Five Franklin Place by Unstudio

Five Franklin place by Ben van Berkel of Unstudio will be build with a facade constructed from reflective black metal bands of varying widths. This facade treatment will offer privacy with maximum light and views within each residence. The metal bands twist like ribbons, wrapping Five Franklin Place with terraces and balconies, employing this decorative element as a functional tool.

Exploiting light and views was an essential part of the overall architectural design concept and a guiding design principle. At Five Franklin Place, the lower part of the building will be framed between the walls of adjacent structures on two sides, north and south. So on these lower floors we will create what we call double height Loft Residences with floating upper level mezzanines and large openings so that daylight can be filtered deep into these apartments.

Unstudio decided to change the traditional way mezzanines are fixed at one end of an apartment — this often creates a sort of tunnel effect that leaves some part of the space very dark — and instead placed the mezzanines of the Lofts toward the center of the unit. This was a key move in the design process to optimize daylight throughout the entire home.

There are nice big vaults in the Lofts, a wonderful integral wall that turns from the kitchen into the library, and big bedrooms and bathrooms.

“We picked up the strong horizontal cornices and decorative details of TriBeCa’s architecture, re-formed them, and transported them onto our building in a very contemporary way that makes them truly functional but that still has a lot to do with pure surface decoration.”

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