Archimatika's Snail Brings Slow Living to Manhattan

Written by Niall Patrick Walsh
Published on June 04, 2019

Archimatika has designed a modern high rise residential scheme for Manhattan. “The Snail” prioritizes slow living in the high-paced metropolis, providing residential amenities usually lacking in typical Manhattan housing. While proposing a departure from New York City’s fast-paced lifestyle, the scheme blends with the city’s urban fabric with mosaic concrete facades over a steel frame structure.

+ 12

On the exterior, a mosaic concrete facade reinterprets a traditional New York ornamentation technique with modern materials and technologies. The scheme features polymer concrete with two types of marble, resulting in a curved, polished block of warm terra-cotta brown speckled with complimenting marble. These concrete elements are accentuated with a brass-clad entrance and curved windows, offering a fluid, airy rhythm.

The scheme contains 30 apartments with 16 spatial layouts ranging from 290 square feet to 1830 square feet, aiming to create a varied tenant mix of young professionals, families, and older tenants. The conceptual idea is to create a comfortable living environment translated through all design elements: a safe point of arrival, thoughtful space arrangement, and pleasant tactile materials.

The gradual buffer zone between private and public areas allows for a gentle transition from street to home. At the point of entrance, the lobby is intimate and welcoming; the following levels offer multifunctional spaces like gym, garden, barber shop bar, cigar room, and work space. The gradient shift from the street to home starts on the first-floor cafe, leading up to a barber shop, which becomes a bar in the evening.

In the words of the architects, “this project aims to create a new typology of housing in New York, the melting pot of different cultures and experiences. It has re-thought a typical home purpose while implementing unique design characteristics to maximize the use of space and amenities.”

Architecture: archimatika
Project type: Residential building
Timeline: 2019
Status: Concept
Total space: 2 950 sq.m
Location: 438 W 38th St, New York City, USA
Zoning District = R8A C2-5
Lot Area = 500 m2
Lot Frontage = 16,61 m
Lot Depth = 30,1 m
Base height = 23,0 m
Building height = 36,0 m
Rear Yard = 9,15 m
Lot Coverage = 62% Stories = 9 (h=3.15 m)
Commercial stories =2 (h=3.6m)
Number of apartments = 30
Building Class = Manhattan Residential
Team members: Kristina Maliiova, Aleksandr Popov, Rustam Gorpeniuk, Vova Ivanov, Olha Chernova, Alexander Simonov