Art and Nature Take Center Stage in This Aspen Residence

CCY Architects does not typically design a long entry sequence for houses in Aspen, Colorado, which gets over 12 feet of snow a year. But for a mountainside residence overlooking the Roaring Fork Vall­ey, the firm built a 90-foot path between the parking area and the front door. By local standards, “That’s a long, long walk,” says CCY principal Alex Klumb. But the clients, an art-collecting couple, sought to highlight a recent acquisition: a reflective PVD-coated stainless-steel head by the Swiss artist Not Vital. CCY placed the sculpture at the end of an allée of aspens leading to the entrance. “It frames nature, draws you to the door, and slows everybody down before releasing to an incredible view,” Klumb explains. It also establishes the home’s focus on art and the outdoors.

Besides the Not Vital sculpture, the clients hadn’t earmarked specific pieces for the house, so they worked with Kleinberg to see which fit best: a Calder over a guest-room bed, a James Rosenquist at the top of the stairs. In the dining room, a David Hockney drawing echoes the moun­tains outside the window. It hangs above three square oak tables that can be joined or separated depending on the size of the group—the sort of practical touch that makes the home livable. The paintings and views may be spectacular, Kleinberg says, “but the interiors have to hold their own.” The result is as layered as a work of art.

A Mountainside Vacation Home Designed by CCY Architects

through galerie carole decombe: mirror (entry)

apparatus studio: con­sole

11 ravens: custom billiards table (rec room)

adam otlewski: side table

soane britain: chairs (dining room)

minotti: pendant fixtures

focus fireplaces: fireplace (guest sitting room)

perennials fabrics: sectional fabric

through 1stdibs: lamp, coffee table, chair

cassina: armchair

romo fabrics: armchair fabric

scott group studio: rugs (guest sitting room, living room)

colorado pool designs: custom pool, spa (terrace)

zachary a. design: tables

knoll: sofas, lounges, chaises

a.r.s.antiqua: custom wood cocktail tables (living room)

fernando mastrangelo studio: custom square side tables

blanche jelly: round side table

through valerie goodman gallery: custom floor lamp

cowtan & tout; edelman leather: sectional fabrics

glant textiles: lounge chair fabric

wud furniture: nightstand (bedroom)

bourgeois boheme: custom sconce

dune: custom bed

nobilis paris: headboard fabric

through twentieth gallery: bench (hall)

Roll & Hill: pendant fixture (study)

warp & weft: custom rug

nada debs: side table

charles h. beckley: daybed cushions

mark alexander fabrics: cushion fabric

Design Within Reach: chairs

token: barstools (rec room)

arabel fabrics: sectional fabric

adam otlewski: side tables

arrigoni woods: wood flooring

ergon engineered stone: tile flooring

grabill windows and doors: windows, doors

lift studio: land­scape architect

ls group: lighting design

kl&a engineers: structural engineer

woody creek engineering: civil engineer

anthony lawrence-belfair: custom furniture work­shop

structural associates: general contractor

Gensler and MaRS Design a Community-Minded Office Building in Denver

Hospitality-inspired workplaces have been popular for years. We can all remember when lounges with ping-pong tables and kombucha and beer on tap started making their way into the corporate interiors of tech companies and other sectors. But the trend hasn’t fully extended to the office building itself. Lobbies can be drab and lack seating; shared gyms can feel like an afterthought. But a developer in Denver is upending that model: Patrinely Group believes the commercial real estate market demands a more elegant, considered approach. In 2015, it hired Gensler to design Block 162, a 30-story tower that would attract high-end tenants with a distinctive lobby and an amenity floor. Later, Patrinely brought on MaRS to collaborate on the common areas, which include a fitness center, coworking spaces, meeting rooms, and a terrace. The firms shared an interest in creating a unified aesthetic that spoke to the location and brought people together.

How the Design of Block 162 Revitalizes Its Surroundings

Block 162 occupies what was previously an empty lot between the Colorado Convention Center and the 16th Street Mall, a pedestrian corridor. The site was sure to get foot traffic, and architect Raffael Scasserra, principal and design director at Gensler Houston, hoped to draw passersby inside. “We saw an opportunity to invigorate the street, invite people into the lobby, and turn it into a community space for the neigh­borhood,” Scasserra says. “The building itself should also have a sense of community.” He began by considering the local context, taking inspiration from the Rocky Mountains and the city’s outdoor-oriented culture.

