2022
The Belnord, a 14-story limestone-and-brick Italian Renaissance building on a full square block on the east side of Broadway between West 86th and 87th Streets, completed in 1908 and designed by Hiss & Weekes, originally offered over 200 residences surrounding a landscaped garden entered through paired porte-cochères. Designated a New York City landmark in 1966, the Belnord was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. We were asked by our client to refresh the building and transform nearly half of its rental apartments into condominium residences suited to 21st-century living.
Renovated lobbies will feature off-white, high-gloss painted paneled walls with contrasting Nero Marquina marble floors and door surrounds. A limited number of carefully considered exterior improvements, approved by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, will improve security and accessibility. On the upper floor landings off-white, high-gloss painted wall paneling will complement existing refurbished marble mosaic floor tiles. Renovated apartments will be laid out according to the Classical principles found in New York’s best pre-war apartment houses, with strong axes and service entries that allow for clear front-of-house / back-of-house separation. Apartments will be adapted to modern ways of living by removing maids’ rooms and in some cases opening family-sized kitchens into living rooms. While many of the renovated apartments will remain the same size, we created new one- and two-bedroom apartments as well as large penthouses. A new amenity suite for condominium residents provides a multipurpose room, a media room, and a children’s room; a dramatic stair connects to a fitness center one level above.
