KPF Reimagines the Arch in a Quietly Bold New York Facade

KPF Introduces a Dynamic Interplay of Light and Shadow

“The client said, ‘I want you to focus on a module, do it really well, do it a number of times, but design it once and perfect it,’” Klemperer remembers. After multiple iterations and working with builders and material suppliers, the design team landed on a pressed-in archway module with five layers that add depth between the exterior of the windows and the facade’s edge. Klemperer calls these arched bays “echeloned.” Beyond introducing a dynamic interplay of light and shadow as the sun hits different parts of the arches throughout the day, the deep arches give occupants a subtle sense of shelter and shade (depending on the time of day) from their wrought-iron Juliet balconies. 

The brick facade is mounted to the building’s concrete structure by means of a steel bracket system that allows more airflow between the layers of the structure, increasing its thermal performance and allowing the use of smaller steel brackets—instead of conventional shelves—upon which the brickwork sits. Sourced from a Pennsylvania supplier and tested through more than 20 mock-ups, the bricks themselves exhibit some small variations due to slight differences in how the clay was baked in the kiln. They’re fastened to the arches via a metal rod: To constitute the signature arch, builders essentially slid the bricks along this track above each window bay, like beads along a curved abacus. 

In keeping with the building’s modest size and inclination toward craft—and Greenwich Village’s somewhat historicist disdain for shiny trappings and ostentatious displays of opulence—common spaces are scarcer at 64 University than at some of the city’s glossier developments, where a glut of amenities can make them feel more like hotels or college dormitories. Interiors firm Space Copenhagen did design a blond-oak gym in the basement and, on the ground level, a marble-floored shared living room of sorts, which opens out onto a small courtyard. In time, the yard will have grown-in landscaping and a tiered fountain overseen by a statement sculpture. 

A Pandemic-Era Construction Jewel

Another amenity, the shared roof, is oriented toward the rear, from which a sea of windows of surrounding buildings unfurls. It’s a common sight from many New York vantage points, but is especially dramatic in this notably dense and historic patch of Lower Manhattan. “It feels like you’re part of the family,” Klemperer says of the visual effect, adding that the “little bits of nothing” glimpsed in the panorama add up to a certain “picture of New York.” 

The arch is a central element of art history and architectural training, and Klemperer and KPF aimed to deploy its emotional and experiential qualities for this project. These qualities and, above all, the assembly system also meet higher energy efficiency on the masonry wall’s design by improving its thermal bridging. “With the arch, we could make this form that looked both heroic—because the arch dignifies the dimension—but also very welcoming, because an arch is a softer form,” adds Klemperer. The firm has made a name for itself building institutional complexes and flashy supertalls across the globe; in the last few years, it’s designed huge projects at Hudson Yards and One Vanderbilt. But at 64 University, with its finer-grain interfacing with craftspeople and laborers, pandemic-era construction constraints and overall delicacy of detail, Klemperer says, “this project was more of a jewel.”

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• Residential

• Akiva Blander
• Construction Materials
• innovative construction
• KPF