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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, June 8, 2007

Glass walls pushing out balconies on high-rises

By Della De Lafuente
Associated Press

40 Mercer, a new glass structure without balconies in New York, was designed by French architect Jean Nouvel. Condos in the 14-story 40 Mercer sold out at $2,300 a square foot.

SETH WENIG | Associated Press

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High above the urban landscape, in many of the newest luxury high-rises, something is missing: The conventional balcony has left the building. In its place are simply curtains of glass that promise picturesque views, brilliant sunlight and the feel of a year-round indoor-outdoor living space.

Many of today's architects, world-class innovators such as Helmut Jahn, Richard Meier and Jean Nouvel, are creating balcony-free towers, most with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, and some with redesigned outdoor spaces that are tucked into the side of structures to camouflage their appearance, make them cozier and provide protection against gusty winds. Some luxury buildings under construction tout an ultramodern, highly engineered floor-to-ceiling glass curtain wall that literally slides away to open up your living room and bring in the outdoors.

"The word balcony in itself is obsolete," Hani Rashid, a principal of the New York City-based architecture firm, Asymptote, said.

He offered the phrase "fly-away walls" to describe one of these innovative alternatives, the retractable glass-curtain facade creating terrace-like space that his firm has designed for 166 Perry Street. This is an eight-story residential conversion of a parking garage into 20 luxury apartments near one of three glass condominium towers created by architect Meier in New York City's West Village.

"The balcony has always had great appeal," he said. "What's changed is that if you look around at all the older buildings with balconies, they end up being bike storage and planters."

Architects, developers and real-estate marketers say that even though the balcony remains a strong selling point in many residential housing markets around the country, home buyers and renters are making more sophisticated choices for elegant living space, in both exterior architecture and interior layouts.

AVOIDING PROBLEMS

As a result, the balcony is no longer necessarily a deciding factor in making a sale for a prospective home buyer or renter.

"The taste level of our society has been moving up-market for about the past five years," said Tony Dennis, executive vice president of residential sales at CityCenter, MGM Mirage's $7.4 billion mixed-use high-rise development on the Las Vegas Strip.

"Balconies aren't part of the Strip aesthetic or traditional Las Vegas design, which plans for strong Santa Ana winds," Dennis said. "Balconies aren't places you're going to hang if you're living in Las Vegas."

The design shift away from the balcony owes much of its influences to the modern post-World War II pristine glass and steel apartment high-rises created by Chicago architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the visionary behind the timeless twin towers, 860-880 Lake Shore Drive, built in 1949-1951.

Recent improvements in glass manufacturing and smart-home technology have dramatically improved soundproofing, waterproofing, reflection/glare, mechanical and privacy issues. This has made the transparent material more appealing for residential use, giving architects more freedom to design condominium and rental apartment high-rises with sleek, clean lines.

And by tossing out the balcony, architects avoid other design and safety concerns.

One safety concern, said architect Toshiko Mori, chair of the architecture department at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, has been "the possible strong wind load that may increase with the height of the building. This may create a strong uplift, causing furniture on the terrace to get blown away."

With more luxury properties opting for all-glass structures, designers and sellers say the market typically dictates whether a balcony gets included in the package.

"It's absolutely a fact that outdoor space provides a premium value to an interior space," Lansill said. "The trade-off with a balcony is that it often cantilevers out to give you access to the outdoors, but it blocks light for the unit below and may obstruct your own view."

A SELLING POINT?

Two Manhattan condominium properties, the completed 40 Mercer in Soho and the under-construction 100 Eleventh Avenue in Chelsea, both designed by French architect Jean Nouvel and marketed by Corcoran, are among several planned as shining glass structures without balconies, Lansill said.

The 14-story 40 Mercer sold out at $2,300 a square foot and the 23-story 100 Eleventh Avenue, which recently went on the market, sold nearly half of its 72 units for $2,300 a square foot in the first two weeks.

"Both offer very innovative glass walls and buyers are just flocking to them," Lansill said.

But most in the real-estate game say it's too early to write off the balcony as either a lackluster design element or a weak selling point.

Across the Hudson in Edgewater, N.J., the architects of One Hudson Park, a 15-story high-rise condominium project with 168 units opening in July, combine the contemporary feel of a glass and brick structure with balconies that are tucked into the building's corners.