Wearing several building hats can be very satisfying.

One of the most rewarding projects in our office these days is a luxury condominium building at 123 Baxter St., on the corner of Baxter and Hester, in the heart of Little Italy. 123 Baxter St. is a seven-story, 23-residence building by the successful firm of American Development Group with Langsam Realty. This project contains all the expected program elements found in today's condominium market: the penthouses, the super high-end appliances, the fantastic roof views, full concierge, etc, as well as more unique features, like a built-in townhouse with its own private entrance and the first robotic parking system in New York City.

From conception through groundbreaking and continuing to the present, we have been determined to have the building fit in with the historic and vibrant character of the surrounding neighborhood. The building is defined by the shifting, sliding and, at times, obscured lines between Little Italy, Chinatown and Soho. Approaching the problem with this fact in mind, rather than performing another ego-driven exercise in form making [so common in today's voracious condominium market], we took a rather unique approach in having the building's design evolve from the neighborhood itself. By "pinwheeling" visual quotes from the adjacent buildings onto the undulating facades of ours, we were able to lock the building into its immediate context. The neighborhood was to become the raw template from which we drew our inspiration.

I was originally chosen by the developer to be the 123 Baxter's architect, but as construction progressed and building issues arose, the developer discovered that I could easily and quickly solve them by increasing my involvement with the project. Drawing upon our sister firm In House Construction Services' construction experience, we began to build what had been difficult enough to visualize on paper.

We have been undertaking design-build projects soon after I opened my architectural practice and quickly found them to be more rewarding than the traditional architectural role normally ascribed to us in this milieu. The dual role required us to think like contractors even as we professed to be a design-based architectural practice. Rather than shirk off the challenges or take easy ways out, we took advantage of our intimate knowledge of costing. We can put our best design foot forward without proposing pie-in-the-sky solutions that would end up on the cutting room floor when we entered budgeting and value engineering phases. I also discovered that a design/build strategy saves clients valuable time, money and frustration as the many voices required to undertake a venture could be reduced to one voice on the end of a cellphone. In the end, it made for a better project, happier clients and, of course, a pleased architect.

At 123 Baxter, the design called for the building of a solid 15-by-60-foot high brick wing wall precariously looming over the corner of Hester and Baxter streets. As architect and builder, we understood exactly how this wall would need to be built, fabricated and detailed. A critical design element, the wall separates the balconies from the street, acting as both a scrim and a "neighborhood veneer."

Another example would be the detailing of the facade that includes a fairly intricate brick pattern not commonly seen in New York in the past 30 to 40 years. A modified basket weave, it contains four different types of brick in about six different patterns. While the building of such a facade might be viewed as a challenge by some construction firms, we were thrilled to get the opportunity to see it come to fruition.

Another interesting aspect of this building is the basement we excavated, while tenuously and gingerly supporting two adjacent ancient tenement buildings. This cavernous space will house New York's first fully automated robotic parking garage. It's surely the sign of things to come and I am pleased to be able to say we were involved in getting the garage completed.

If the architect and the contractor are the same entity, there's a certain degree of experience and intuition required of each role. As opposed to merely explaining my ideas to a third party, I am now directing my staff in the execution of the work. By being so involved with both designing and building, I know I can direct things more quickly and produce a better result. And, of course, when it comes to assigning blame, in the end I have no one to point the finger at except myself.

ADAM KUSHNER

KUSHNER STUDIOS ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN, P.C. IN HOUSE CONSTRUCTION SERVICE, INC.