In New York’s Upper West Side, A New 100,000-Square-Foot Level Of Luxury Amenities Redefines City Living

“It wasn't so intuitive that the indoor gardening and boxing gym belong in the same place,” said architect David Rockwell. “Or the half-pipe skatepark.”

To hear New York architect David Rockwell describe his latest project—a 100,000-square-foot amenity level in New York’s Upper West Side—is to hear him bring in comparisons to boat building, brownstones, woven textures and the movement of crowds. This mammoth undertaking is for the completely underground expanse of space beneath the five-acre luxury development called Waterline Square. As one of the largest indoor amenity spaces in the U.S., it brings nearly 30 different types of activities that appeal to both the “left brain and right brain,” according to Rockwell.

Not only is it a sign of the how luxury amenities are reaching even greater levels of creativity, it is also an example of the next stage in how New York developers will try to appeal to buyers.

All eyes have been on Waterline Square ever since its developers amassed one of the largest amounts of construction financing in New York history—a total of $2.3 billion. GID Development Group borrowed $1.243 billion from leading lenders Wells Fargo WFC , HSBC USA, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi while also contributing $1 billion in equity. The project consists of three separate buildings, each of which had their own high-profile architect masterminding the project: Rafael Viñoly, Kohn Pedersen Fox and Richard Meier & Partners. The Rockwell Group was brought in to design a single unifying space underground that would be a place for residents of all three buildings to relax.

Waterline Square also made news this spring when eight units sold for a combined $27 million to an unnamed family from Peru who felt “their money was safer in an apartment in New York than in a bank,” according to Maria Velazquez, the real estate agent from Douglas Elliman who represented the buyers. Most units are priced between $3 million and $6 million, with the largest five-bedroom units starting at $12 million in asking price. There are a total of 1,132 units of both rentals and condos across the three buildings.

To tackle such a large-scale endeavor in a way that it makes it feel less like a warehouse and more like a place people want to spend time, the Rockwell Group approached it on the scale of designing a public outdoor space.

“I’m a lifelong student and lover of New York,” says Rockwell. “I think there's spaces like the reservoir at Central Park or moving around Union Square, where movements are so much a part of the life of New York.”

His team centered the design around a “courtyard,” referred to as the Nexus, which bridges the different levels and amenity spaces. “That circulation path takes you around and each one of the views and stages around the perimeter of the space. It gives it both an enormous synergy and that ability to see everything going around and being at the center of that activity.”

To tie back to its waterfront location along the Hudson River the wooden bridges were designed to look like the hull of a boat. Built by Maine-based yacht builders Hewes & Company in conjunction with Jaroff Design, the stained maple and beech pieces have a curvilinear design that matches the same curves of the “ribs” decorating the ceiling. These wavy sculptural pieces serve the dual purpose of being a place to affix the lighting system—which is designed to follow the circadian cycles of day and night—while also being a way to maximize the sense of height in the room without having to take up space with hanging fixtures or having it feel too industrial with recessed lighting.

“Our process always starts with, ‘how is something going to behave and how do you interact with it?’ Long before what it looks like. The visual language grows out of the program,” Rockwell says. To that end he designed each unique smaller amenity room with their own “mini vocabulary” so it would be set apart from its neighbors with numerous visual cues.

As pictured below, a common design theme for the smaller amenity rooms is to use unexpected finishes at the end of a corridor “to seduce you into the next space,” says Rockwell. Here the reflective surface of the party room in the distance is visible from the more intimate games room.

Below is the indoor gardening room, which isn’t something you often see in New York buildings. This is just one of the ways the developers have tried to build something that hasn’t been done before in New York. As James Linsley, President of GID Development Group, said, "Waterline Square's vision centers on rethinking a living experience and making it about so much more than just residences. This development gave us a rare opportunity to create an entirely new neighborhood on Manhattan's waterfront that functions as its own community.”

The indoor skate park with half-pipe is also a rare offering for New York.

The three lane lap pool is surrounded by small lounge areas. At the far end you can see a skylight, which is the only source of daylight in the entire underground space.

A recording studio makes up one of the artistic spaces for residents.

Even the bowling lanes have a luxury feel.

The art studio kept its walls a blank slate for residents.

The full-sized basketball court joins an indoor soccer field, yoga studio, squash and tennis courts, rock climbing wall and fitness center as part of the athletics program.

Not pictured are more amenities such as the dog washing salon with nearby space for socializing and training sessions, the children’s party room, the screening room, catering kitchen and business center. Also, the Waterline Club had the prescient move of including a sophisticated air filtration system, which prevents air recirculation between the residence and common spaces.

For more information head to the Waterline Square website.