Elysium 14, which Integrated existing historic properties into a new housing development, is an excellent example of our design sensibilities and experience gaining approvals from the Board of Zoning Adjustment and the Historic Preservation Office. The project called for restoring two existing historically significant buildings designed by Harding & Upman and Julius Germuller, and constructed in 1904. We also designed a contemporary nine-story building woven into the historic fabric of the context.

The design is among the most contemporary recent proposals for 14th Street, without overt references to the auto showrooms or other historically larger buildings in the district. Rather, it is compatible with the smaller scale historic buildings in several ways. First, the design takes advantage of the site’s narrow width to provide a strong vertical emphasis that does not compete with the historic structures. The mass is concentrated on 14th Street, away from the smaller buildings on Wallach, and elevations are composed of smaller-scale elements that are proportionately related to the historic surroundings.