k3]

My friggin' eyes...


www.gluckmanmayner.com > commercial > standard hotel

I think I could like it; have to wait and see.

[MidtownGuy]

I love this design.

[Eugenius]

Well, I suppose that if ever there was a place for a brutalist design, it would be in the meatpacking district...
Still, in my mind "perforated concrete" and "luxury hotel" do not go together.

[Derek2k3]

http://www.pbase.com/archit_kderek2k3/image/43036688.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/archit_kderek2k3/image/43036690/medium.jpg

Gluckman Mayner Architects
Standard Hotel New York

http://www.gluckmanmayner.com/

The perforated concrete frame of this building, a proposal for a new hotel in the Meatpacking District of New York City, was inspired by the work of sculptor Erwin Hauer. The building straddles the High Line, a former freight railway serving lower Manhattan.


Transfer
High Line Hi-Jinks

http://www.triplemint.com/triplemint/

We don't normally devote space to hotel projects (dedicated as we are to the new urban home), but we couldn't help noticing this radical design by Gluckman Mayner Architects for Andre Balazs' new Standard hotel now rising in Manhattan's Meat Packing District. This site, once slated for a tower by Jean Nouvel, straddles the High Line, and employs a perforated concrete wall. Click through to the Gluckman Mayner site to see a view of the High Line as it passes through the hotel

[macreator]

I'm sorry but that is one ugly hotel.

Looks as bad to me as the Garage at Queens Plaza.

[MidtownGuy]

I like the cantilevered massing. I LOVE the way it engages the highline in a similar way to the historical structures. And it does it in such a clean unfussy manner. The brutalist aspect is a dramatic antithesis to the ribbon of soft green that will pass right through it. It's skin is almost textile like and the orange sunsets of the westside will cause a gorgeous play of light across its textured surfaces. The cutout at the top mimics the larger one below in a way that I like. It even whispers Frank Lloyd Wright to me the way it builds itself up out of it's surroundings in geometric precision.

The previous tower design was cool, but this is too. I went to the highline exhibit at MOMA earlier tonight, so excuse my zeal. but I really think many of you naysayers will like this once its built.

[Derek2k3]

I noticed before that permits state that the architects for this building is Polshek Partnership Architects and today Curbed confirms this. Polshek also does great work but I expect something more um...standard.

UPDATE: Polshek, Not Gluckman, Designing Standard

http://www.curbed.com/archives/2005/05/12/update_polshek_not_gluckman_designing_standard.php

"The PR people for André Balazs were surprised to learn this morning that Gluckman Mayner's vision for the Standard Hotel was about to become reality, especially since Balazs himself chose Polshek Partnership Architects to design his High Line district structure last year."


_____________________________________________

Standard Hotel
848 Washington Street/439 West 13th Street
19 stories 233 feet
Polshek Partnership Architects
Dev-André Balazs of Hotels AB
Commercial Hotel
206,872 Sq. Ft.
Under Construction 2005-2007

_____________________________________________

The Villager
http://www.thevillager.com/villager_84/scoopysnotebook.html

Where’s Andre? People are wondering what’s going on with Andre Balazs’ new hotel project on Washington St. in the Meat Market. Scaffolding is up around the site, but no construction is happening. One source, recalling that Balazs previously told The Villager he hoped to work with the community on the building’s design, said this hasn’t happened so far. There have been varying reports of the hotel’s height — 30 stories, 25 stories. One thing that is known is the architect is James Polshek, who designed the Museum of Natural History’s Rose Planetarium and the entrance to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.

_____________________________________________

Manhattan Lodging Report

Hotelier Andre Balazs has purchased a
lot in the Meatpacking District bordered
by West Street, West 13th Street,
Washington Street and Little West 12th
Street for $24 million to develop New
York’s first Standard Hotel. The site is
the same location once considered by
Stephen Touhey for a 31-story hotel/
condo. Balazs says the hotel will straddle
the High Line, an elevated railroad which
has been taken over by the city and will
be turned into a park. James Polshek
and Co. has been selected as the
architect for the hotel which is expected
to open in 2007.

[londonlawyer]

Thank goodness that that concrete monstrosity will not be built!

[monknyc]

Polshek stuff is so boring though. I can see them being an appropriate fit for the Clinton Presidential Library, but frankly I'm surprised that someone as trendy as Andre Balazs would pick such a conservative firm for his hip Standard hotel chain. Especially since he went out on a limb and hired Richard Gluckman for One Kenmare Square and Jean Nouvel for 40 Mercer, his two condo developments.

[lofter1]

This is a project across the street from the Standard site:

Coming soon to the Market…then again, maybe not

By Lincoln Anderson

http://www.thevillager.com/villager_120/comingsoontothemarket.html

http://www.thevillager.com/villager_120/market.gif
An ad posted on the Web by a real estate broker shows a new high-tech-style movie theater and retail complex planned for the southeast corner of Washington and 13th Sts.

Last month, James Ortenzio told The Villager he would know in about a year what he’s going to do with his property in the Meat Market. But a Web posting by a real estate broker has some thinking that Ortenzio — one of the few private property owners in the Market still renting to meat businesses — may already be close to deciding.

The advertisement is for 837-843 Washington St., currently a low-rise building owned by Ortenzio, in which the tenants are about four or five meat businesses operating out of coolers, or refrigerated warehouses. The ad shows the property with a new cutting-edge, geometric-style building. According to the ad, by Robert K. Futterman & Associates, a national movie theater chain, featuring independent films, has committed to occupy the second and third floors of the new building once a ground-floor tenant is secured. The ad’s pitch notes the space offers “an incredible opportunity to establish a flagship retail store, showroom and corporate office — all in one — in the hot Meatpacking District.”

Mark Finkel, the property’s broker, said, “The [new] building is 60,000 square feet and we’re out to tenants. The idea is that it would be built as soon as we have a tenant for the entire ground floor, which is 10,000 square feet. The theater is committed as soon as we get a great ground-floor tenant.”

Finkel said he thinks a restaurant might work in the space, but he’s more enthusiastic about a flagship Nike Town or Puma store.

Although the meat businesses have about two and a half years left on their leases, there’s almost always a demolition clause in commercial leases, allowing a landlord to evict tenants when ready to start new construction.

One meat business owner currently a tenant said he had heard about the ad but didn’t want to comment, saying, as it is, he’s just trying to hang onto his space.

