Not everything has to be white...Two new condo developments rising in lower Manhattan strike a nice counterpoint to the whiteness of Richard Meier's West Street towers by combining a dark palette with clear glass. At the western edge of SoHo (in a cluster of new projects that is proving something of a laboratory of condo-cool) 302 Spring Street (above left) is already close to topping out its eleven stories at the corner of Spring and Renwick. Architects Zakrzewski + Hyde carved a private courtyard and entrance out of a void off the Renwick Street side, and chose black brick as the masonry element. At 163 West 18th Street in Chelsea (right), a site now being cleared, Karl Fischer Architect has also opted for a dark palette in this 34 unit glass and gray metal condo. Thanks to the one-story Con Ed substation next door, apartments will have western exposures. This town has enough white and red brick, so count us as fans of these bolder strokes of black and charcoal gray (when skillfully combined with clear glass, of course). View additional images at the web sites linked below.
