Project Details
- Project Name
- The Smile
- Architect
- Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)
- Client/Owner
- Blumenfeld Development Group
- Project Types
- Residence Hall
- Project Scope
- New Construction
- Size
- 275,568 sq. feet
- Year Completed
- 2020
- Shared by
- Wanda Lau
- Project Status
- Built
This project was selected as a Honor winner in the 2021 Residential Architect Design Awards, Multifamily Housing category.
"This brilliant project smashes the New York City zoning code in the most amazing way. And it brings light down on the street and enlivens it.” —Juror Matthew Bremer, AIA
A creative riff on the setbacks first required by New York’s 1916 zoning code yields this gently curving, 233-unit Harlem apartment tower designed by BIG. Dubbed The Smile, the 275,568-square-foot structure assumes a Y in plan, thanks to a concave 11-story face that boldly alters the typical street wall on East 126th Street. A solo wing—the leg of the Y—extends above existing commercial structures to the south. The building elevations create a checkerboard of blackened stainless steel and glass. The curved main façade allows each element to reflect sky and sunlight differently, resulting in varying shades of black.
Inspired by the neighborhood’s histories of Puerto Rican and Caribbean immigrant populations, the building lobby and halls feature herringbone patterns in bright reds, blues, greens, and yellows that contrast the building’s otherwise monochromatic palette. Wood and exposed concrete structure and steel trusses create the material language. Rooftop amenities include a swimming pool and whirlpool baths that look out to the city’s skyline to the south. Nursing school students and staff animate the first floor throughout the day. One-third of the building’s rental apartments are affordable housing units.
Harlem’s history is one of perpetual change and evolution. The Smile builds on these legacies while providing a striking and new architectural interpretation of the New York apartment block.
PROJECT CREDITS:
Project: The Smile, New York
Client: Blumenfeld Development Group
Architects: Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), New York. Bjarke Ingels, Thomas Christoffersen, Beat Schenk, Kai-Uwe Bergmann (partners-in-charge), Michelle Stromsta, Jennifer Ng (project leaders), Francesca Portesine (interiors lead), Adrien Mans, Agne Rapkeviciute, Annette Miller, Ava Nourbaran, Ben Caldwell, Benjamin DiNapoli, Daniele Pronesti, Deborah Campbell, Douglass Alligood, Elena Bresciani, Eva Maria Mikkelsen, Everald Colas, Gabriel Hernandez Solano, Iannis Kandyliaris, Jan Leenknegt, Jennifer Phan, Jennifer Wood, Jeremy Babel, Jialin Yuan, John Kim, Jose Jimenez, Julie Kaufman, Julien Beauchamp-Roy, Kurt Nieminen, Lina Bondarenko, Lucio Santos, Mark Rakhmanov, Meli Harvey, Margaret Tyrpa, Quentin Stanton, Rita Sio, Sarah Habib, Shu Zhao, Taylor Fulton, Terrence Chew, Terry Lallak, Valentina Mele, Wells Barber, Wojciech Swarowski, Yaziel Juarbe, Yoanna Shivarova (team)
Architect of Record: Bjarke Ingels Group
Interior Designer: Bjarke Ingels Group
Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
M/E/P Engineer: Cosentini Associates
Civil Engineer: Langan Engineering
Construction Manager: ZDG
Lighting Designer: Cosentini Associates
Zoning & Code Consultant: Milrose Consultants
Façade Consultant: Eckersley O’Callaghan
Elevator Consultant: Van Deusen Associates
Acoustic Consultant: Jaffe Holden
Spa Consultant: Design For Leisure
Façade Access Consultant: Lerch Bates
Zoning Consultant: Fox Rothschild
Materials and Sources:
Appliances: Bosch; Product: Cooktop & Speed Oven
Building Management Systems/Services: Salsbury Industries; Product: 3700 Series Horizontal Mailboxes
Concrete: Get Real Surfaces; Product: Concrete Wall Finish, Concrete Collaborative; Product: Laguna Tiles
Exterior Wall Systems: Pohl Facades; Product: Blackened Stainless Steel Panels
Flooring: Concrete Collaborative; Product: Trails Pavers; Quartzline; Product: Deco-Line Comfort Ultra Flooring
Daltile; Product: Keystones Mosaic Tiles; Kinorigo; Product: Basaltino Black Tiles sofSurfaces; Product: Durasound Rubber Acoustic Tiles
Lighting: iGuzzini, Product: BN42 Lights; Artemide, Product: Alphabet Lighting; Moooi, Product: Dear Ingo Chandelier
Masonry/Stone: Casalgrande Padana, Product: Mineral White Stone Coping; Caesarstone, Product: Classico Pure White Countertop; Nasco Stone & Tile, Product: Negro Marquina Limestone Penny Tiles
Metal: Jakob; Product: Stainless Steel Wire Mesh
Millwork: Alta Cucina Italiana; Product: Custom Cabinets Designed by BIG; Timbur; Product: Russian Birch Wall Panels; Alta Cucina Italiana Product: Custom Oak Wood Desk Designed by BIG; 5th Wall Designs; Product: White Oak Wood Ceiling
Plumbing/Water System: Kohler; Product: Purist Faucet; Living ROC; Product: Rondo Shadow Basin; Company: Moen; Product: Arris Faucet