The earthy and harmonious mid-century modern aesthetic that Los Angeles-based architecture firm Marmol Radziner has perfected over the past 30 years has found its way to the east coast. Abutting Brooklyn Bridge Park, the 30-storey Quay Tower offers unrivalled family-friendly spaces and sweeping views on the East River that encompass the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building.
From its façade, right on the Brooklyn Heights waterfront, the light-filled lobby connects to the park with welcoming seating areas that flank an Armani grey marble, custom reception desk. The walls are hung with original commissioned artworks inspired by the harbour.
The luxury development is the firm’s first New York project of this scope, and one that translates the responsiveness to nature, invariably felt in Marmol Radziner’s low-slung bungalows, into an answer to city-dweller’s desire for impressive skyline vistas. But the building doesn’t radiate the hermetic luxury other New York towers are known for, thanks to the firm’s alignment with developers Oliver's Realty Group and RAL Companies ‘to create truly usable, family-friendly spaces for the residents,’ the firm says.
Quay Tower features such perks as a pet-washing spa, a 1,500 sq ft children’s playroom and, more exceptionally for New York, private elevator vestibules and mudrooms accessible from the general corridor. In the interiors, Marmol Radziner employed floor-to-ceiling windows that allow light to stream in and furnishings made of ‘natural materials that age well and have a hand-worked quality,’ they explain. Calacatta Borghini marble, velvet, woven leather and cane chairs abound.
Tellingly, the top floor space – bar a handful of penthouses – was largely reserved for the residents’ amenities, including outdoors access, making good on Marmol Radziner’s reputation as the go-to architects for indoor-outdoor living.
Up there, communal open-air living takes precedence. The Sunset Lounge, which faces north overlooking the Manhattan skyline and the East River, features an indoor/outdoor fireplace, BBQ and catering kitchen. The southward oriented Sky Cabana provides an outdoor sun and dining terrace that faces the harbour. California dreaming for families in the city that never sleeps.
INFORMATION
-
Three new smartwatches showcase new frontiers in affordable timepiece designLong may you run: smartwatches from Withit, Kospet and OnePlus favour function and value above all else, demonstrating just how much the smartwatch has evolved in recent years
-
Debuts, dandies, Demi Moore: 25 fashion moments that defined 2025 in style2025 was a watershed year in fashion. As selected by the Wallpaper* style team, here are the 25 moments that defined the zeitgeist
-
The RIBA Asia Pacific Awards reward impactful, mindful architecture – here are the winnersThe 2025 RIBA Asia Pacific Awards mark the accolade’s first year – and span from sustainable mixed-use towers to masterplanning and housing
-
Step inside this resilient, river-facing cabin for a life with ‘less stuff’A tough little cabin designed by architects Wittman Estes, with a big view of the Pacific Northwest's Wenatchee River, is the perfect cosy retreat
-
Remembering Robert A.M. Stern, an architect who discovered possibility in the pastIt's easy to dismiss the late architect as a traditionalist. But Stern was, in fact, a design rebel whose buildings were as distinctly grand and buttoned-up as his chalk-striped suits
-
Own an early John Lautner, perched in LA’s Echo Park hillsThe restored and updated Jules Salkin Residence by John Lautner is a unique piece of Californian design heritage, an early private house by the Frank Lloyd Wright acolyte that points to his future iconic status
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the monthFrom wineries-turned-music studios to fire-resistant holiday homes, these are the properties that have most impressed the Wallpaper* editors this month
-
The Stahl House – an icon of mid-century modernism – is for sale in Los AngelesAfter 65 years in the hands of the same family, the home, also known as Case Study House #22, has been listed for $25 million
-
Houston's Ismaili Centre is the most dazzling new building in America. Here's a look insideLondon-based architect Farshid Moussavi designed a new building open to all – and in the process, has created a gleaming new monument
-
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fountainhead will be opened to the public for the first timeThe home, a defining example of the architect’s vision for American design, has been acquired by the Mississippi Museum of Art, which will open it to the public, giving visitors the chance to experience Frank Lloyd Wright’s genius firsthand
-
Clad in terracotta, these new Williamsburg homes blend loft living and an organic feelThe Williamsburg homes inside 103 Grand Street, designed by Brooklyn-based architects Of Possible, bring together elegant interiors and dramatic outdoor space in a slick, stacked volume
