Carter's Review

Norfolk Street on the Lower East Side between Rivington and Delancey streets is one of the city’s most architecturally diverse and interesting.

It is notable for Bernard Tschumi’s “Blue” apartment tower at 105 Norfolk Street, a rakishly modeled dark blue glass, mid-block, 16-story structure that is one of the Lower East Side’s most prominent modern buildings since it was erected in 2005, the “Switch Building” at 109 Norfolk Street, a low-rise apartment building designed is a 7-story apartment building designed in 2010 by Narchitects with quite pronounced alternate fenestration angles, and 115 Norfolk Street by Grzywinski Pons with slightly angled horizontal planes that is very subtle  

The latest addition is 100 Norfolk Street, a dramatic cantilevered, glass, 12-story building that looms over its neighbor to the south to give the street a very impressive and modern presence.

It was designed by Eran Chen of ODA (Office of Design and Architecture) who also used cantilevers in his design of the black-glass reconstruction and conversion of the former Tiffany building at 15 Union Square West.  His other projects include

Adam America Real Estate, The Naveh Shuster Group and The Horizon Group are the developers of the building that is scheduled to open with 38 condominium apartments in 2016.

Bottom Line

Like a rearin’ glass Transformer that you shouldn’t mess with, this burst of modernity commands respect on one of the city’s most interesting architectural streets.

Description

At first glance, one might think that this cantilevered structure shimmies and shakes for it projects considerably to the south and to the east.

And the sense of movement is accentuated by its extensive and quite visible use of diagonal interior trusses.

Its dynamic is further complicated by the thin, non-setback vertical element at its north end on Norfolk Street that serves as something of a visual “sounding board” presumably concealing some mechanical spaces, and by its grand pergola atop the highest cantilevered section whose roof is landscaped.

Amenities

The building has a 24-hour concierge, a double-height lobby with fireplace, a gym, a roof deck, a garden terrace, a bicycle room and storage.

Apartments

Apartments have double-pane floor-to-ceiling windows, oak flooring, washers and dryers, and central heating and cooling.

Open kitchens have high-gloss lacquer cabinetry by Bazzeo, Quartz countertops and backsplashes and Gaggenau appliances.

Penthouse C is a two-bedroom unit duplex with a 25-foot-long living/dining room with a 12-foot-long open kitchen and the end of a long entry foyer and a staircase to a 35-by-25-foot terrace.

Apartment 10A is a three-bedroom unit with a 22-foot-long living/dining room next to a 10-foot-wide open kitchen with an island.

Apartment 7B is a two-bedroom unit with a long entry foyer that leads to an 8-foot-wide open kitchen with an island and an 18-foot-long living/dining room.

Apartment 3A is a one-bedroom apartment with a 16-foot-long living/dining room and a 8-foot-wide open, pass-through kitchen.

Apartment 7D is a corner studio unit with a 22-foot-long living/dining room with five sides of windows and an 8-foot-wide open kitchen with an island.