Metal Shutter House

New York, NY, USA

Architects: Dean Maltz Architect

Any: 2011

(Association with Shigeru Ban Architects)

The use of common materials in a new context, and mobility of parts gives the unique character to The Metal Shutter House, located just west of the High Line in the re-zoned West Chelsea’s art gallery district. It is a Residential Condominium Building with a Gallery-Retail space on the ground floor. The Metal Shutter House is adjacent to high-rise buildings that were designed to take advantage of the new West Chelsea High-Line district, and as a result the lot remains in shadow for much of the day. In order to create well-lit rooms, each residential unit is a duplex, with south facing, double height, retractable glass windows.

The Metal Shutter House is a dynamic building. The façade’s motorized perforated metal shutters serve as light-modulating privacy screen at the outer edge of each residence’s terrace. This subtle “removable skin” echoes the neighboring gallery after-hours shutters, subtly contextualizing the building within its site. The building can literally become a uniform minimal volume, or it can open completely.