Ortenzio for his part, downplayed any buzz the ad may be creating, saying it was just sort of real estate riffing and nothing of substance yet.

“That’s a broker speculating,” Ortenzio said. “I’ve never even spoken to the broker.” However, Ortenzio admitted, “Actually, it’s an idea that I had. It’s a concept. A friend of mine authorized them [to do it], which is fine. I’m not sure it can be a reality — I have to talk to the tenants.”

Asked if he might move to evict the meat businesses before their leases end, Ortenzio said no, but also hedged a bit, indicating he might possibly ask them to renegotiate their leases. According to sources, Ortenzio is renting the spaces at well below market rate, despite the fact that Meat Market commercial rents have gone through the roof.

“People call me, and I tell them I don’t know what I’m doing [with the property],” Ortenzio said.

Jo Hamilton, of Jane St., a leading Meat Market activist, said she’s also curious what Ortenzio intends.

“I too had seen [the ad],” she said. “I talked to someone who spoke to James Ortenzio and he said, ‘Oh no, it’s just baloney.’ I’m
going to take him at his word that it’s nothing.”

There are about 20 meat businesses left in the Meat Market. Ten of these are in the city-owned co-op building a block south of Ortenzio’s building. It’s thought that within a few years the only meat businesses remaining will be those on the co-op block, which has a deed restriction for agricultural market use.

[ablarc]

^ That building is not really a friendly presence.

It's way out of scale, and illustrates that scale has not much to do with height. A sensitive architect could put a thirty story building (or preferably two buildings) on this lot and not be out of scale.

There's a lesson the NIMBYs should learn.

But you can count on them to stay fixated on height.

.

[Derek2k3]

Structure Tone
http://www.structuretone.com/STI/projects.nsf/vUNID/98AD077AA2F94EEE85257074004D7253?openDocument

The Standard Hotel
Washington Street, NYC
Owner
Hotels AB
Architect
Polshek Partnership
Square Footage
200,000
Construction Cost
$100,000,000

http://www.structuretone.com/STI/projects.nsf/vFilesRoll/Standard-Hotel-1_full.jpg/$FILE/Standard-Hotel-1_full.jpg

Our firm is providing construction management for this new 350 unit luxury hotel. The Standard Hotel will include three levels, back-of-house, meeting rooms, public access space, and one basement level. The core will consist of four passenger elevators and one freight elevator. The façade will be brick masonry panels with metals covering the soffitt and selected vertical areas of the highline transfer bridge. Window walls will be utilized in hotel room areas, curtain walls at the lower floors, and moveable curtain walls at the floor lounge and dining areas.

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/2074/standardhotel01cpu6.th.jpg (http://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel01cpu6.jpg) http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/7112/standardhotel02cvk2.th.jpg (http://img413.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel02cvk2.jpg) http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/6719/standardhotel03cih7.th.jpg (http://img413.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel03cih7.jpg)

[antinimby]

Well, that's certainly different.

We don't usually see this type of construction set up.

[Derek2k3]

Here's a rendering from this (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10006&page=7) NYT article.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/12/20/arts/24ouro450.2.jpg
Polshek Partnership
Polshek Partnership’s project for a Standard Hotel.

[NYatKNIGHT]

I guess they're not waiting on the High Line.

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/6976/standardhotel04cch6.th.jpg (http://img157.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel04cch6.jpg) http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/847/standardhotel05cdo1.th.jpg (http://img157.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel05cdo1.jpg) http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/3984/standardhotel06cqx9.th.jpg (http://img444.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel06cqx9.jpg) http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/1545/standardhotel07cpd4.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel07cpd4.jpg)

[Citytect]

Why is the sign upside down?


http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/12/20/arts/24ouro450.2.jpg
Polshek Partnership
Polshek Partnership’s project for a Standard Hotel.

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/3631/standardhotel08cpn3.th.jpg (http://img240.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel08cpn3.jpg) http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/3411/standardhotel09cai3.th.jpg (http://img240.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel09cai3.jpg)

[ablarc]

Why is the sign upside down?
Balazs.

[lofter1]

szalaB ;)

[antinimby]

Actually, that would be...

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/3054/balazsrp8.jpg
...to be more exact. ;)

[Luca]

dey too cool fo' scool, man :rolleyes:

[Stern]

2cool4u

[212]

Looks like an Exxon station.
But I like it anyway. Here's to buildings that add dimension to the urban fabric.

[ablarc]

^ They could cantilever a tower like Citicorp over the Moondance Diner.

[NYCDOC]

I don't care for it. First I am surprised that they would allow someone to build over the highline and obstruct the supposedly great views and to be honest I think it isn't too far off from the Holiday Inn on 8th Avenue that everyone hates so much, but it just has legs! Could just be me though!

[lofter1]

^ They could cantilever a tower like Citicorp over the Moondance Diner.
You should send an email to Gary Barnett / Extell suggesting just that (they've got the Moondance site).

[Luca]

2cool4u

4 U 2 :p

[ZippyTheChimp]

You should send an email to Gary Barnett / Extell suggesting just that (they've got the Moondance site).Back when the neighborhood shut down on weekends and I had to work a Saturday, Moondance was open for breakfast. Banana pancakes, cinnamon coffee, free refills.

[MidtownGuy]

What a shame if that Moondance goes.

[macreator]

What a shame if that Moondance goes.

That would be too bad. I used to know one of the managers there, Steve. He ran the Madison coffee shop on 53rd and 1st for years.

[MidtownGuy]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/220/445704415_1aaa144ca7_b.jpg

[pianoman11686]

http://www.curbed.com/2007_05_highlinex.jpg

Curbed (http://www.curbed.com/)

[pianoman11686]

6/23:

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r260/pianoman11686/SA700041.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r260/pianoman11686/SA700042.jpg

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/861/standardhotel10cek2.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel10cek2.jpg) http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/7481/standardhotel11cpn8.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel11cpn8.jpg) http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/2820/standardhotel12cxn4.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel12cxn4.jpg) http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/3181/standardhotel13cft7.th.jpg (http://img519.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel13cft7.jpg)

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/9586/standardhotel14cwi6.th.jpg (http://img519.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel14cwi6.jpg)

[NYatKNIGHT]

Fun to watch this one rise, especially while doing shots to Lynyrd Skynyrd.

[Citytect]

This building reminds me of a gas station...

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/12/20/arts/24ouro450.2.jpg

[macreator]

This building reminds me of a gas station...


