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OCHAP

Office for Cohabitation Processes

6th AVENUE RESIDENCES





PROGRAM: Mixed-use building
TEAM: OCHAP (Valerio Franzone), Offcut Design / Fabrication (Jason Chernak)
CLIENT: Confidential
LOCATION: 307-309 6th Avenue, New York City
AREA 2440 m2 (26,270 ft2)
STATUS: Schematic design, 2021-2022

6th Avenue Residences is a prototype for a new kind of living; it redefines the cohabitation between humans, the environment, and the city through simple means. Located in Greenwich Village, it comprises 16 residential units, a retail ground floor, and common outdoor natural areas on different levels.
With its brickwork, arched windows, and a metal structure supporting the balconies and greenhouses, the facade pays homage to New York’s typical older residential buildings and their fire escapes. It establishes a joyful cultural and identitarian connection with the context by playing with it rather than imitating it.
The building includes different kinds of spaces that regulate the relationship between the private and public realms.
On each floor, a street-in-the-air connects the building’s two wings, modulating a vibrant indoor-outdoor connection.
The units have balconies and greenhouses that act as in-between spaces, blurring the public and the private realms. From the apartments, residents can see the dynamic city, and from the outside, passers-by can see the calm of the domestic space. The greenhouses also serve as climatic devices: they let natural light in and allow heat to accumulate, reducing heating energy consumption in winter. In hot seasons, they can be opened to increase ventilation or shaded to block sunlight and prevent the units from overheating.
The building has a shared courtyard and terrace to improve common activities and social relationships among residents. Both are rich in vegetation. The terrace is a green roof that supports residents’ well-being and strengthens the building’s ecological role in the city. 
6th Avenue Residences is an ongoing cohabitation among different systems.