11 SPRING STREET
New York, NY
Built in 1888 as a horse stable and carriage house, with a five story ramp for the horses, 11 Spring Street is designed as a 14,000 square foot single-family home. Extraordinary masonry work and stone details present a dignified façade to the historic fabric of Little Italy. Approval was gained from the New York City Planning Commission as a Building of Special Significance in the Special Little Italy District. The façade, including several major ground floor changes, was restored comprehensively. A four-story sky-lit staircase organizes the project’s program by connecting the main bedroom suites of the third floor with a casual family room at the penthouse level. Clear delineations of each floor of the residence add to the project's organizational clarity. This includes a pool, gym, and steam room in the cellar, special amenities, support functions and a garage at the ground floor, guest and staff quarters on the second floor, family bedroom suites on the third floor, and the living and entertaining spaces on the fourth, fifth, and penthouse levels.
11 Spring Street, covered in years of notable graffiti, had been known worldwide as a mecca for street artists and had become a focal point of a movement for public art. Musician Lou Reed composed and recorded a song about the building, and the British artist D*Face proposed marriage by writing it on the facade. Prior to demolition for the project, the building owners and the Wooster Collective organized a temporary transformation of the entire building, inside and out, by a group of 45 artists from all over the world to produce art pieces directly onto walls, ceilings, and floors. An exhibition lasted for several days and was documented in a book. The majority of art remains in place under the new construction.
Project by Asfour Guzy Architects.