I think it's the upside down red "The Standard" hotel sign -- looks like the red signs for Exxon stations.

[Citytect]

I think it's the upside down red "The Standard" hotel sign -- looks like the red signs for Exxon stations.

Not only that but the supports lifting the building above the highline give it that gas station canopy look.

[infoshare]

I will say this tread has some fantastic photos.

This is one (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=15218&postcount=2) I had not seen (untill adjusting my user cp) and it's obvious the original architectural design was far greater than what is going up there now.

The original projects was Architecture with a capital A: Nouvell does great work.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Coincidentally, I was thinking about the Nouvell proposal during a discussion with ablarc about improvements in the district.

While architecturally superior, the Novell building would have been 50% residential. Residents require and demand residential amenities. Designs for the Gansevoort plaza would have included a playground or dog-run. Neighborhood character ruined.

I prefer the present 100% hotel. The district sits between two residential neighborhoods. It's unique, and should stay that way.

[Fabrizio]

IMHO The gas station asthetic is cool and right for the area.

The profile reminds me of the library building at the University of Cal (Irvine):

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/12/20/arts/24ouro450.2.jpg http://www.lib.uci.edu/images/AS054-60-20.jpg

[Citytect]

IMHO The gas station asthetic is cool and right for the area.

Oh, I agree. I wasn't knocking the look; just stating the similarity. While I don't think the design is particularly noteworthy, it's still pleasantly contextual (in a good way) and has a little flair to it.

[Fabrizio]

Now, let's hope the austere quality isn't an excuse for cheapness. But you know, this could look fine in well engineered raw concrete.

[Bob]

Aaaargh! Do you mean brutalist, such as the Yale Art and Architecture Building in New Haven?

[Fabrizio]

I admit it's an aquired taste.

[econ_tim]

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/7913/standardze1.th.jpg (http://img174.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardze1.jpg)

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/966/standardhotel15cyv3.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel15cyv3.jpg) http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/9566/standardhotel16cxf0.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel16cxf0.jpg) http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/2048/standardhotel17cgm0.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel17cgm0.jpg) http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/9311/standardhotel18cld7.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel18cld7.jpg) http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/7199/standardhotel19ctr1.th.jpg (http://img401.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel19ctr1.jpg)

[czsz]

Is that the final rendering? I so want to embrace it, but in my heart I weep for West Chelsea.

[DMAG]

What's with the upside down signage?

[Fabrizio]

That's how cool we are.

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/760/standardhotel20csc8.th.jpg (http://img513.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel20csc8.jpg) http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/1378/standardhotel21cqf8.th.jpg (http://img513.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel21cqf8.jpg) http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/1589/standardhotel22cqg0.th.jpg (http://img123.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel22cqg0.jpg) http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/8966/standardhotel23ceq9.th.jpg (http://img123.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel23ceq9.jpg)

[fioco]

This is a hotel well-prepared for global warming.

[ablarc]

Pilotis.

[lofter1]

The concrete work on the Standard is top-notch.

Would expect to see a great deal of exposed concrete on this building when it's completed.

[MidtownGuy]

nice columns

[lofter1]

yeah, they are ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_04g.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_05b.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_05c.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_05g.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_05i.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_05j.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_05m.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_06f.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_06m.jpg

***

[lofter1]

and from some other angles ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_07u.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_07d.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_07r.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_07e.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_07l.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_07p.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_08a2_800.jpg

***

[infoshare]

and from some other angles ...

Sweeeet, those photos get a 4 STAR rating. :D Nice concrete formwork (http://www.infolink.com.au/dir/Concrete-Formwork)on that structure.

****

[czsz]

This thing looks like an office block thrown up in some post-independence African capital ca. 1963.

[lofter1]

This thing looks like an office block thrown up in some post-independence African capital ca. 1963.


Could you post an image of one of those ^^^ so we can compare?

[Fabrizio]

It does have that look to it. But more airport hotel than office block.

You want this to have a coffee shop with menus written in English, French and Esperanto.

But I have to say I'm lovin' it. I hope the stilts remain raw cement.

[antinimby]

The shape and size of this hotel reminds me a lot of the, now-destroyed, Marriott hotel (formerly called the Vista Hotel) at the WTC, which coincidentally was also on West St.

http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/80/71/23127180.jpg

[czsz]

Let's just say that in 1960s Africa the whole "let's raise a grey concrete box on stilts" thing was very popular. Check out downtown Nairobi:

http://www.loc.gov/rr/amed/guide/images/a48_49s.jpg

This example from Moscow, though, might be a more appropriate analogue:

http://www.tropolism.com/moskau3.jpg

[Fabrizio]

...whoa...I LOVE that. Any info on it and other shots?

[czsz]

Not much more than an address:

http://www.archphoto.ru/v/brut/moskau3.jpg.html

[Fabrizio]

I can smell the piss and boiled cabbage from here.

[alonzo-ny]

This thing looks like an office block thrown up in some post-independence African capital ca. 1963.

Lol!

How bout good old corb?

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1399/1383051229_261cc7e84e_o.gif

[czsz]

Holy shit, I've even been in that building; I can't believe I didn't remember it.

Let's hope for the Standard Hotel's guests' sake that the interior isn't similarly inspiring as Corb's:

http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/unitedhabitation/UNITE-C0078-1.jpg

I still swear there's a building in Lagos or Abidjan or something that's even more uncannily close.

[BrooklynRider]

1.http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/EighthAve24thStreet200709160359.jpg

2.http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/EighthAve24thStreet200709160360.jpg

3.http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/EighthAve24thStreet200709160364.jpg

4.http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/EighthAve24thStreet200709160365.jpg

5.http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/EighthAve24thStreet200709160368.jpg

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/7098/standardhotel24cto4.th.jpg (http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel24cto4.jpg)

[scumonkey]

From the curbed website today....
The glass is going up!
http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_standard2.jpg

[londonlawyer]

I drove by on Nov. 10, 2007 and noted that the glass is rising quickly.

By the way, what, if anything, is planned for all of the dumpy meat market buildings just south of this which run to Gansevoort Street?

[lofter1]

Butchery :cool:

[londonlawyer]

Seriously. Is this where the new Whitney will rise?

[lofter1]

I am serious ^

That's why they call it the meatpacking district.

Eventually that one will come down.

But for now, more blood and guts.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Approximately one-half of the block to the south of the hotel (the Washington St side) will be the new Whitney annex. The West St side will remain as is.

