CHELSEA INTERNATIONAL ARTS CENTER
NEW YORK, NEW YORK

area: 188,150 sf
program: commercial offices, retail, art center, and Museum
duration: 8-week proposal, Spring 2014
budget: $75,000,000
architect: architecture operations d.p.c. reid freeman aia principal
artist / designer: james carpenter design associates
client: moinian Group, ICP

The proposal sought to preserve the character and public spirit of the 1931 YMCA Seamen’s House building, adaptively reusing it and adding a complimentary base and tower to the eastern edge of the site. The project was organized to support a cultural museum program, communal office spaces, a limited amount of retail at grade and at the top of the podium massing, and office spaces in the tower. The glass tower connects to the architectural vocabulary of the new West Chelsea Arts and High Line district and is recessed from the existing Seamen’s House which anchors the development in the working waterfront and maritime past. The proposal was carried out with Moinian Group on a competition organized by the City of New York.