Recognized Worldwide

SLCE Architects
Written by Robert Hoshowsky

SLCE Architects, LLP is celebrating its seventy-fifth anniversary this year. The award-winning company has grown over the decades to become one of the most prominent firms in the metropolitan area of New York City. From its offices in New York and London, it actively pursues projects in markets in the United States and spanning the globe.
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At SLCE, the firm’s philosophy is to remain faithful to the timeframe and budget, while providing superior designs, and being sensitive to the context of every site. SLCE provides remarkable architectural solutions and professional, highly experienced service. Its architectural solutions represent the unique personality and characteristics of its clients.

Over the past three quarters of a century, SLCE has worked on projects for a range of well-known and respected clients, including the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the Brooklyn Law School, the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Goldman Sachs & Company, Jewish Home and Hospital, Monadnock Construction Inc., the New York City School Construction Authority, St. Vincents, The Trump Organization, and Yeshiva University.

SLCE Architects has the capabilities and experience to provide a wide range of architectural design and technical services and often takes on complex and challenging projects. The firm’s experience covers residential condominium and residential rental works, affordable and senior housing, and assisted living and healthcare.

It is also active in the office, commercial and mixed-use projects, affordable housing, hospitality and entertainment, education and community institutions, along with interiors, planning, and adaptive reuse and restoration sectors.

The company has a highly talented team of partners, associate partners, associates, senior planners, and designers.

Greek-born partner Saky Yakas (AIA), who is in charge of low-income and special needs housing, along with senior housing, schools, and institutional projects, was recently honored as person of the year at the forty-fourth annual gala of HANAC, Inc., the New York City-based Hellenic American Neighborhood Action Committee.

He was called “not only a talented professional but also an outstanding person” by HANAC’s Chairman Evangeline Douris. Yakas’ designs include the George Douris Tower, along with two buildings to be constructed for HANAC.

During his speech, Yakas referred to the many successful projects completed by SLCE Architects. Yakas, along with Paul Albano (AIA, LEED AP), and other partners including James S. Davidson (AIA, RIBA), Luigi P. Russo (AIA), Robert J. Laudenschlager (AIA), Gloria Glas (AIA), and Mario Yao (AIA), have been the talent behind the design of over 3,500 buildings, including many of Midtown Manhattan’s notable structures.

The firm’s residential condominiums include the 268-unit, fifty-nine-storey project at 250 East 57TH Street and mixed-use residential condominiums and hotels, such as 400 5th Avenue, a fifty-nine-storey structure boasting 214 hotel units and 190 residential units.

In other areas, such as office, commercial and mixed use, SLCE has completed numerous, well-known projects including 510 Madison Avenue. Modern and sleek in design, the thirty-storey structure is a Class A office building pursuing LEED Gold certification and boasting retail space and a restaurant. The building – designed in collaboration with Moed de Armas & Shannon Architects – also has a health club for office tenants.

Another highly unique project for the company is The Blue Tower, featuring a unique geometric design and blue glass panels. The 42,000-square-foot, sixteen-storey structure at 101 Norfolk Street in New York was created under design architect Bernard Tschumi, with SLCE serving as executive architect for the thirty-two-unit condominium development which features first floor retail shops.

SLCE Architects works on projects for healthcare clients, such as the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center, with the Rockwell Group serving as design architect. The ten-storey Bronx-based hospital has been ranked in the top fifty in the country in eight pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report.

The 109-bed pediatric center for infants, children, and adolescents is arranged on the four floors by patient age. The state-of-the-art facility also contains a pediatric critical care unit, along with a day surgery center, family learning center, and ambulatory clinics on the lower floors. The emergency department accommodates 43,000 pediatric emergency visits every year, and an extra 10,000-square-foot renovation of the department was extremely beneficial.

Along with affordable and senior housing, assisted living, education and community institutions, hospitality and entertainment, interiors, planning and other sectors, SLCE Architects undertakes a significant number of adaptive reuse and restoration projects, including New York’s world-famous Woolworth Building, The Mark Hotel, and Mount Carmel Monastery, which was transformed into adaptive reuse senior housing.

Projects, such as 184 Kent Avenue in Brooklyn, serve as an example of the firm’s superior abilities in the adaptive reuse, restoration, and residential arena.

Another example is New York’s 75 Wall Residences – Hyatt Andaz Wall Street. This is a mixed-use thirty-six-storey hotel and condominium with a total of 600 units: 250 hotel units and 350 condominium units. SLCE served as executive and design architect, while the Rockwell Group acted as the project’s interior designer. It has a total space for condominium and hotel use of 630,000 square feet.

The project saw the famous Wall Street offices of Barclay’s Bank rehabilitated into a combined luxury hotel and high-end condominiums. Occupying floors five through sixteen is Andaz, the new luxury brand of hotel suites from Hyatt Corporation, which features amenities ranging from a spa and conference centers to a rooftop lounge for residents, fitness center, parking facilities, bar, and restaurant.

Continuing to move forward, SLCE Architects proudly takes on new and often demanding projects, such as 432 Park Avenue in New York, for which it served as executive architect. The 130-unit residential structure overlooks Central Park and soars ninety-six stories (1,396 feet) into the sky, making it the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere.

The $1.25 billion project was completed in December of 2015 and is the third-tallest building in the United States and one of the most valuable in America, owing to its prime location. Along with condominiums, the building has retail space and offices.

From modern residential condominiums and offices to commercial space, senior housing, healthcare, education, hospitality, and entertainment, SLCE Architects, LLP welcomes the opportunity to work with clients in the decades to come.

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