Not sure what will happen to the existing parking lot on the west side of the hotel. My guess is it will remain as a hotel parking lot.

There are three small buildings just south of the hotel on Little W12th that will probably stay. I hope Hector's tucked under the High-Line survives.

What remains on the block north of the hotel will probably come down.

[lofter1]

And He’s Building a Stairway to High Line

http://observer.cast.advomatic.com/files/imagecache/article/files/Tales-Novac1H.jpg
Chris Shott
Novac Noury rejected a buyout offer from neighbor André Balazs for his building.

Novac Noury, inventor of the spurting keyboard, wants his property
next to André Balazs’ Standard hotel to be a High Line escape route

NY OBSERVER (http://www.observer.com/2007/and-he-s-building-stairway-high-line)
by Chris Shott
October 30, 2007

When developer André Balazs opens his swanky new 344-room Standard hotel on West 13th Street next year, his guests will enjoy some striking views.

They can peer out to the west and watch luxury cruise liners float down the Hudson River.

They can gaze down below at the lush foliage and scenic overlooks of the city’s elevated High Line Park, also slated to open in 2008.

And, upon glimpsing the building adjacent to the park below, some lodgers may stare and wonder: Who is that odd fellow prancing around his junk-strewn patio, blasting a geyser stream of water high into the air from the tip of his arrow-shaped keytar?

The hotel’s flamboyant neighbor is Jerry Lewis (a.k.a. “Novac”) Noury, a 61-year-old disco-era dinosaur whose perhaps biggest claim to fame is inventing the liquid-spewing, shoulder-slung electric organ, with which he soaked so many clubgoers at Studio 54 and other venues in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.

“This is me at the grand opening of Xenon,” Mr. Noury said on the roof of the Hotel Gansevoort, showing off an old photo of his younger self showering some disco diva with his gushing instrument. “As you can see, a female is uninhibitedly reacting to the keyboard, as the keyboard attracts many females — and males, in that era.”

Even today, he’ll whip it out on special occasions, though Mr. Noury now does most of his spouting on the subject of neighborhood development.

He’s railed against the Standard’s construction: the constant ground-level drilling causing cracks in his own modest three-story building at 51 Little West 12th Street, which he’s owned since the mid-1980’s; the work high above raining debris all over his second-floor terrace.

Lately, though, much of his rhetoric has been directed at the neighboring High Line project and what Mr. Noury sees as its glaring vulnerability to disaster.

“The High Line is not your typical park — it’s 25 feet above ground,” he said of the planned 1.5-mile-long open space atop the old elevated train tracks. Yet, a map of the first phase of the park development, stretching several blocks from Gansevoort Street to West 20th Street, shows only five exit points.

What happens in the event of an emergency?

“You’re going to have a stampede,” Mr. Noury ominously predicted. “The High Line lacks staircases like the Titanic lacked lifeboats.”

Not to come off like a complete doomsayer, however, Mr. Noury has also positioned himself to assume the role of savior, offering to build a so-called “Stairway to High Line,” connecting pedestrians on the raised park to safe ground via his own patio. The proposed structure would act as a sort of drawbridge-style escape route. “There will be a Parks Department representative, or my representative, that will use an old hand crank to bring the bridge up and down,” he explained to The Observer.

THE CREATOR OF the spurting keyboard, it turns out, is full of big ideas like this. In fact, when representatives of Mr. Balazs came to him with a buyout offer many months ago, the entrenched owner countered with a vastly different proposal: Let’s be partners!

“I want to build a mini-inn with three restaurants,” Mr. Noury said. “As of right, I can build 13,000 square feet, a hundred feet tall,” he added. “That’s 10 stories.” Among the many far-out components to Mr. Noury’s “mini-inn” plan, he spoke of equipping the place with solar panels, a waterfall and a stem cell research center.

It’s an ambitious concept, especially for a guy who hasn’t seemed to do much of anything with his property in more than two decades. Except storage.

The building was once home to a seedy, round-the-clock cabaret where women danced nude and, to hear him tell it, also performed “magic tricks.” Mr. Noury evicted the sexy magicians and, for a while, used the place as an after-hours party spot, which he called RSVP.

Yet, despite the venue’s potential high value as a nightlife destination — boasting no restrictions on dancing or live entertainment — he never leased it to anyone else, preferring instead to let it devolve into his own personal pack-rat palace, cluttered with old club relics, movie props and other stuff: There’s a rusty old light rig from Studio 54, a pool table from the Paul Newman film The Hustler and several automobiles stashed away in the old strip-club space. The second-floor outdoor patio, which Mr. Noury has dubbed his “showroom,” is strewn with old sinks, chairs, suitcases, stacks of insulation and a six-foot replica of the Statue of Liberty, among other items.

In recent years, neighbors have complained to the Buildings Department about the condition and use of the registered restaurant space for automotive storage and residential purposes, city records show.

All present appearances aside, Mr. Noury insisted that the site offers plenty of potential. “My building could be like the special, eclectic little mini-mansion of rooms to get away from the pizza-pie hotel,” he said of his proposed hotel deal with Mr. Balazs.

The actual hotelier, though, wasn’t looking to join forces with the visionary club vet. Instead, the developer severed ties — literally — demolishing an old abutting train station, which previously linked Mr. Noury’s building to the High Line.

In the months since, the inveterate Mr. Noury has vigorously sought to reconnect to the High Line. Hence, his critics say, all the emergency-preparedness talk.

“You can’t have celebration without evacuation” is perhaps Mr. Noury’s favorite slogan. He even wrote a song about it, titled “Emergency Preparedness Post 9/11”: “Castrophe/Lives in distress/Emergency preparedness/Because I don’t want to leave you behind/We would meet in that place/With suitcase in hand/And a plan/We would still be walking strong/To do what we can/To rebuild/Our life/Our love/Our land.”

Officials involved in the park project aren’t buying Mr. Noury’s Chicken Little routine.

“The High Line’s egress plan was carefully reviewed and approved by the Department of Buildings, as well as Police and Fire departments, as meeting all applicable codes,” said Joshua David, co-founder of the nonprofit fund-raising and advisory group Friends of the High Line, in a written statement. “We have studied several possible emergency scenarios on the High Line that would require evacuation. It is our conclusion, based on evacuation models at times of highest anticipated use, that the current number and location of High Line access points more than fulfills the highest standards of safety for public spaces.”

