New 685 First Avenue Tower in Manhattan

Richard Meier & Partners in collaboration with Developer Sheldon Solow’s East River Realty Development is pleased to celebrate the design and construction of the new 685 First Avenue tower in New York City. The 42-story, 460-foot high residential tower, Meier’s tallest in New York City, will rise just south of the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan overlooking the East River. It will be home to 556 rental and condominium apartments and feature panoramic views of the river and the city.

Minimalistic in form, the design of this predominantly glass building evidences great consideration for materiality, lightness, transparency and order. Its taut curtain wall is incised with modular subdivisions and articulated with selective metal panel elements in the form of balconies, canopies and corners. A distinguishing feature—an architectural cut-out at the 27th and 28th floors—will exist in dialogue with the building’s context and be visible from across the East River.  “This is a milestone project for us, as our first all-black glass and metal panel building, the tallest tower in New York City by our firm, and a complete Richard Meier & Partners project including both architecture and interiors,” comments Dukho Yeon, design partner-in-charge at Richard Meier & Partners. “The black glass curtain wall is a departure from our trademark white palette, Yeon continues, “When this intriguing challenge was proposed by developer Sheldon Solow, we accepted it with great enthusiasm and curiosity. We approach all our designs thoughtfully and with an open mind, and with this project we have remained true to our fundamental principles—distinctiveness in scale, proportion, light and power. That is the legacy of our white and clear glass buildings, and the design of 685 First Avenue foregrounds and celebrates these same elements.”

At street level, the project is designed to promote urban activity by providing retail space along First Avenue. The expansive glazing of the grand, double-height residential lobby has a direct visual and physical connection with the surrounding context, the future public park across First Avenue and the East River. The light colored materials rely on principles of light, order and geometry to create a modern and open space. Residents of the tower’s 408 rental units and 148 condominiums will have access to distinctive amenities located on the second floor, including an indoor swimming pool, fitness center, children’s playroom, tablet/work room, game room, private dining room, and lounge. These amenities and public spaces come alive through a rich palette of colors and textures, and tactile materials. All living room and bedrooms in the building are configured to take advantage of the outstanding views. The light palette of the interiors—whites, grays and earth tones—complement the smooth and textured surfaces of wood, plaster and glass.

project datas:
major building materials: Glass and Aluminum Curtain Wall, Metal Panel, and Stone
program: Residential Tower, Street Level Retail and below grade Garage
floors: 42 floors above grade, cellar, and sub-cellar
site area: 32,365 SFT
floor area: 765,590 SFT

project credits
design team: Richard Meier, FAIA, FRIBA, Dukho Yeon, AIA, Stefan Scheiber-Loeis
project manager: Richard Liu
project architect (Architecture): Sang-Min You
project architect (Interiors): Bori Kang Hans Put

project team: Tetsuhito Abe, Diana Carta, Luis Arturo Corzo, Joseph DeSense III, Ana Paola Hernandez, Henry Jarzabkowski, Graham Kervin, Peter J. Liao, Jackson Lindsay, Cameron Longyear, Diana Lui, Sharon Oh, Greg Chung Whan Park, Luciana Ruiz, Anne Struewing, Xiaodi Sun, Yuanyang Teng
owner & developer: Sheldon Solow, East River Realty Development LLC

Richard Meier & Partners Architects
The work of Richard Meier & Partners is instantly recognizable and internationally respected. For over five decades, the Firm has been appointed to design important buildings, and it has successfully completed over 130 projects across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Among its best known works are: the Smith House in Darien, Connecticut; the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California; the United States Courthouse in Islip, New York; the Perry Street & Charles Street Condominiums in New York City and the Jubilee Church in Rome, Italy.
Richard Meier & Partners is led by founder and Pritzker Prize laureate Richard Meier and six partners – Michael Palladino, James R. Crawford, Bernhard Karpf, Vivian Lee, Reynolds Logan, and Dukho Yeon. The offices in New York and Los Angeles employ a multicultural staff of talented professionals practicing architecture, urbanism, product design and exhibition design. The quality of the work has been recognized with almost 300 design awards, including major awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).