Share

• Email Article
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share on X
• Share on Facebook

The Standard

New York / Ennead Architects

1 MIN READ

By Vernon Mays

May 17, 2012

1 of 7

Alex S. MacLean

Ennead Architects used sculptural piers to design the Standard H… Read More Ennead Architects used sculptural piers to design the Standard Hotel above the High Line, which runs underneath the building.

Jeff Goldberg

A vertical hinge divides the structure's two slabs.

Jeff Goldberg

The south façade.

Jeff Goldberg

Pedestrians on the High Line approach the building's south faça… Read More Pedestrians on the High Line approach the building's south façade.

Jeff Goldberg

The building's southeast corner.

View of New Jersey across the Hudson River from one of the hotel… Read More View of New Jersey across the Hudson River from one of the hotel's rooms.

Jeff Goldberg

Designed to allow the High Line to pass beneath it, the 18-story Standard hotel was constructed using sculptural piers that raise the building 57 feet above the street grid. New York–based Ennead Architects accentuated the hotel’s distinctive presence with a central “hinge” that divides the structure’s two slabs.

Jury: “The building addresses the urban scale as a tower relating to the High Line [and the Hudson River]. … There is clarity in the choice and articulation of materials and a sense of restraint, though the end result is one of high visual impact.”

Client: “I usually renovate older buildings, and this was ground-up construction. Add to that the matter of the High Line and it was a unique challenge … We had to be sensitive to this new landmark. It tramples through our site, but it also defines it. That said, we wanted to not be overly shy or reverent toward it. Whatever we put up there would have to jump the train tracks.” —André Balazs, owner, as told to Vanity Fair