Even if his proposed “Stairway” never materializes, Mr. Noury seemed determined to redevelop his long-standing building. Just as soon as he can find a financial backer. “I’m in talks with various interested parties that I can’t mention now — I don’t want to start a bidding war,” he said. “They see what I have here is a gold mine.”

[londonlawyer]

I am serious...

Gracias

[londonlawyer]

Approximately one-half of the block to the south of the hotel (the Washington St side) will be the new Whitney annex....

Thanks for the info

[alonzo-ny]

Is the high line actually u/c or is it a myth. Is there any photos of construction?

[lofter1]

??? ^

Everything you need:

http://www.thehighline.org/

[alonzo-ny]

Hey it really is under construction! Thanks L1!

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/5871/standardhotel25csp4.th.jpg (http://img403.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel25csp4.jpg) http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/6048/standardhotel26cbw3.th.jpg (http://img403.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel26cbw3.jpg) http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/7582/standardhotel27czv1.th.jpg (http://img403.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel27czv1.jpg)


I'd wondered about those steel columns bracketing two pylons on the west side of the building.

About a month ago, I noticed...
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/5746/standardhotel28cjb8.th.jpg (http://img222.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel28cjb8.jpg)

And yesterday...
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/9532/standardhotel29cid0.th.jpg (http://img222.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel29cid0.jpg)

Temporary supports?

[lofter1]

Do you think that the steel has moved?

I noticed about 1 week ago that they were chiseling away at the concrete on the pylon(s). Now it looks like they've built wooden forms for a new outer coat. Wonder what's up with that?

[ramvid01]

Possible bad pour of the concrete. Maybe it had too many air bubbles on the outside of the support and they may re pour it. Or maybe it is part of the design (doubt it)

[antinimby]

Fire the klutz responsible for that!

[econ_tim]

Fire the klutz responsible for that!

can't - he's unionized :/

[lofter1]

Bubbles or whatever -- good thing they're making it look better.

I repoted back here in relation to some boo-boos in the exposed concrete wall at 40 Mercer (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=62995&postcount=56).

One repair / fix due to less-than-perfect concrete is nothing when considering the perfectionism in concrete as expected by architect Tadao Ando (http://www.archinect.com/forum/threads.php?id=27647_0_42_0_C).

[ramvid01]

I think the real reason they are repouring is for structural integrity more than aesthetics. Although it is nice to see that they will fix the aesthetic problem.

[londonlawyer]

Does anyone know what this grey-looking junk is on the glass? I hope that it's not permanent.

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/6048/standardhotel26cbw3.jpg

[Derek2k3]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2350/2202126250_f1673a23af_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2144/2193841094_85ef2129bc_b.jpg
iceman75 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/iceman75/)

Don't like this building at all. It's more out of scale than Nouvel's tower that was twice its height. Damn nimby's. I saw Berman today and had to restrain myself from giving him a good slap.

[Fabrizio]

IMHO: I'm seeing, from this photo anyway, a solid and sober style that works well with surroundings here. Fits right in. Does no harm. And the facade, at least in this light (andat this distance) delivers what a lot of renderings promise.

[krulltime]

Actually I am liking this one. Yes is flat and fat looking, but that glass is looking too good.

[BrooklynRider]

Hopefully, they get something that benefits the neighborhood at Pier 57. I think a pier of restaurants would be great. The Ganesvoort Peninsula looks like a slum / dump. A prime location and it is held hostage by sanitation.

[antinimby]

You can now track the progress of this hotel (and the Highline as well) live, throughout the day on the hotel's webcam (http://www.standardhotels.com/new-york-city/), which is updated every 15 minutes.


http://www.earthcam.net/external/image.php?t=31f946dd1daedcdc3d47ba053502509c&m=standardmp.jpg

[ASchwarz]

IMHO: I'm seeing, from this photo anyway, a solid and sober style that works well with surroundings here. Fits right in. Does no harm.

I'd agree with this assessment 100%, but I really would have preferred the Nouvel.

[infoshare]

........ but I really would have preferred the Nouvel.

Agreed. This in my view is a good architectural design; but, could have been a great design (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=15218&postcount=2). :cool:

[alonzo-ny]

Disappointing.

[ZippyTheChimp]

The Novell building would have been a mistake. It was a residential condominium.

The last thing you want here is residents.

[Fabrizio]

Yes, you want something that will be a destination.... and this will be.

[lofter1]

In the near future we'e going to want a pedestrian bridge across the DiMaggio Hiway linking Standard / High Line / Gansevoort Peninsula / Hudson River Park.

[MidtownGuy]

There has to be some solutions to the current situation of crosswalks to get into the park. The highway is really wide. I'm surprised they never tried to work more pedestrian bridges into the plan, at major streets like 14th, 23rd, etc. They could be designed to be sleek and attractive. What am I overlooking?

[lofter1]

you got it ^

[BrooklynRider]

I took lots of pics of this today. It is really a beautiful building and its presence changes at every angle. (Sorry about the crappy photos - I am not one of the better photographers here)

From the north on West Street...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/1213.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/1214.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/1216.jpg

[BrooklynRider]

From the west...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/1217.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/1218.jpg

[BrooklynRider]

From the south...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/1219.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/1220.jpg

[BrooklynRider]

From the south east / east...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/1229.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/1230.jpg

[Stern]

I always like Polshek, consistently crisp, modern, brash, and a little sci-fi-spacy. In the same way I can always tell a modernist building by Foster is a Foster, this building has that signature Polshek touch.

[krulltime]

I really like the glass facade and the split of the building. Overall I approve. Thanks for the shots there, BrooklynRider.

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/1664/standardhotel30ccu8.th.jpg (http://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel30ccu8.jpg) http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/1567/standardhotel31cpw8.th.jpg (http://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel31cpw8.jpg) http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/4451/standardhotel32cqn2.th.jpg (http://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel32cqn2.jpg) http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/7784/standardhotel33cfl7.th.jpg (http://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel33cfl7.jpg) http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/4483/standardhotel34cfq1.th.jpg (http://img338.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel34cfq1.jpg)

[BrooklynLove]

somewhat retro, no?

i think that it is a PERFECT fit for the area. this one has come out nice.

[alonzo-ny]

I find myself liking this one. Especially the glass.

[Optimus Prime]

somewhat retro, no?

Sort of brutalism meets international style in a bar, gets her sloppy drunk, and well you know the rest.

