Dissertation Help

[NY-SY]

I am currently studying for BSc. Architectural Technology Degree in Leeds, England, I am in my final year and am currently working on my Dissertation. In doing this I am researching whether or not we are making the best use of space within conversion/adaptive re-use into apartments. In researching this I i am looking at projects in Leeds, baltimore, bradford and New York as I feel it would give me an un-biased and wider view of a case study to include in my dissertation.
Does anyone work for/know a firm in NY that has conducted any adpative reuse conversions into apartments?
What I am actually looking for is a little bit of background information on the buildings, their past and current state, and some basic floor plans so I can take this information and analyse the use of space against the design guidelines that have been produced. Any information that is provided would be used in the strictest of confidence and any copyrights etc would remain and the work would be fully referenced.
Anyone? :D

[Ninjahedge]

Do a search on here. I think there may be an archived set of articles about lower manhattan.

Also, places like Hoboken and Jersey City, also Queens and Brooklyn (especially Dumbo and Red Hook) are converting a lot of old warehouse buildings into condos/co-ops.

[ManhattanKnight]

I am researching whether or not we are making the best use of space within conversion/adaptive re-use into apartments. any adpative reuse conversions into apartments?
What I am actually looking for is a little bit of background information on the buildings, their past and current state, and some basic floor plans so I can take this information and analyse the use of space against the design guidelines that have been produced.

Here are a "typical" floor plan from one of the West Village's earliest (1978) residential conversions of a 19th-century (1896) warehouse and a pre-conversion photo of the building.

[NY-SY]

Thats great thanks, any chance of any more information on the building above, maybe the architect so I can cotact them, this would be handy as everything I do needs to be referenced to a source. If its possible to get more info on the above conversion it would be most helpful as it looks a long stablished building (1978 coversion?) that i can compare to more modern conversions
Cheers
Dan

[heypaul]

"Thats great thanks, any chance of any more information on the building above, maybe the architect so I can cotact them, this would be handy as everything I do needs to be referenced to a source. If its possible to get more info on the above conversion it would be most helpful as it looks a long stablished building (1978 coversion?) that i can compare to more modern conversions"

That building is 641 Washington Street, built in 1899. It was originally the U.S. Appraiser's Stores then U.S. Federal Archives Building. I think it is now Archives Apartments. I can't seem to find much on the web about this. Here's a modern shot of the building.

http://newyorkinphotos.com/ssi/popViewerPostcardNoPop.html?foo=bar&imgSrc=/photos/architecture/buildings/archives_appt/FDSCN3106V.JPG&imgTxt=

I originally thought this was Westbeth. This is a really interesting conversion from the original Bell Labs building to an artist community. There is plenty of stuff on the web about this conversion. It was done in 1969.

http://www.westbetharts.com/history.htm

In my searching, I also came across this site which has loads of information about adaptive reuse.


http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/library.html

One of my favorite buildings in New York City is the former New York Cancer Hospital built in 1884. It was the first cancer hospital in America. It later was used as the Towers Nursing Home. In this incarnation, it was the epicenter of a scandal involving the nursing home industry. Patients were poorly treated and the owner Bernard Bergmann went to prison over it. For many years it sat unused and deteriorating badly. Many developers came up with plans to convert it to housing, but they all seemed to die.... to be continued (I need to get some sources for you)

[ManhattanKnight]

That building is 641 Washington Street, built in 1899. It was originally the U.S. Appraiser's Stores then U.S. Federal Archives Building. I think it is now Archives Apartments. I can't seem to find much on the web about this. Here's a modern shot of the building.

No, it's not. It's the former Everard/Shepherd Warehouse, located 2 blocks north of the Archive Building, at 277 West 10th Street. A Romanesque-Revival contemporary of the Archive, it's about 1/4 its size. Rockrose Development was responsible for the residential conversions of both buildings. This is a recent photo of the building:

[heypaul]

Sorry for the misidentification of the building. I'm not that familiar with the buildings in the area. I have to get down there today and take a look at the two buildings. An old edition of the AIA Guide to NYC is identifying the building as Everhard's Storage Warehouse, 667 Washington St. The conversion is attributed to Bernard Rothzeid & Partners, who I guess were the architects. It describes the building as "a cousin to the old Appraiser's Stores Building, a block away"