Full-floor sky gardens invade Manhattan

Manhattan’s latest building amenity seems to be a floating garden. A new 41-storey skyscraper in New York City’s East Side will feature six five-metre-high gaps in the facade, each filled with a full-floor, canopied green space that will wrap around the core of the tower. There will also be a private full-floor roof garden for residents of the penthouse.

“To have an apartment at the top of the world is one thing, but to have a private garden at the top of the world is something we haven’t seen,” said Eran Chen of the architectural firm ODA, which is designing the slim tower near the United Nations headquarters.

This 180-metre-high East Side building is taking the concept of urban outdoor living to a whole new and pricey level by dedicating full floors to gardens. The concept represents a challenge for the engineers and architects, who plan to construct the building with limited structuralsupport around the perimeter of the gardens to avoid blocking the view.

Instead, the structure will be held up almost entirely by the core. Joseph Stavrach’s Triangle Assets plans to start construction in September, pending

approvals from the city, and to complete the building by late 2017. The slim tower will have 240 sq metre floor plates, one-third the size of those of famed pencil towers such as 432 Park Avenue in New York.

The lower floors will be divided into one and two-bedroom apartments, with full-floor units beginning on the 22nd floor.