Project Description
Cathedral Gardens is a new, mixed-use building of 72 apartments combining student and faculty housing for Barnard College with residential condominiums and street level community facility space. This HPD project has been carefully designed to respect its architectural surroundings while optimizing open space for its residents and the neighborhood. Sensitivity in massing, material selection, landscaping, and public amenities will help to make this project a true enhancement to the community.
The massing for Cathedral Gardens is largely a consequence of the dual uses of this project. Separate identities for the student housing and residential condominiums are achieved by splitting the entrances and the building bulk between the two street exposures. The higher residential portion of the project was placed along Cathedral Parkway because it is a wide street and the exposure can take advantage of the views overlooking Morningside Park. The lower student housing component was placed along narrower Manhattan Avenue.
The rear yard and open space requirements for the site have been arranged along 109th Street to bring light and air to this narrow street. The south-facing, 112 ft. wide courtyard is in many ways the heart of the project, providing shared green space for the building and a park-like focus for the neighborhood. Always visible from the sidewalk, neighborhood access to the garden is available. New sidewalks, street trees, and perimeter lighting further enhance the street level experience.
Brick is the primary façade treatment, with metal balconies punctuating the facade on the residential side that take advantage of the views to the north. While the street walls are articulated vertically, the upper facades above the setbacks have received horizontal brick bands to reduce the apparent height of the building and organize the fenestration.