The studio was commissioned by Related Companies in 2015 to design a new residential building in Chelsea, Manhattan, beside the High Line at West 18th Street. I
n contrast to new glass apartment blocks that have sprung up along the High Line, we wanted to create a new type of residence: one that was reminiscent of the area’s existing historical buildings, designed and built for permanency.
![Lantern House](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/East-tower-at-Lantern-House-by-Heatherwick-Studio-01.jpg)
To achieve this, we borrowed the idea of the humble bay window – a detail often found in late Victorian and Edwardian era buildings. Adapting this established motif, we developed a double-height, stacked bay window held between robust brick piers.
The three-dimensional windows are freed from corner columns, giving residents spectacular views out of light-filled rooms, as well as a domestic sensibility.
![Lantern House](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/East-tower-at-Lantern-House-by-Heatherwick-Studio-02.jpg)
With facades of plain glass panes, vertical metal mullions and brick, we brought together materials from Chelsea’s rich industrial heritage in an imaginative way.
We developed a special range of brick to give the project a unique patina, paired with careful detailing that includes bullnose edges and real brick soffits.
![Lantern House](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/East-tower-at-Lantern-House-by-Heatherwick-Studio-03.jpg)
These everyday, robust materials create apartments that feel sturdy and properly built. Because our site was split in half by the High Line, we wanted to give the two towers a shared, memorable entrance.
The lobby is gently slung between east and west, pierced by the massive steel railway columns and enveloped by our distinctive lantern-like windows.
![Lantern House](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/East-tower-at-Lantern-House-by-Heatherwick-Studio-04.jpg)
At ground level, retail spaces eschew the overwhelming size of New York’s plate-glass windows.
Instead, bay windows wrap the corner site to give human-scaled shops with divisible tenancies. Source by Heatherwick Studio.
![Lantern House](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/East-tower-at-Lantern-House-by-Heatherwick-Studio-10.jpg)
- Location: New York City, USA
- Architect: Heatherwick Studio
- Project Leader: Laurence Dudeney
- Project Team: Carlos Parraga-Botero, Nick Ling, Manuel Ramos, Barbara Lavickova, Ivan Polley, James Ness, Jie Tian, Thomas Farmer, John Cruwys, Ben Dudek, Jorge Xavier Mendez-Caceres, Pippa Murphy, Simon Winters, Enrique Pujana, Steven Howson, Paul Robinson, Gabriel Piovanetti, Charmaine Ng
- Collaborators: SLCE
- Interior Design: March & White
- Landscape: Hollander Design Landscape Architects
- Construction: Related Construction
- Engineering Consulting: DeSimone Consulting Engineers, WSP, Gilsanz Murray Steficek
- Group Leader: Stuart Wood
- Facades: New Hudson Facades
- Client: Related Companies
- Area: 40000 ft²
- Year: 2021
- Photographs: Kevin Scott, Courtesy of Heatherwick Studio
![Lantern House](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/East-tower-at-Lantern-House-by-Heatherwick-Studio-05.jpg)
![Lantern House](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/East-tower-at-Lantern-House-by-Heatherwick-Studio-06.jpg)
![Lantern House](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/East-tower-at-Lantern-House-by-Heatherwick-Studio-07.jpg)
![Lantern House](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/East-tower-at-Lantern-House-by-Heatherwick-Studio-08.jpg)
![Lantern House](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/East-tower-at-Lantern-House-by-Heatherwick-Studio-09.jpg)
![Lantern House](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/East-tower-at-Lantern-House-by-Heatherwick-Studio-11.jpg)