H3 was commissioned to develop plans for an 18-story mixed-use residential and commercial building in the Gansevoort Meat Market district in Manhattan. The neighborhood, formerly a series of manufacturing and industrial buildings, is now in resurgence as a lively 24/7 community that includes residential, commercial offices, production studios, art galleries, retail and service uses. 413 West 15th Street will contain commercial and retail space on the first three floors and residential space on the remaining fifteen floors. Plans call for fifty-six residential units. Ground floor retail will enliven 15th Street, where there is currently little pedestrian activity.
Separate entrance lobbies for the commercial and residential portions of the proposed building are intended to provide distinct identities for each use.
The building has been designed to be contextually compatible with the neighborhood. The northern elevation features masonry and brick materials consistent with the industrial nature of the surroundings. This façade is set flush to the streetwall along 15th Street, providing continuity with the brick warehouses on either side. Setbacks at the 11th, 15th and 18th floors help break-up the mass of the building and provide outdoor terraces for the units on these floors. The southern façade includes metal-clad bay windows slightly angled to minimize the building’s bulk and to provide diagonal views from the upper floors. Brick color and texture, window patterning, and ground floor storefronts are designed to respond to and enhance the building’s setting in the streetscape.
