Update on Lincoln Road's Glass Tower

Regarding the new development near the Lincoln Road subway, this just in from the New York Sun:

The glass building, to be situated at 27–35 Lincoln Road near Ocean Avenue, will be one of the tallest structures to overlook the park. It will include about 80 units, a 17,000-square-foot private rooftop park, and a large retail space on the ground level. The architect, Tom Gilman of Gilman Architects, said it would have a modern design where the two sections of the building are rotated on top of each other. "There is going to be a lot of glass, which means amazing views of the park," Mr. Gilman said.

Hm. The glass in the rendering looks like some kind of netting. To get a better idea of what they're going for, check out the photo of a similar building on GilmanArchitects.com.

UPDATE: Curbed has another rendering of the building (left) and also this bit of info:

"The light that is visible midway up the building is from a color-coordinated LED light system that will offer up 24 different colors and that will be changed from hour to hour. The architect calls the lights 'an abstract urban clock.' "

I don't get it, though. Neither the lot nor the surrounding area in these illustrations resemble the actual location. Perhaps someone more familiar with the ways of architects could enlighten us. Is it standard practice to distribute a rendering and say, "the building will look like this but will be a different shape...."

(Thanks, Kendall!)

Comments

[LM]

Wow! I wouldn't want to live in a fish-tank, but it is very popular amongst the very self-confident I suppose.

I don't see how the Flatbush Avenue leg of this site is incorporated into this design, will it be a parking lot and parking entrance?

There is a strong visual connection between this building and On Prospect Park at Grand Army Plaza. That will attract people who would never have heard of PLG before. If this gets built (see credit crunch/condo surplus in the news) our neighborhood will never be the same.

[carrie]

The Oasis map doesn't show this lot bordering Flatbush, so I don't think it does. When I talked to Gilman a few months ago, he said parking would be underground.

[LM]

Isn't this an 'L' shaped lot that connects Flatbush to Lincoln? There certainly was a building on Flatbush that is now torn down where the scafolds arrived simultaneously with the Lincoln Rd ones.

Or, are you saying something else that I missed entirely?

[Charles Star]

I don't think that is a precise rendering of the proposed building. The shape and orientation don't look right. There is no way to tell from that picture where Lincoln Rd., Flatbush Ave., or the right-of-way for the train are. You'd think that the right-of-way would be between the building and the park, but if that is the case, none of it makes sense.

Best to think of it as a rough idea of what type of building is going to go into the space (it looks like the architect's style), rather than assuming it is a projection of the actual building.

As for the OASIS map, I think the property will also include the lot at 510 Flatbush, completing the L-shape.

[jessica]

As someone "more familiar with the ways of architects", Carrie has asked me to weigh in on this one. But I have to say I am not entirely sure what is going on with the context (or lack thereof) in these renderings. I think Charles' suggestion is probably correct.

Often architects send out their designs to out-of-house renderers who are less familiar with the site, and whose goal is to create a good-looking rendering for the purpose of securing funding, marketing, making sales, etc. I would guess that this rendering is intended for that purpose, rather than being a truly accurate representation of what's going on.

[MP]

I'm curious about the view of midtown from the top of the building. Does anybody know the altitude difference between Lincoln Road and Eastern Parkway? Would a twenty story building have a line of sight above Mount Prospect Park?