ODA New York has designed an unusual apartment building in Long Island City, Queens, NYC. Named 2222 Jackson, its brutalist-like pixelated design isn't purely aesthetic, but serves a practical purpose too, providing generous outdoor living space for residents in the form of terraces.
Like a lot of buildings of this style, 2222 Jackson brings to mind Moshe Safdie's Habitat 67 (or even the game Minecraft if you're unfamiliar with that classic building), but the resemblance is a lot less pronounced than some other firm's projects, such as BIG's King Street West, for example.
It takes the basic form of an L-shape, but with apartments pushed out at carefully-calculated points to create a total of 50 terraces. The firm says that playing around with the form of the building like this creates 30 percent more outdoor space than would have been available without the protrusions, while still meeting NYC zoning requirements.
Inside, 2222 Jackson has 168,000 sq ft (15,607 sq m) of floorspace, spread over 11 floors. A total of 175 rental units come in studio apartments, and one, two, and three bedroom configurations. Each one boasts floor-to-ceiling windows and high-end appliances.
2222 Jackson is entered by an attractive triple-height lobby and amenities include an indoor pool that sports a large glazed roof for natural lighting, a residents' lounge and fitness center, and a rooftop deck that offers choice views of Manhattan's famous skyline.
The project continues ODA's modus operandi of designing buildings with unusual shapes to maximize desirable features. For example, its skinny Manhattan skyscraper "stretches" to offer generous garden space and its waterfront high-rise proposal would twist significantly to offer an excellent view.
"ODA rejects what would otherwise be a generic rental box, instead producing a new template for working within common zoning constraints: an axonometric structure with a uniquely articulated facade accommodating substantial outdoor areas (highly coveted though often conventionally impractical amenities in many urban environments)," says the firm in a press release.
2222 Jackson was completed in 2016.
Source: ODA New York