Thomas Heatherwick’s quirky Chelsea condo gets a new name, new renderings

The west side of Manhattan will soon be home to several new architectural baubles by British designer Thomas Heatherwick. His studio’s Hudson Yards sculpture, Vessel, opened to the public earlier this year, and two new creations—the floating park at Pier 55, and a residential building on West 18th Street with a bubble-esque facade—are in the works.

The latter is gearing up to launch sales early next year, and with that comes several new renderings of the project, which is Heatherwick’s first residential building in the United States. The development has been dubbed Lantern House, a nod to the design of its two towers: Each one has a brick facade that’s punctuated by oversized bay windows, which are shaped like—you guessed it—lanterns. “These special three-dimensionally-sculpted windows will allow the building’s residents to have light-filled interiors plus exciting new panoramic views and new visual connections to the city beyond,” Heatherwick said in a statement.

The project, developed by Related Companies (whose CEO, Stephen Ross, personally chose Heatherwick to design the beehive-esque Vessel), will have two towers connected by a glass-enclosed lobby that sit on either side of the High Line at 18th Street. The buildings—one standing 10 stories, and the other 21—will have 181 apartments between them, ranging from one- to four-bedroom units. Prices for those will be a good deal less than the ones at Related’s Hudson Yards project a few blocks away; they’ll start at $1.7 million. Some of those will also come with private outdoor space.

Sales are expected to launch in January, with Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group and Related handling those.