The East Village is one of New York City’s trendiest neighborhoods, and Houston Street is one of the busiest thoroughfares. For the Houston House project, Jeffrey of Jeffrey Cole Architects needed a design that was stylish enough for the East Village residents who would call it home while simultaneously addressing the issues that come with traffic noise. And that’s before we even begin talking about dealing with New York City’s blustery winters and brutal summers. Through creative design, clever use of the StoTherm ci exterior wall system and expert application of a Stolit Milano finish, Cole made quick work of all three challenges in spectacularly successful fashion.
Metal panels have never been more fashionable in building facades than they are right now, and appearances matter even more when you’re designing high end condominums. Fortunately, Cole’s design certainly looks great. In its finished form, the facade of the 8-story building features smooth, tall, thin, vertical metal-look panels in three shades of gray framing large banks of windows on each floor. While they’re stunning and fashionable, metal panels are not cheap nor are they particularly energy efficient. According to Cole, the StoTherm ci system with a Stolit Milano finish solved these issues. “This is a special finish,” he explained, “It was used to achieve the look of metal panels but with a higher insulation value without the complications of a rain screen system.”