Going Against the Grid: ODA’s 15 Renwick Manipulates Manhattan Zoning to Carve Out Quiet Spaces

15 Renwick is ODA’s masterful attempt to offer a more bespoke residential design in a city where anonymous glass megastructures are proliferating.

The project is set on a quiet corner between Spring and Canal Streets in the recently rezoned Hudson Square, and has been designed as a single-block enclave and sequestered space for New Yorkers to escape the crowded city and live a more relaxing life.

The multifamily building “bucks the contemporary trend towards ultramodern — frequently hermetic — crystal towers,” said the architects. “Instead, myriad bespoke details and ample outdoor space add up to this resolutely classic, quasi-suburban sanctuary from the surrounding bustle.”

At 70,000 square feet, the rectangular structure takes up relatively little space on the city’s grid, but provides ample room for its residents and reveals “a broader threshold between exposure and seclusion, opportunity and intimacy.” ODA worked within NYC’s strict zoning requirements to rearrange spaces above the setback line from one end of the building to the other. This move resulted in 15 percent more outdoor space for double the units, totaling 8,300 square feet.

To do this, the architects “flipped the rulebook” in their favor, using the city’s labyrinthine zoning code not as an inhibitor but as a launchpad for innovation. Using the standard dormer rule — the amount of square footage that can invade a building’s setback line — they manipulated the structure by dissecting and redistributing its upper massing as large pockets of private terraces.

The façade’s gridded pattern is a direct result of this design decision. It features 10-inch-deep charcoal-hued aluminum fins that unveil a depth to the structure and also produce shadow lines that shield each unit from street view — furthering the element of privacy within. The fins also include a wood grain insert that adds warm tone to the façade.

15 Renwick is comprised of 31 units — a mix of two- and three-bedroom apartments, penthouse duplexes and townhouses with private yards. Through the use of glass windows and doors that open up to the private terraces, the design maximizes access to sun exposure and creates a seamless indoor-outdoor living experience for residents. The architects employ a flying dormer structure instead of interior columns which can be seen from the penthouses.

The interior common areas are designed in a nod to James Renwick, the English-American architect responsible for building St. Patrick’s Cathedral on 5th Avenue. These communal lounges channel the style of an early British social club.

Overall, as reflected from the outside-in, the building contains a minimalist and humble aesthetic in its design. According to ODA ,15 Renwick is “a new kind of new build, rooted in ideals of the past — a fitting tribute to one of Manhattan’s last quiet corners.”