Joking aside, though, the lines on the glass give it a little something extra, but it's because they're vertical. Idiot designers take heed! Stop using horizontal lines and blocks on your facades.

[antinimby]

So what will the ground floor look like? Are they going to just leave it as a parking lot all around? That would be horrible.

[Fahzee]

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/1213.jpg



Help! - I'm really trying - but I just don't totally "get" this building. It feels too bulky, and some of the portions feel sloppy.

one example: the above photo, that BR shot from the North, shows a massive expanse of blank concrete that splits the two glass portions asymmetrically. From what I can tell, this concrete is being clad with a white brick facade. In person, the portion that is completed, IMHO, doesn't look "good" - and the white brick being used reminds me more of a random 3rd avenue apartment than the Manhattan house. Therefore, from the North, I look at this building and I think "heavy", but "cheap" - and I can't shake that opinion.

Now, I know that my example is a bit nit-picky, and doesn't take into account the way the building looks from other angles (The Western Exposure is certainly very interesting)

I've read through this thread ALOT, so I know I'm a minority in this opinion. I have no real prejudices about Brutalism or International style or modernism.

Is it possible that some of the aesthetic beauty that others are seeing is derived from the location (my favorite part of the building is the way it contrasts with area, towering over the low rise meat packing district like something on the outskirts of Marseille). Would this building elicit the same response if it was build among the highrises on 3rd Ave in Midtown?

And seeing as how I'm a total amateur - am I missing something architecturally that would better help me understand The Standard?

[alonzo-ny]

The materials are definitely not cheap.

[scumonkey]

Looks like they finally started putting in the windows at the very top!
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb276/scumonkey/standard.jpg

[scumonkey]

Took long enough but at last...main parts All Glassed!
Moving right along with the brick work as well...
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb276/scumonkey/image.jpg

[infoshare]

Mediocre Architecture; given the high visibility of this site, this project has turned out to be a major lost opportunity. Lamenting what could have been (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=15218&postcount=2). :mad:

[antinimby]

^ Agreed. This along with the Caledonia as seen in the background further away, are now just slabs on the horizon.

Took long enough but at last...main parts All Glassed!It doesn't appear that the windows on the backside (north side) have all been put up yet.

[philvia]

every time i see pictures of the high line, i get so excited for some reason lmao.. its a great project!

[ZippyTheChimp]

I think it looks great.

Fits the neighborhood.

[MidtownGuy]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2054/2519064323_7aa608c69c_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3223/2519884276_9e3d3d2dc5_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3110/2519884732_4c215a14de_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2368/2519063467_8819196b78_b.jpg

[The Benniest]

I love this building! The windows have a really cool design.

Thanks for posting these pictures MidtownGuy. :)

[BrooklynLove]

agreed. this is a success story.

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/3896/standardhotel35coo0.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel35coo0.jpg) http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/5425/standardhotel36cwz0.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel36cwz0.jpg) http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/338/standardhotel37ceq9.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel37ceq9.jpg) http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/8196/standardhotel38cct4.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel38cct4.jpg)

[The Benniest]

I'm amazed at that glass and the window design. It's great!

Thank you as well for the pictures Zippy. :)

[ablarc]

Corbu lives.

[Luca]

Re, the Corbusier comment, given the likely hipster / hollywood crowd, could they call it:

"Unite' de Rehabilitasion" ? :)

This may not mean much from a staunchly anti-'modernist' know-nothing like me :cool: but...

I don't dislike the windows, as far as they go, but I find the 'inflected' facade (Is it the facade? who can tell? :confused:) a really clumsy handling of volumes/mass. Much, much prefer the 'old' unilever building.

What do you guys think about the big-ass concrete piers? A bit lithic, non?

[kz1000ps]

Saturday:

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/7287/img8136pw3.jpg

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/2168/img8139bx3.jpg

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/2687/img8140bo0.jpg

http://img382.imageshack.us/img382/1976/img8143bi4.jpg

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/3624/img8147ys0.jpg

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/9572/img8151tv2.jpg

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/9630/img8156ba9.jpg

[MidtownGuy]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2146/2540296202_d2ed400dc2_b.jpg

[NYC4Life]

Those columns remind me of the base at Citigroup Center.

[Fabrizio]

This is very me. Looks like Milan.

Or a hotel built especially for the crowds coming to the 1964 World's Fair.

[ablarc]

Late Brutalism.

[Citytect]

I can't tell from the photos. Is that white brick or painted concrete? Either way, I think the raw material looked better.

[scumonkey]

there are ALL 3- white brick, raw concrete,& painted material...
as well as some dark brick.
This building looks much better up close in person than in a pic.
It also really fits in well with the hood.

[Luca]

This is very me. Looks like Milan.


!!!! :eek:

I know what you mean (it's a bit of a Gio' Ponti building) but 99% of Milano looks nothing like that...

[krulltime]

This one turn out so much better than the rendering did.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/12/20/arts/24ouro450.2.jpg

[nykid17]

Sorry for the haziness, was almost 100 degrees in Gotham today and the forecast wont be changing for some time.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3096/2560033430_18e4310a27_b.jpg
[/URL]
[URL="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27467028@N06/2560033434/"]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3258/2560033434_1e7cfb5133_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27467028@N06/2560033430/)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3098/2560033438_70e6768c69_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27467028@N06/2560033438/)
And one more just to show the quality of the glass; its different.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3068/2560033444_c71515c02e_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27467028@N06/2560033444/)

[MidtownGuy]

I would like it to get the blue and red trim seen in the rendering, for that funky gas station appearance. I hope this will still happen.

[scumonkey]

they've already bricked those area's over with that nice dark brick .

[antinimby]

Where's the entrance or is that exterior staircase the main entry point for guests?

Now that would be taking cool to a whole new level!

[ZippyTheChimp]

And schlep your own luggage.

Welcome to New York!

[MidtownGuy]

they've already bricked those area's over with that nice dark brick .

They should have stuck with the red.

[lofter1]

They're constructing a canopy along Washington Street, at the east end of the building. But it seems that there isn't a way to the upper floors at that location. Most likely the schlep will be to the center of the building (beneath the High Line) and elevators will rise from there, at the junction of the two wings ... Bellboy!!!

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_1322.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_1316.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_1318.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_1319.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_1312.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/Standard_12s.jpg

standardhl

[lofter1]

As they are now building this I don't see any indication of the touches of bright color as seen in the rendering :(

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/12/20/arts/24ouro450.2.jpg

[MidtownGuy]

The colors in the rendering gave a fun vibrancy to the brutalist form. I still like the building but it's definitely more glum this way.

