A proposal for a top-heavy addition on a landmarked building at 33 Bond Street in Noho, sitting in the middle of Curbed's 2007 Block of the Year, got no love at the Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday. Jeffrey Kamen Architects presented a plan to add three new floors on top, which would step back above Bond Street and cantilever over the rear yard, creating a glass-covered atrium to connect a recently built block of offices. Kamen's firm has been in the building for years and calls the addition a version of the classic artist garret. The commissioners didn't buy it and the plan to connect it all has been sent back to the drawing board. But not before the neighbors stepped up to the podium.
What's now seen from Bond Street is an Italianate building in blond brick, originally a 3-1/2 story residential building that went up in 1830 and then re-configured to its current four stories by architects Cleverdon & Putzel in 1911. In 2003 Kamen and his creative crew built a new 2,500 sq. ft. three-story suite of offices out back. The cantilevered addition, which would extend the existing building 12 feet to the rear, would block some lot-line windows, and folks next door aren't too thrilled. Kamen claims the new glazed atrium will actually preserve light from the south and stated he will work with neighbors to preserve their air, which might not be so fresh after some unblocked windows are encased by Kamen's new wall of sloping glass.
The plan would also raise the roof of 33 Bond nearly 30 feet above the existing 55 foot facade, bringing it up to the the height of taller neighbors to the east and west. But this idea was decried by many, including one long-time Noho neighbor who wondered what's the purpose of landmark designations if changes of this scale are allowed. He appealed to the commissioners to say no to such stacking, warning against setting a precedent where Noho would be turned into "Add-On City", as evidenced by recent rooftop additions at 45 Bond and a rejected penthouse plan for the nearby Puck Building. The commissioners agreed, saying the plan is "overwhelming" and "obliterated" the existing building. The enclosed atrium was termed "anomalous" and the general consensus was that 33 Bond is "too small to take all this." The application was stamped "No Action" and, after the hearing, the Kamen team huddled to figure out their next step.
· 45 Bond Opts for the Ever-Popular Vertical Enlargement [Curbed]
· Landmarks Commission on Puck Building Penthouses: "Nope" [Curbed]
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