Griffin Court (New York City, New York)

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A pair of 8-story modernist residential buildings completed in 2010. Designed by FXFowle, it consists of one building fronting 53rd Street and another at the northwest corner of the block, fronting both 10th Avenue and 54th Street, with a courtyard in the middle. The buildings also wrap around a connected 2-story garage at the southwest corner of the block that was integrated in 2011.

Both main buildings are clad in multi-hued grey-brown brick, metal, and glass. The main entrance is on 54th Street. The ground floor along the avenue is lined with plate-glass storefront display-windows with a recessed double-door entrance near the north end; the storefront continues for three bays around the corner onto the north facade. Farther east there are multiple, grey metal service doors, and then a section of grey granite panels before the main entrance, which is slightly recessed, with glass doors to the left of two windows. Continuing east is a low, grey granite wall that grows shorter as the site slopes upward, above which is a long band of windows in dark-grey metal framing, behind a metal railing that extends up from the granite wall.

For most of the north facade, there is brick cladding with square openings for windows divided into uneven halved by staggered dark-blue metal mullions. Thinner secondary mullions (black metal) subdivide the main windows and also (white metal horizontal mullions) the metal air-conditioning vents at the bottoms of each group. The facade is organized from east to west as groups of two bays, one bay, two bays, one bay (above the main entrance), two bays, and one bay, with a different design at the far west end. Between each 2-bay or 1-bay grouping are narrow recessed bays with metal spandrels, and projecting square balconies with white metal side railings and square glass panels at the front. The west end is clad completely in metal and glass, with no brick. It has white metal spandrels, but the same staggered dark-blue mullions, and thinner black and white secondary mullions, organized into a narrow bay and two wider bays at the end. This continues onto the west facade for two narrow bays at the north end. The rest of the west facade has brick cladding and then five staggered window bays to the south. Both facades set back above the 6th floor - to rooftop decks and cabanas at most of the east section of the north building. The west section has set-back 7th & 8th floors clad in white metal with staggered window bays.

The south-facing elevation at the west end of the north building, behind the brick setback at the 6th floor, is clad in white paneling with a mural by Corinne Ulmann depicting leafy trees in deep shadows. A larger, 83-foot mural on the main west face of the south building depicts trees with yellow fall leaves in the sunlight. There are projecting balconies along the east-facing elevation of the west end of the north building (the wing of the L-shape), and the building core, at the north part, is painted blue on the south side.

The south building on 53rd Street mostly matches the west end of the north building, with white metal spandrels and staggered window bays, six across. In addition there is a narrow recessed bay with balconies separating one bay of brick cladding at the west end, where there are metal service doors at the ground floor. The rest of the ground floor has a low grey granite water table and plate-glass windows with another service door at the east end. Most of this building rises to six floors, with roof decks and cabanas, except for at the west end, where there is a small section with an additional two floors and a mechanical penthouse level, all faced in white panels. This section is set back above the 6th floor on the south end, and has the mural on its west face. The north facade of the south building is also clad in white panels, with many single-windows and three bays of projecting balconies.

The multi-level courtyard is heavily landscaped with a very attractive pergola that is visible from the lobby and a grassy play area for children. The ground floor of the north building is occupied by a CVS Pharmacy at the west end. The complex contains a total of 95 condominium units.