[ZippyTheChimp]

It'll still have the upside-down sign.

[ablarc]

^ What does it mean?

[alonzo-ny]

So the drunk yuppies can read it.

[ZippyTheChimp]

It's either...

"We turn the hotel industry on its head."

or...

"We hold our customers upside down, and shake them until all the money falls out."

Maybe both.

[Derek2k3]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3063/2603197572_98389ecb19_o.jpg



http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3047/2603197592_2269bff022_o.jpg



http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3160/2603339242_5f52dd6d4b_o.jpg
Towards the center of the pic you can see they're starting to work on that glassy commercial addition at 450 west 14th street. At 192 feet it will be somewhat close to the height of the Standard. (233')

[ablarc]

Looks like it belongs in another city. Nairobi or Caracas.

They don't call it the International Style for nothing.

[lofter1]

One thing that amazes me is the continuing existence of the Liberty Inn Hotel at 51 Tenth Avenue, the little 3-story brick thing seen flying the flag in the last pic above. It's an entirely different type of hotel operation than what is going up across the street at the Standard.

Years ago the basement here was the site of a wild late night spot (http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2008/06/men-in-leather.html), but that is long gone. NY Magazine (http://nymag.com/bestofny/fun/2008/hourlyhotel/) lists the current hotel as one of NYC's "Best-by-the-Hour" establishments. The hotel's website (http://libertyinnnyc.reachlocal.com/coupon/?scid=742130&cid=196322&tc=08062306521020644&kw=5477596:15533&dynamic_proxy=1&primary_serv=libertyinnnyc.reachlocal.net&se_refer=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252Fsea rch%253Fhl%253Den%2526rls%253Dcom.microsoft%253Aen-us%253AIE-SearchBox%2526rlz%253D1I7RNWE%2526sa%253DX%2526oi% 253Dspell%2526resnum%253D0%2526ct%253Dresult%2526c d%253D1%2526q%253D%252522Liberty%252BInn%252522%25 2Bwest%252Bstreet%252B%252522New%252Byork%252522%2 526spell%253D1) advertizes it as "Your Rendezvous For Romance" and trumpets the following, which is probably the reason this joint is still economically viable ...


Fast, discreet check-in service


Ready to Welcome You at All Hours

[ZippyTheChimp]

And the hookers are mostly gone from the surrounding streets, making it seem more isolated.

[londonlawyer]

One thing that amazes me is the continuing existence of the Liberty Inn Hotel at 51 Tenth Avenue,....

I'll speculate that its days are numbered.

[antinimby]

But not before they develop that parking lot next to the Standard on West St. The sight of that lot just annoys me.

[BrooklynRider]

And the hookers are mostly gone from the surrounding streets, making it seem more isolated.

I take offense at your seeming dismissal of Jersey girls visiting nightspots in the area.

[JCMAN320]

BK Rider uncalled for. What about LI girls?

[ZippyTheChimp]

I take offense at your seeming dismissal of Jersey girls visiting nightspots in the area.Hookers have more style.

[NYC4Life]

Another off-topic argument, just like in the Freedom Tower thread :mad:

[ZippyTheChimp]

Who's arguing?

Unclench a little.

[Derek2k3]

New building at 420 West 15th Street has filed construction permits. It's about the same height as The Standard. Chelsea Market across the street also has its own high-rise building proposed.

http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=3&passjobnumber=104396618&passdocnumber=01

[nykid17]

On my way to the "Vision Machine"... there was a huge party going on at the pier across from here. Maybe had to do with the whole gay day thing...idk?
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3111/2619524043_0027d0e5c4.jpg?v=0 http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3288/2619524057_8c82b03e13.jpg?v=0

[BrooklynRider]

Yeah, it's all day dancing and parties at pier 51 all weekend. HRPT Village section is virtually shutdown for the weekend events.

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/2092/standardhotel39cfh7.th.jpg (http://img512.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel39cfh7.jpg) http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/9123/standardhotel40cxw8.th.jpg (http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel40cxw8.jpg)

[ZippyTheChimp]

Real plaster.

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/797/standardhotel41cou9.th.jpg (http://img209.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel41cou9.jpg)

[meesalikeu]

hey everyone -- we have a long running thread with lots of highline news, commentary and tasty development pics here:

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,3102.120.html

here are a couple of the latest additions as from 7/10/08. i am sure by now you are all aware of the up close views of the standard via the new roofdeck of the brass monkey, yes? :D ps -- i live nearby so if anybody wants more standard or highline pics let me know!

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/meesalikeu/album5/P1110317.jpg

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/meesalikeu/album5/P1110323.jpg

[philvia]

haha "coming soonish"

[brianac]

Construction Watch: On the Down Low at The Standard

Thursday, September 4, 2008, by Joey

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/3131/2828369550_82bd2b5c64_o.jpg

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/3131/2828369550_441d864a30_s.jpg (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/09/04/construction_watch_on_the_down_low_at_the_standard .php?o=0) http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/3178/2827533199_229c10bfcc_s.jpg (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/09/04/construction_watch_on_the_down_low_at_the_standard .php?o=1) http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/3020/2827533265_2ff62cfd8d_s.jpg (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/09/04/construction_watch_on_the_down_low_at_the_standard .php?o=2) http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/3226/2828369676_c9d408fc8d_s.jpg (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/09/04/construction_watch_on_the_down_low_at_the_standard .php?o=3) http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/3103/2827533067_33ff06a8d3_s.jpg (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/09/04/construction_watch_on_the_down_low_at_the_standard .php?o=4) http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/3294/2827533151_e3546b4dc7_s.jpg (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/09/04/construction_watch_on_the_down_low_at_the_standard .php?o=5) http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/3214/2828369608_89a23bb092_s.jpg (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/09/04/construction_watch_on_the_down_low_at_the_standard .php?o=6) http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/3074/2827533239_570d804503_s.jpg (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/09/04/construction_watch_on_the_down_low_at_the_standard .php?o=7)

Given the lengthy construction process at André Balazs' hyped Standard New York (scheduled to open sometime before the sun dies out), it's not surprising that the construction plywood surrounding the boutique hotel—which, oh yeah, is being built on top and under the High Line—is showing some wear and tear. Thanks to an open door and at least one gaping maw, a special Curbed tipster was able to snap some ground-floor shots of the future hotel/nightlife hub at the corner of West 13th and Washington Streets in MePa. Not as exciting as the view from The Chair (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/05/06/high_line_construction_chronicles_the_chair.php), of course, but this is a revealing look at how the fabulous will enter the belly of the beast. As for a completion date, the Standard website still cheekily says "coming soonish." Oh, André.


http://curbed.com/archives/2008/09/04/construction_watch_on_the_down_low_at_the_standard .php

Copyright © 2008 Curbed

[ZippyTheChimp]

I saw the street-level brickwork earlier this week. Out of character and disappointing. Looks like faux colonial suburban.

