How do you shoehorn 57 loft apartments into a 12-story mid-block building in the Flatiron district? YOO, a partnership of jewelry designer Jade Jagger (daughter of Mick and Bianca), John Hitchcox and Philippe Starck have teamed up to present a super-efficient solution: free standing "pods" which will maximize living space by containing kitchen, bath, and storage--all discreetly hidden behind shiny lacquered doors. After the jump we take a closer look.
This condo conversion of a 12 story commercial building on 19th Street just west of Fifth Avenue will have a two story roof addition (rendering above) that will hold a lounge, fitness club, communal terrace and lap pool. Jade Jagger and interior designer Tom Bartlett seem to have been influenced here by a cool Mediterranean style that gives this a slightly exotic feel compared to all the minimal modernism going around--more Ibiza than Manhattan.
Apartments will be studio to 2-bedroom units. The open space will be defined by the free standing pod structures, which appear as polished jewel boxes when closed. When open they reveal tightly laid-out kitchens and bathrooms as efficient as you might find on a yacht. Some contain closets, and they can be specified in four different colors. Below is a rendering of the pod with it's fold-away doors open to the kitchen side.
As much as big chef's kitchens have become de rigeur status symbols in the marketing of New York lofts these days, the truth is that most Manhattan-ites eat out six nights a week. On the seventh night they use their kitchen to soften a pint of ice cream. Face it, the most important kitchen appliance really isn't the stove--it's the corkscrew. These pods are a kind of tacit admission that many people in New York end up living like global nomads. It's the condo as glorified hotel suite.
See more at the Jade by Jagger web site.