Architectural Accents Capture the Rocky Mountain Spirit 

Block 162’s exterior architecture evokes an eroding rock face, with a crevice in the top corner that splits the glass building in two. The 8,500-square-foot lobby continues the mountain theme. Faceted exposed-concrete columns and an angled gypsum ceiling crisscrossed with recessed linear LEDs bring a rugged note to the sleek marble-floored space. “It’s a place where the user can pause, reflect, and enjoy their surroundings,” says Scasserra. “It’s a hospitality-type environment that welcomes people in.” The main attraction is Cedar Point Reeds, a 30- foot-long kinetic sculpture by New York’s Breakfast Studio, conceived in collaboration with MaRS partners in charge Kelie Mayfield and Erick Ragni.

Mayfield and Ragni both studied art history in college and have curated artwork for many clients since founding their Houston-based firm in 2010. “We think of art and architecture holistically,” Ragni says. “Each project starts with a narrative, and the art responds to it.” For Block 162, the narrative was based on early site visits, when they explored the River North Arts District, walked through downtown after a snowstorm, and snapped photos of shimmering icicles on a fence.

Block 162 Explores the Intersection of Art and Architecture

The pair sees the latter echoed in the Breakfast sculpture’s glowing acrylic rods, though viewers also compare it to blowing wheat fields; the piece moves based on current wind speeds in eastern Colorado and responds to people nearby as well. David Haltom, senior vice president at Patrinely, says it’s been a hit with the neighborhood: “We see nose prints on the glass.” While engaging pedestrians and animating the cavernous lobby, Cedar Point Reeds also establishes the building’s emphasis on art.

MaRS commissioned multiple contemporary artworks, mostly by local talent, for the 12,400-square-foot amenity deck that occupies much of the building’s 11th floor. There’s a long, lenticular mural by Frank T. Martinez backdropping the coworking area; stained book pages in Pam Fortner’s mixed-media works hanging in the lounge; and a trippy graffiti-esque mural by Anna Charney in the gym. “We reinterpreted the street art we saw in the RiNo District in a sophisticated way,” Mayfield notes.

Halton says that though the tenants come from multiple industries, many see their company culture reflected in the building’s design. “It’s authentically of a place—not cartoonishly of a place,” he observes. “It brings in the local flavor without elk heads on the wall.” And like any good host, Block 162 makes everyone feel at home.

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Inside the Office Tower Designed by Gensler and MaRS 

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Gensler: jon gambrill; tim vuong; jonathan larocca; melinda ubera; nicholas mcmunn; maria qi; blanca mcgrath; ariel becker; maria perez; yingfei wang; harry spetnagel

MaRS: linnea wingo; kim le; alisha gaubert; zoe pittman

confluence; studioinsite: landscaping consultants

bos lighting design: lighting consultant

nine dot arts: art consultant

imeg corp.: structural engineer

m-e engineers: mep

kimley-horn and associates: civil engineer

harmon: curtain wall contractor; glasswork

w&w: structural curtain wall contractor

isec: millwork

gallegos: stonework

swinerton: general contractor

prudential lighting: recessed ceiling fixtures (lobby)

bernhardt design: chairs

decca: custom ottomans

pk30: door, wi­n­d­ow system (gym)

rh: sofas, armchairs (terrace)

kettal: black chairs

han­over: pavers

meyda lighting: custom lamps (coworking)

sunpan: brown chairs

jay edwards: custom tables (coworking, library)

rulon inter­national: ceiling system (lounge)

bloomsburg carpet: custom rugs

riva 1920: armchairs

minotti: side table

Living Divani: sect­ionals (lounge, library)

brightview: turf (terrace)

Florida Tile: floor tile

gen3: facade metal panels

viracon: facade glass

benjamin moore & co.; sherwin-williams company: paint

Sophie Goineau and Enclosures Architects Update a Beverly Hills Classic

It’s a known fact of Los Angeles life: Residences boast enviable pedigrees or intriguing back stories. Just query any realtor or buyer about the tales. This Beverly Hills property has both. A prime example of Mid-Century Modernism, it was built in 1957 and designed by Alfred T. Wilkes. Not as well known, of course, as the marquee architects Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra, but a proponent of the movement’s tenets just the same. When purchased by a prominent film producer, the 4,500-square-foot house was in decent shape, but in need of upgrades both aesthetic and pragmatic. All walking the fine line between the owner’s wants and the house’s heritage.

