Solar Carve
Location
New York, NY
Status
Completed 2019
Client
Aurora Capital Associates and William Gottlieb Real Estate
Type
Office
Size
145,500 sf
Sustainability
LEED Gold Certified
Tags
Sculpted by the angles of the sun, Solar Carve (40 Tenth Ave) explores how shaping architecture in response to solar access and other site-specific criteria can expand its potential to have a positive impact on its environment. Located at the edge of Manhattan between the High Line park and the Hudson River, the building takes its unique form from the geometric relationships between the allowable envelope and the sun’s path.
In addition to producing a faceted, gem-like facade, this integrated response allows the building to benefit the important public green space of the High Line—privileging light, fresh air, and river views for the public park—while also becoming a new iconic silhouette on the New York skyline.
The design advances Studio Gang’s “solar carving” strategy for enhancing connectivity in tall buildings. Developed through the Studio’s ongoing tall building research, solar carving involves using incident angles of the sun’s rays to sculpt a building’s form.
Analysis shows that the solar-carved building form (on the left) allows more sunlight to reach the High Line than the allowable envelope (on the right). Image © Arup
The glazing system has been geometrically optimized into a pattern of three-dimensional facets that articulate the carved sections of the tower. The curtain wall unit is composed of a central diamond-shaped panel tilting downward, surrounded by four triangular pieces that are perpendicular to the slab to achieve standard stack joints. The carved curtain wall not only blocks sun glare and heat gain but also creates dynamic corner workspaces. The facade will feature high-performance glass with low reflectivity.
Level 2 Plan
Section
Project Team
Arup, structural engineer, facade consultant, and acoustical consultant, daylighting consultant
RA Consultants, geotechnical engineer
GEA Consulting Engineers, MEP/FP, sustainability consultant, and IT and security consultant
Code LLC, expeditor and code consultant
HMWhite, landscape architect
Sullivan Group, BPP consultant
HarPar Engineering, OER consultant
Fisher Marantz Stone, lighting consultant
Joseph Neto and Associates/Lerch Bates, vertical transportation consultant
Lerch Bates, facade access consultant
Cauldwell Wingate, general contractor
Focchi, façade manufacturer
AGC Interpane, glass manufacturer
Walsh Glass and Metal, façade installer
Awards
Excellence in Office Development, Urban Land Institute New York, 2020
Project of the Year Special Honoree Award, Architizer A+ Awards, 2020
Jury Award, Commercial – Office Mid-Rise Category, Architizer A+ Awards, 2020
Architecture Merit Award, AIA New York Design Awards, 2020
The Plan Award, Office & Business Category, 2020
Honorable Mention, The Architect’s Newspaper Best of Design Awards, Commercial – Office Category, 2019
Finalist; Spaces, Places, and Cities Category; Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards, 2019
Finalist, Office – Future Project Category, World Architecture Festival, 2019
Related
Studio Gang Wins Four 2020 Architizer A+ Awards
Three projects designed by Studio Gang have won four 2020 Architizer A+ Awards, which recognize the best architecture, spaces, and products from across the globe.
Green Building & Design — "Studio Gang Protects Public Space While Delivering Flexible Offices in NYC"
“Studio Gang has been developing the strategy of solar carving for years as a way to enhance connectivity in tall buildings. . . . [Solar Carve] is sculpted at the angle of the sun in order to preserve solar exposure on the adjacent High Line Park.”
The Plan — "The Black Diamond"
“Her buildings have always been at the cutting edge of technology…allowing the architect to step outside the banal and use artistic imagination as a way of providing real answers to real problems.”
Solar Carve Wins Architecture Merit Award in 2020 AIANY Design Awards
“Revealing the architectural potential of a people-centered, analytical approach, Solar Carve offers a model for how an integrated approach to site-specific environmental conditions and updating inherited zoning codes can enable new buildings to improve dense neighborhoods and protect public space.”
The Urban Audubon — "Studio Gang Begets Bird-Friendly Beauty on Tenth Avenue"
“NYC Audubon welcomes this beautiful new ecology-minded structure. It may serve as an inspiring example for future bird-friendly design, as it includes many features now required in all new construction in the City, thanks to new legislation recently passed by the New York City Council.”
Fast Company — "Tall Buildings are Leaving Cities in Darkness. These Architects Have a Radical Fix."
“Viewed straight-on from the Hudson River, 40 Tenth looks like a simple rectangle. Shift to the right or left, though, and the building cuts inward, creating a dramatic faceted facade. The new development is part of Gang’s exploration into “solar carving,” a marketable term the firm uses to describe its process of shaping buildings based on the sun’s location and its desired effect.”
