Building upon the inherent qualities presented by the site’s location and exposure (roof terrace vs. back garden), the landscape design works to amplify their qualities to create two distinct and memorable contextual landscape spaces.

The arid upper roof terrace offers magnificent views to the city skyline and to Central Park below, while the lower back garden is lush and shady, featuring a plant palette of ferns, moss, and other moisture-loving plants informed by historical Manhattan plant communities. Further drawing from the site’s rich landscape context, the lower garden houses a massive granite outcrop harvested from the same quarry where Frederick Law Olmsted sourced some of the granite for the construction of Central Park. The outcrop is adapted for contemporary urban living with a cutout designed specifically to fit a built-in eating area.

Every element of the design aims to provide places of refuge for the inhabitants that feel simultaneously ‘of the place’, yet distinctly suited to this particular home and its occupants.

With the opportunity to conceive and integrate the architectural design with the landscape at the outset of the project, the design works toward a total green building system. Taking the functional systems of the building as a starting point for the landscape design, PUBLIC WORK worked with Aziza Chaouni Projects to define a series of integrated landscape features to optimize the efficiency of the architectural and mechanical systems as well as enhance the quality of the living environment.

The integrated use of water storage into outdoor space elements is central to the design. A water storage tank designed as a thickened waffle floor slab below a deck, is hydraulically linked to a garden water feature. This raises the level of the upper deck, providing better vantage points toward Central Park as well as offering a cooling effect on summer days. Further, the sound of falling water will mediate the sound of the air conditioners on adjacent rooftops.