Project narrative: The Gramercy project is designed as a thoughtful series of spaces that allow the occupants to retreat from the intensity of the city in order to reconnect with family, friends and the community of South Asian artist that they support. The lower levels provide spaces to cook, eat, socialize and perform together, all of which look out to an intimate, rear garden. The project also reunites the occupants with the city in the quieter, upper level private spaces, which turn a contemplative focus outward to the city just beyond.
Jury comments: The Gramercy House is a masterful case study example of a design that created a light-filled oasis in a dense urban environment. The design ideas and details are a precedent for how to build on tight sites and within a historic structure. The reuse of the existing 1890s shell and daylighting through the vertical circulation are commendable.
