8 Spruce Street
Encyclopedia
8 Spruce Street, originally known as Beekman Tower and currently marketed as New York by Gehry, is a 76-story skyscraper designed by architect Frank Gehry
in the New York City
borough of Manhattan
at 8 Spruce Street, just south of City Hall Plaza and the Brooklyn Bridge
.
8 Spruce Street is one of the tallest residential buildings in the Western Hemisphere, and somewhat resembles Aqua, a Chicago skyscraper, in height and form. The building was developed by Forest City Ratner, designed by Frank Gehry
, and constructed by Kreisler Borg Florman. It contains a public elementary school, which the Department of Education owns. It opened in February 2011. Its structural frame is made of reinforced concrete.
. The hospital will take up 25000 square feet (2,322.6 m²), and will have public parking below ground.
There will be public plazas on both the east and west sides of the building, one 11000 square feet (1,021.9 m²) and the other somewhat smaller.
Street-level retail, totaling approximately 1,300-2,500 square feet, is included as part of the project.
praised the building's design as a welcome addition to the skyline of New York, calling it: "the finest skyscraper to rise in New York since Eero Saarinen
’s CBS building
went up 46 years ago." New Yorker
magazine's Paul Goldberger
described it as "one of the most beautiful towers downtown". Comparing Gehry's tower to the nearby Woolworth Building
, completed in 1913, Goldberger said "it is the first thing built downtown since then that actually deserves to stand beside it".
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...
in the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
at 8 Spruce Street, just south of City Hall Plaza and the Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
.
8 Spruce Street is one of the tallest residential buildings in the Western Hemisphere, and somewhat resembles Aqua, a Chicago skyscraper, in height and form. The building was developed by Forest City Ratner, designed by Frank Gehry
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...
, and constructed by Kreisler Borg Florman. It contains a public elementary school, which the Department of Education owns. It opened in February 2011. Its structural frame is made of reinforced concrete.
Public elementary school
The school is sheathed reddish-tan brick, and covers 100000 square feet (9,290.3 m²) of the first five floors of the building. It will host over 600 students enrolled in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade classes. A fourth floor roof deck will hold 5000 square feet (464.5 m²) of outdoor play space.Luxury rentals
Above the elementary school is a 903-unit luxury residential tower clad in stainless steel. The apartments range from 500 to 1600 square feet (148.6 m²), and consist of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom units. All units are priced at market-rate, with no low or moderate income-restricted apartments. It does not contain any units for purchase.Hospital and other uses
The building also includes space for New York Downtown HospitalNew York Downtown Hospital
New York Downtown Hospital is a not-for-profit, acute care, teaching hospital in New York City and is the only hospital in Lower Manhattan...
. The hospital will take up 25000 square feet (2,322.6 m²), and will have public parking below ground.
There will be public plazas on both the east and west sides of the building, one 11000 square feet (1,021.9 m²) and the other somewhat smaller.
Street-level retail, totaling approximately 1,300-2,500 square feet, is included as part of the project.
Reviews
Early reviews of the 8 Spruce Street tower have been favorable. In the New York Times, architecture critic Nicolai OuroussoffNicolai Ouroussoff
Nicolai Ouroussoff is the architecture critic for The New York Times.-Biography:Born in Boston, Massachusetts United States, he received a bachelor’s degree in Russian from Georgetown University and a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of ArchitectureThe protégé of the...
praised the building's design as a welcome addition to the skyline of New York, calling it: "the finest skyscraper to rise in New York since Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect and industrial designer of the 20th century famous for varying his style according to the demands of the project: simple, sweeping, arching structural curves or machine-like rationalism.-Biography:Eero Saarinen shared the same birthday as his father,...
’s CBS building
CBS Building
The CBS Building in New York City, also known as Black Rock, is the headquarters of CBS Corporation. The building, opened in 1965, was designed by Eero Saarinen. It is located at 51 West 52nd Street, at the corner of Sixth Avenue . The 38 story building is tall and measures approximately 872,000...
went up 46 years ago." New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
magazine's Paul Goldberger
Paul Goldberger
Paul Goldberger is the Architecture Critic for The New Yorker, where since 1997 he has written the magazine's celebrated "Sky Line" column. He also holds the Joseph Urban Chair in Design and Architecture at The New School in New York City...
described it as "one of the most beautiful towers downtown". Comparing Gehry's tower to the nearby Woolworth Building
Woolworth Building
The Woolworth Building is one of the oldest skyscrapers in New York City. More than a century after the start of its construction, it remains, at 57 stories, one of the fifty tallest buildings in the United States as well as one of the twenty tallest buildings in New York City...
, completed in 1913, Goldberger said "it is the first thing built downtown since then that actually deserves to stand beside it".