Inspired by Auguste Perret and the masters of the exposed-concrete architecture philosophy known as béton brut, Randolph Gerner, founding principal of Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel, (GKV) Architects, DPC, has made concrete the cornerstone of his design style. Gerner admires how architects like Perret used concrete to celebrate the structure of buildings above all else — an approach Gerner feels has been lost over the last century. But, with recent projects like 235 East 44th Street and the stunning 51-story residential tower at the new Beekman Hotel and Residences in New York City, Gerner and GKV are bringing innovative interpretations of this design approach to the Manhattan skyline.
All photography by Eric Laignel, courtesy of Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel, (GKV) Architects, DPC
Anything Is Possible with Concrete
The Beekman’s original construction, Temple Court, opened in the 1880s as one of the first multi-tenant office buildings in New York — and the world. Empty since 2001, it’s drawn photographers and celebrity parties over the last few years, attracting visitors with its dramatic nine-story atrium and expansive skylight. In 2013, developers made plans to restore it as a luxury hotel with a major expansion. Gerner and his team were tapped to design a contemporary adjoining tower that would also celebrate the opulent styles of the “Gilded Age” found throughout the original building.
Gerner began studying the building’s interior, which blended cast-iron with Greek and Roman influences. “I enjoy having a building explain how it works,” says Gerner, and he was drawn to forms that were integral to the building’s structure, like cantilevered brackets that resembled dragons. These elements were not only highly stylized but also providing necessary support. “There was a great deal of ornamentation celebrating structure. The structure was exposed, but also became art. That was the important thing,” Gerner explains.
To incorporate these ideas into the new tower, Gerner turned to his personal theories on exposed concrete. Instead of striving for the smooth-as-glass surfaces often found in modernism, Gerner works to make the material cozier and more touchable through pattern: “The way you soften a concrete façade is by giving it detail so that the façade has different perceptions from different distances. Just like herringbone on a suit jacket,” Gerner says. “If you have the right pattern, you can make something really interesting.”
For The Beekman, Gerner’s team looked to designs found in the original building’s extraordinary atrium, tying the exposed concrete of the new tower to the history and grandeur of the original. For GKV, exposed concrete has become a surprisingly fluid and dynamic material that makes these accomplishments possible. “Exposed concrete can create any shape you would like to have,” says Julia Meier, associate at GKV. “For 235 East 44th Street, that meant more organic, curvy shapes, and for The Beekman, that’s represented in the infill pattern that responds to the historic patterns on the existing building. Any shape is possible.”
Flexibility from Beginning to End, With Vectorworks
While concrete makes any shape possible physically for GKV, the team needed a design tool that was up to the challenge of accurately drafting such organic lines. Traditional CAD programs have always posed problems for designers working with these more fluid shapes, so Gerner and his team chose Vectorworks® design and BIM software, a tool that they have found to be just as dynamic and adaptable as their signature style. “You can explore forms that are very fluid in Vectorworks that you can then directly translate into a concrete form,” says Gerner. From day one of design for The Beekman, he modeled exclusively in Vectorworks, producing 3D forms with a 3D printer to examine ideas from varying distances, perspectives, and light conditions.
Personally, Gerner has found that Vectorworks’ intuitive design features feel more natural and perfectly suited to his style: “It makes sense to me. It allows me to draw things in 3D right away. You really get a feel for shadows and shades when you’re drawing in 3D, which is important for béton brut.” Gerner has also noted that the entire team, even new members unfamiliar with Vectorworks, finds the same ease of use. “The entire project was produced in Vectorworks. All 50 designers and architects use it. If they are unfamiliar with the program, after about three days, they’re up and running; and within a month’s time, they’re proficient. From our perspective, that’s really positive.”
“We use Vectorworks from the very beginning until the end,” says Meier, who has also seen the positive impact on efficiency by eliminating the use of other programs and helping the team through each stage of the project. “We create 3D presentations and 2D presentations in Vectorworks. Once we have the building in 3D, we share the files with people who do molds for our concrete. It’s very helpful and it makes the process quicker.”
For a firm that prides itself on an inside-out approach, it is also important to GKV that Vectorworks transforms interiors as well as exteriors. GKV interior designers have made great use of recent expansions to the design objects library, while flexible tools allow different teams to make adjustments at any time. “You can easily turn off the colors once you get to the working drawings, or you can keep them even in [the] construction phase to reference and make sure the design still works because there are always revisions, and we keep designing even in later stages. It’s very helpful,” says Meier.
For GKV, this flexibility — something that is also integral to Gerner’s own unique design philosophy — is why Vectorworks software is the best platform to bring their ideas into reality. “The beauty of the building is in its structure, whether expressed in a minimalist or ornamented manner,” he says, “And there’s a lot of flexibility when you celebrate the structure of a building.”
Earn CEUs by Learning about Concrete Design in the 21st Century
Concrete, a versatile construction material, has often been combined with modern design software by architects. Now you can take a deeper dive into the evolution of concrete and its use as a key building material and investigate the design issues related to using it as a durable and long-lasting, primary building material, all while earning 1.25 AIA LU/HSW. Simply read the article, “Designing with Concrete in the 21st Century” and take the online quiz.
