Zaha Hadid in New York

Early design rendering of 520 West 28th Street, in New York City. Image: Zaha Hadid Architects

London, England-based Zaha Hadid Architects has been commissioned to design a boutique condominium adjacent to the High Line at 520 West 28th Street in Chelsea just south of Hudson Yards. The 11-story residential development, owned by Related Companies, will be Hadid's first project in New York City.

The firm released an initial rendering of the project design, which shows an L-shaped and heavily glazed building sporting a subdued version of Hadid's fluid style, seeming to express a vertical stacking of large, split-level units.

And while views of the High Line are emphasized through the building's orientation and overall massing, the viewer is left with the sense that Hadid's building has little interest in engaging in a spatial dialog with the elevated park as other new structures, such as The Standard hotel and HL23 have.

Quoted in a firm press release, Pritzker Prize laureate Zaha Hadid explained the design thinking:

"Our design is an integration of volumes that flow into each other and, following a coherent formal language, create the sensibility of the building's overall ensemble. 

"With an arrangement that reinvents the spatial experience, each residence will have its own distinctive identity, offering multiple perspectives and exciting views of the neighborhood."

The 11-story residential building will feature 11-foot (-meter) ceilings in around 37 residences of up to 5,500 square feet (square meters). Designed with multiple elevator cores, a majority of the residences will also have a private vestibule and entrance.

The double-height lobby of 520 West 28th Street offers glimpses from the street to the residents' communal spaces and an outdoor garden. Other communal spaces include patios, a courtyard, a roof terrace, an indoor pool and spa, and an entertainment space and playrooms.