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/9489/standardhotel42cbk3.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel42cbk3.jpg) http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/9766/standardhotel43crq6.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel43crq6.jpg) http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/3622/standardhotel44cgh4.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel44cgh4.jpg)

The vacant meatpacking building under the highline was demolished. Behind is the site for the Whitney museum annex.
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/362/standardhotel45cpb5.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel45cpb5.jpg)

I heard that Barneys will open a store at this site. That leaves only two meatpacking buildings still in operation on Washington St.
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/4167/standardhotel46cbt4.th.jpg (http://img253.imageshack.us/my.php?image=standardhotel46cbt4.jpg)

[scumonkey]

Did Premier Veal's land become more "Premier" than their business?
I noticed it's now fenced off with trailers out front?
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb276/scumonkey/moo.jpg

[philvia]

this was on 13th

http://lh6.ggpht.com/philvia/SMwgFpi3xOI/AAAAAAAAAEM/IWZKnp2nkrU/s912/DSC_0025.JPG

[scumonkey]

actually- it is at 555 West st, in the morning shadow of the Standard.

[meesalikeu]

from this afternoon 10/5/08:

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/e0a0999f.jpg

if you look close down on the right you can see the top of the new bank of america building up at bryant park from here too
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/d1c9a769.jpg

i tried to get it as edge-on as i could :D
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/b57d7e80.jpghttp://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/74e41dda.jpg

[londonlawyer]

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/d1c9a769.jpg

Does anyone know if all of the buildings in the foreground of this photo will be razed for the new Whitney or just the one on the right? (I know that another parcel on Washington St. will be razed too, but I'm curious about the West Street side.)

[lofter1]

I don't think any of those existing meat-related buildings right along that semi-circular roadway fronting onto West Street are coming down as part of the Whitney -- or any other project now in the works.

[londonlawyer]

Thanks, Lofter.

I thought that Premier Meats at 555 West Street was part of the site.

[lofter1]

Sorry, seems I'm wrong ...

The Whitney Museum project (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/arts/design/28whit.html?ref=arts) covers sites at 555 West Street (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=555+West+St+New+York,+NY+10014&fb=1&geocode=10936544275116860275,40.739726,-74.009321&oi=manybox&ct=14&cd=1&resnum=1) (The Premier Veal Inc. building which fronts onto West Street / Tenth Avenue) and 820 Washington (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=820+Washington+Street,+New+York,+NY+10014&sll=40.740722,-74.008756&sspn=0.00743,0.013561&ie=UTF8&ll=40.740722,-74.008563&spn=0.00743,0.013561&t=h&z=16&iwloc=addr) (which abuts the 555 building). Both buildings front onto Gansevoort Street on the south side and together they take up the full southern half of that block.

[JSsocal]

So when does this one open. The standards here in LA are pretty cool

[harsaphes]

Without reading this whole thread....
Friends of mine own a business on Washington st and had told me there was a problem with parts of the hotels foundation sinking? and work had stopped on it......any input on this?

[Shadly]

Funny, I've walked by this thing several times, and I always thought it was coming down, not going up. I guess it always looked like a mistake from the early 60's rather than a chic creation of the early 21st century. Kind of like that brain teaser, "do you see an old woman, or a young woman?"

[ZippyTheChimp]

Friends of mine own a business on Washington st and had told me there was a problem with parts of the hotels foundation sinking? and work had stopped on it......any input on this?There were work crews on site this past Saturday.

[lofter1]

... I've walked by this thing several times, and I always thought it was coming down, not going up.

Seeing as how there was nothing on that site remotely the size of The Standard before two years ago I'm guessing you must be new to the City.

[Shadly]

Seeing as how there was nothing on that site remotely the size of The Standard before two years ago I'm guessing you must be new to the City.

New to meat packing. Not my crowd. I think it is because it looks dirty from construction. The first time I noticed it I thought, "wow, it's a shame they're taking that down. It must have made quite a statement in its day."

I'm always amazed at how many things don't register right away in New York. I bumped into the New Museum extension a few months ago. It's nice to be surprised like that.

[scumonkey]

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb276/scumonkey/standard-1.jpg

[lofter1]

That plaza area ^ will be a lively gathering place.

[JSsocal]

So will this be the "kick-off" point for the high line project, that seems like an amazing project. Btw how are they doing on it, haven't heard any updates for a while, even on the website.

[Shadly]

That plaza area ^ will be a lively gathering place.

More like a nice place to throw up at 3 in the morning, judging by the neighborhood economy. :cool:

[lofter1]

a bunch of folks all throwing up = lively :cool:

[Shadly]

Can you believe how many Italian loafers are going to meet their demise at the base of this building?!?

[ablarc]

Hey! ... who you callin' a loafer?

[Shadly]

Hey! ... who you callin' a loafer?

Shoes. Bruno Magli's.

[meesalikeu]

some from today

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/d32613d5.jpg http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/00fdd3cf.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/b505be1b.jpg

boo! papered window :mad:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/7cc7dc39.jpg

something? :confused:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/051941bf.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/3303f959.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/691dde52.jpg http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/4640192f.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/b8f42920.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/c13fda5f.jpg http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/5dc0ae15.jpg

yes indeed, they were putting in the steps up to the highline park today!
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/498a4a0e.jpg

[kz1000ps]

I love this area, and it's great to see such visible signs of progress happening in the form of the stairs going up. But will all of the concrete on the Standard be painted over? I'm no nut for béton brut, but I do think the unpainted look works here. And I imagine walking underneath it once the Highline is open would be much more dramatic having a raw slab looming over you.

[lofter1]

Painting the concrete would be a huge FU.

[JSsocal]

I doubt they'd paint it at this point, if they were to paint it, they probably would have done it at an earlier stage, considering they have put all that detail in, and it's not like there is a big blank side of concrete