Chatham Towers I - 170 Park Row

 high-rise, apartment building, 1965_construction

251-foot, 25-story co-operative apartment building completed in 1965. Designed by Kelly & Gruzen in brutalism style, it is the northwesternmost of the two towers. Completely poured-in-place reinforced concrete with exposed exterior walls form the structural support for the buildings. Instead of conventional face brick, the exposed concrete exteriors retain the random-plank, wood grained surface of the specially designed forms used in pouring the concrete. The use of the concrete succeeds, to some extent, in visually linking the buildings to the limestone and granite buildings of the nearby civic center.

Both towers front Worth Street at an angle, with a rising curved driveway ramp connecting the two. Under the ramp is the entrance, also fronting Worth Street, to the underground garage for 125 vehicles. From the ramp concrete steps descend to the ground floor which is made up of a northern and southern open loggia which lead to the lobby area.

At the four corners of each building, two terraced floors alternate with two unterraced ones, producing a serrated silhouette, in contrast to the sheer vertical lines of the tower themselves, which is emphasized by the spacing of alternate panels of glass and textured concrete. Mechanical equipment on the roof is enclosed by a concrete cube with a trapezoidal opening simulating a giant “eye” on the head of each tower.