207 West 79th
72,000 square feet
13 stories, 19 units
New York, New York
2016
207 West 79th Street is a rare new construction project that fits seamlessly into its context, providing residents the chance to live in a classic New York neighborhood in a classic New York building, but one designed for a decidedly modern lifestyle.
207 West 79th recalls the classic prewar architecture typical of New York City’s Upper West Side. Narrow nineteenth-century row houses line most of the numbered side streets in the landmarked neighborhood, but 79th Street is different. One of just three cross streets that are 100 feet wide rather than the more typical 60 feet wide, 79th Street is lined with larger apartment hotels built in the early twentieth century in response to new zoning codes and changing demographics. The condominium building was conceived in the spirit of these grand residential buildings with a design that distills the eclectic architectural history of the district.
Like many of the classically inspired apartment buildings and hotels on the Upper West Side, such as the adjacent Beaux-Arts-style Hotel Lucerne, 207 West 79th features a tripartite division with a rusticated limestone base and ornate terra-cotta detailing. The wrap-around windows and bold geometric articulation of the base and top, however, evoke the Art Deco towers of nearby Central Park West. These varied influences are unified by a subtle contemporary sensibility evidenced in the building’s restrained ornament: brick soldier courses separating the floors, slightly projecting limestone lintels, and operable six-panel casement windows.
The streamlined, subtle ornamentation and geometric forms on the building’s façade recall the classic Art Deco architecture of the Upper West Side. Brick soldier courses and terra-cotta panels separate the windows. The floral motif evokes the early-twentieth-century adornments seen throughout the historic district.
207 West 79th Street’s balance of classic and contemporary architectural design continues from its exterior to the spaces within. Art Deco motifs are prominent in the building’s lobby: geometric tray ceiling and mosaic floors, custom curving reception desk, and brass and wood wall finishes. A complementary material palette is used in each of the building’s 19 units, which all offer large open spaces finished with custom oak cabinetry, Calacatta marble, porcelain tile work, and elaborately patterned parquet flooring.
Image Credits
- Jimi Billingsley
- Donna Dotan
- Field Condition
