The Bryant in New York is the subject of a building study in the latest issue of the Architects’ Journal. In an interview with architecture editor Rob Wilson, Associate Director and project architect Mattias Kunz discusses how the project mediated the concerns of an ambitious commercial client with the desire to create a robust piece of architecture that is sensitive to its historic setting. The interview also addresses critical questions of sustainable design and how the practice is responding to climate change.
The first New York tower designed by the practice, The Bryant overlooks Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan. The 32-storey building contains a hotel on the first 13 floors and private residences above. Rejecting the glass façade of most contemporary towers, a pre-cast concrete façade was used that references the historic architectural context through its solidity, articulation and the use of aggregates similar to the stone used on the neighbouring buildings’ façades.