14th Street's Armory Place project completed. (Design and Development).

Costas Kondylis & Partners LLP announced the completion of Armory Place, a mixed-use residential project located on a block-thru site between 14th and 15th Streets in Manhattan. Situated on the former site of the 14th Street Armory, Armory Place contains 62 family residences for NYU faculty, 213 rental apartment units, and a complete new YMCA facility to replace the former McBurney YMCA on W. 23rd Street.

Costas Kondylis & Partners provided zoning analysis, architectural design for the exterior design, and apartment layouts of Armory Place. Kondylis Interiors, a division of Costas Kondylis & Partners, provided interior design services for the bathrooms and kitchens in both the rental apartments and faculty residences. In addition, the firm designed the entrance lobby to the NYU building situated on 15th Street. The developer for the project is The Related Companies.

"Given the importance of the site and its potential impact on the surrounding neighborhoods the biggest design challenge associated with Armory Place was creating a single architectural statement that appealed to two very different contexts presented on 14th and 15th Streets," said Costas Kondylis. "On the one hand, we wanted to provide a positive model for large-scale development along the western end of the 14th Street corridor. On the other hand, we also wanted to be consistent with the tree-lined quality of the Chelsea neighborhood on 15th Street."

To mediate between the two contexts, Costas Kondylis & Partners created two brick-clad buildings, one fronting 14th Street and the other fronting 15th Street, joined by a common, mid-block courtyard. A 13-story building appropriate to the distinctly large-scale, commercial character of the 14th St. corridor houses rental apartments above a YMCA situated on the ground and lower level of Armory Place. A seven-story building that steps down to five stories appropriate to the residential scale of the surrounding Chelsea neighborhood, houses the NYU faculty residences, on 15th Street.

A courtyard garden located between the buildings screens interior views of the residences and provides a common outdoor space for the NYU faculty residents to use. An outdoor recreational space for the use of the other residents is located on the roof of the rental building.

The entrances to both the rental units fronting 14th Street, as well as the NYU Faculty residences are on 15th Street. The interiors of the lobbies, rental units, and NYU residences were designed as clean, modern expressions with a light palette of materials used throughout. Large expanses of glass, limestone floors and walls, indirect lighting, and contemporary furnishings characterize the reception areas of both the NYU residences and the rental apartments.

Designed primarily as large one and two bedroom units to accommodate the needs of families, the NYU faculty fronting 15th Street features bay-windows as a direct architectural reference to adjacent brownstones. The interiors of the apartments feature kitchens with granite countertops, white recessed-panel cabinetry, and GE monogram appliances. The bathrooms feature cream-colored subway tiles, marble vanity tops and twin sinks.