“Addressing the project, we had to take a step back and understand the intention of the original architecture yet do the work in light of the client’s program.” Thus, Scott Strumwasser of Enclosures Architects presents the overarching theme. His partner Tash Rahbar addresses the firm’s bona fides. “We’ve been in business for 35 years and have notoriety for historic renovation work.” Thanks go to their long-time contractor for making the client introduction. Sophie Goineau, a Montreal-born interior designer, was leasing space for her studio within Enclosures Architects’s building. Needing a pro with her skill sets, they invited her on board. Ergo the team, which collaboratively conceived the parti. 

The owner wanted a high-design party-cum-guest house since she lived close by. Mid-way through the construction process, she opted to sell, yet allowed the project to proceed as planned regardless. 

“It was basic, all white walls and beige carpet,” Goineau says of the existing scenario. It included, too, a cramped, dark dining room closed off from a segmented kitchen. Both were closed to the sweeping curve of the bright, glass-walled living room overlooking the pool. “We had the sense that it had never really been finished with love.” So, the main interior intervention was obvious: reconfiguring the plan to one contiguous living area in keeping with the spirit of modernism. An open space, however, did not mean an unarticulated one. Turning to another trope, the team designed architectural screens and extensive millwork in walnut to define function areas. Meticulous finishes are all new including plaster to replace wall paint and slatted Afrormosia wood for the lower of two ceiling heights. 

Entering via a turquoise-lacquered portal with an impressive brass, half-moon handle, one confronts the circulation spine, a new terrazzo floor with brass inlays forming a subtle graphic inspired, appropriately enough, by those of Alexander Girard. To the left, a run of walnut panels and slatted screens set off the corridor from the dining and kitchen areas, which are subtly separated by a full-height floating shelving unit for wine and glass storage. Meanwhile, to the right of entry, more walnut, now in curved form, semi-encloses a bar with powder room. Peek inside the latter to discover one of Goineau’s period-right finds—teak tiles from Brazil sourced from an online vintage shop. Beyond, three bedrooms, baths, plus the main suite unfold as an L. At the configuration’s juncture is the solarium, newly endowed with stacked sliders allowing two faces to open completely to the outdoors.

For the sunlit salon, Goineau relied mostly on Minotti, choosing Rodolfo Dordoni’s Alexander sectional, pair of Reeves chairs, cocktail and side tables, plus GamFratesi’s burgundy leather Shelley chairs. For the double-sided fireplace, she turned to another design super star, Peter Zumthor for his flat clay bricks handmade in Denmark. 

The kitchen is quite a piece of work. With walnut-trimmed, lacquered cabinetry it spans almost 18 feet long and includes a cement quartz-topped island that transitions to a walnut counter for casual meals. More formal repasts occur in the adjacent dining area, newly daylit thanks to a slot window put in place by the Enclosures Architects team. Here, both table and chairs are from Gallotti&Radice, the former designed by Oscar and Gabriel Buratti. The brass pendant was designed by Goineau’s Quebecois colleagues. Speaking of Enclosures Architects, the partners took charge of installing new HVAC, double glazing for sliders, and a new entry procession created of board-formed concrete and vertical steel framing. Though designed pre-pandemic in 2019, the project’s construction took place during the last two years; its epilogue, though, is current. It sold and closed just weeks ago. 

Studios Architecture’s Major League Baseball Headquarters in Midtown Forges a New Era for the Sport

When Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred took office in 2015, he charted a new direction for the sport that he calls “One Baseball.” The overarching goal is to increase access to, and engagement with, America’s pastime with the hope of better developing on-field talent and better cultivating a new generation of fans. But one aspect of this unifying strategy was far more literal: bringing MLB’s different business entities under one roof in order to leverage the collaboration needed to make One Baseball a reality.

The Studios Architecture team, led by managing prin­cipal Joshua Rider and associate Jordan Evans, didn’t have to rattle off player stats in the interview to win the commission for the new MLB headquarters in the Wallace Harrison–designed Time & Life building in Midtown, the former home of Interior Design. “‘We don’t hire baseball fans, we hire the best people to work at baseball,’” Rider recalls the MLB reps saying. “They appreciated that this project had to do something transformational.” Armed with a portfolio full of inventive office projects and intimate knowledge of the iconic building—the firm had helped Time Inc. explore staying in the building before designing its new downtown workplace a few years prior—Studios had the perfect lineup to help realize a unified home for baseball.

The 315,000-square-foot headquarters spans five floors—three in the building’s podium, one atop it with an outdoor terrace boasting views from Central Park down to One World Trade Center, and another in the tower. It accommodates 1,250 employees from the office of the commissioner and MLB Advanced Media who hold jobs as disparate as negotiating labor contracts and designing video games. The Studios team leveraged one of the building’s most chal­lenging characteristics, its deep, vast floor plates, to create a hierarchy of space that puts workers first and inspires collaboration. Facilities that don’t need natural light or, in fact, require darkness—server rooms and screen-lined multimedia and broadcast studios, for example—sit in the middle of each floor, leaving the daylit perimeter for open office, circulation, and meeting areas.

