Dezeen Magazine

Shigeru Ban redesigns interiors for iron-clad New York apartment block

News: a New York developer has revealed first images of an apartment block redevelopment underway in Manhattan with interiors designed by this year's Pritzker Prize winner, Japanese architect Shigeru Ban.

Shigeru Ban creates luxury interiors for private housing project in New York

The Cast Iron House project will create 11 flats and two penthouse apartments inside a cast-iron clad building dating from 1882, in one of New York's most popular residential areas.

Shigeru Ban creates luxury interiors for private housing project in New York

Shigeru Ban has been commissioned to "reimagine" the interior of the building, which the developer Knightsbridge Properties describes as a "neoclassical landmark in Tribeca".

Shigeru Ban creates luxury interiors for private housing project in New York

"We liken the architectural concept for Cast Iron House to a ship in a bottle," said Ban. "The original cast iron facade is the bottle, while the newly built-out modern interior, which has been completely reimagined, is the ship."

Shigeru Ban creates luxury interiors for private housing project in New York

Over 4,000 of the ornamental iron panels cladding the exterior of the building have already been removed, taken to a foundry in Alabama for restoration and recast where necessary to restore the original details, before being re-installed on the facade.

Shigeru Ban creates luxury interiors for private housing project in New York

The penthouses will be housed in a new two-storey structure that is integrated into the existing building. This addition is designed to appear to hover when viewed from street level, with a cantilevered steel truss and extensive glass walls.

Shigeru Ban creates luxury interiors for private housing project in New York

These glass walls also open up to create a connection between the interiors and terraces that surround the penthouse structure, providing over 130 square metres of outdoor space.

Shigeru Ban creates luxury interiors for private housing project in New York

The remaining duplex flats inside the original building will offer "cathedral style" double-height space and vary in size, with the smallest providing 265 square metres of living area.

The kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms will feature lacquered cabinetry specially created by Ban with a matte white finish.

Shigeru Ban creates luxury interiors for private housing project in New York

All residents will enter the building via a new lobby space, also designed by Ban. A new communal courtyard space at the centre of the building will also be visible from street level.

The project is due for completion in 2015.

Photography is by Hayes Davidson.