Throughout the office and public sections, walls are lined with supergraphics such as larger-than-life photo illustrations of players, representations of women and youth in baseball, and the MLB logo rendered in materials as varied as neon and wood. They celebrate the history of the game and the principles of inclusion that One Baseball aims to guide the future of the sport, but they also help define space and serve as wayfinding through the massive floor plates, which Studios parsed into smaller open office neighborhoods. After analyzing the requirements of each group of employees, Rider and Evans developed a tool kit of five workstation models, mixing and matching them to meet each department’s disparate needs. Flexible meeting areas that foster collaboration, filled with different seating configurations and enough outlets and laptop tables to accommodate any work group, connect the neighborhoods.

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To foster interaction across the floors, Studios developed the concourse, which serves as the project’s social hub. This three-bay hall has one triple-height space flanked by two double-height ones; running down its length is a faceted white feature wall that serves as a projection screen for highlight reels and live-streamed games. The concourse unites many office amenities, including the fifth-floor cafeteria and coffee shop, the latter offering a leather-topped bench for employees to watch whatever game is being projected on the feature wall; there are also pantries on each floor.

But supergraphics and video are not the only ways that the iconography of baseball is evident here. Nearly every material selection was made with a reference to the sport in mind. Be it red lines tracing through carpets, conference room mullions, and upholstery that nod to the stitching on a baseball; leather upholstery that hints at the hues of gloves and mitts; or the seven types of ash in everything from casework to ceiling slats that owe a hat tip to the baseball bat. “We did a labored study of all of the materials in all of these wonderful things in the game, but we wanted to hit them in a subtle way,” Evans says. “The project is bold in its scale, so the materiality wanted to be a bit more discreet.” Even the facets on the concourse’s projection wall are in on it: They are an abstraction of the geometry of a baseball diamond.

The new headquarters opened in late 2019, scant months before COVID-19 emptied Manhattan’s offices and streets. Studios helped MLB navigate the return to the workplace, and now that it is once again at capacity, the needed transformation is complete: Before, an MLB employee in one office might never meet a coworker in the other. Now, face-to-face chats between different departments, be it in a break-out space or taking in the eye-level view of the glittering Radio City Music Hall sign from the cafeteria, are the norm.

As for how MLB feels about its new headquarters, “The end result is a perfect embodiment of our philosophy of One Baseball,” MLB chief communications officer Pat Courtney says. “This sport is meant for everyone, and we want each person who comes to our offices to feel a part of the game.” ­

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Studios Architecture: frank gesualdi; nelson tang; lee sewell; rebecca frederick

esi design: graphics exhibit, experiential graphic, and media design consultant

lighting workshop: lighting consultant

acoustic distinctions: acoustical consultant

diversified systems: audiovisual consultant

click­spring design: studio set designer

flda lighting design: studio lighting designer

thornton tomasetti: structural engineer

ama consulting engineers: mep

bauerschmidt and sons; svend nielsen limited: woodwork

jrm construction management: general contractor

sterling project development: project manager.

lite brite neon: custom sign (hall)

9wood: custom slat ceiling

tai ping carpets: custom rug (reception)

minotti: sofas

through the future perfect: coffee table

viccarbe: side table

optic arts: recessed ceiling fixtures

dado: receessed wall fix­ture

bensen: chairs (reception, lounge), side chair (conference room)

cooledge tile: ceiling panels (hall)

newmat: ceiling system

kubik maltbie: custom walls

carvart: custom elevator portal

ecosense lighting: linear fixtures (stair)

cmfpA: custom stair

uhuru: stools (coffee bar)

walter knoll: sectional, side tables (auditorium lounge)

bernhardt: sofas (lounge)

arco: tables

halcon: custom workstations (office area)

bisley: lockers

through the commission project: custom mural

herman miller: chairs (office area, conference room)

arper: ottomans (lounge), side table (con­ference room)

Add tag via side panel:

datesweiser: table (conference room)

carnegie: fabric panel

extremis: tables (terrace)

Magis: tables

landscape forms: seating

drive21: custom wall graphics

linder group: custom perforated walls

topakustik: custom perforated ceilings

amerlux: light fixtures

bentley: carpet tile

zonca terrazzo: epoxy flooring

benjamin moore and co.: paint