220 Central Park South Condominium (New York City, New York)

 skyscraper, condominiums, postmodern (architecture), 2018 construction

952-foot, 65-story Postmodern/New Classical residential building completed in 2018 for Vornado Realty Trust. Designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects with interiors by Thierry W. Despont, it includes the main tower at the south end of the lot, and offset to the east behind a motor court on 58th Street, a shorter 220-foot, 18-story component that fronts Central Park South; the shorter building is called the Villa. An arcade that includes the motor court links the Villa and main tower; both are clad in limestone.

The tower takes the basic form of a slender rectangle extruded vertically. Both the Villa and the Tower share a pattern of dramatically varied fenestration and window groupings accentuated with Juliet balconies, set-back terraces, and ornamental metalwork. On 58th Street, 1-story limestone walls (both with an ornamental metal screen in an open panel) flank the entry into the motor court, which has a central, round fountain, and an archway leading back to the Villa. Entry from the motor court to the Tower is from the side elevation through three arches with hanging lanterns.

The tower has a 3-story base, with wings on both sides extending up to the 4th floor. The center section of the base has a six bays of double-height openings above the ground floor, flanked by two bays of windows on either side. All of the 2nd- and 3rd-floor windows are recessed between limestone piers. The two wings at the 4th floor each have three single-windows. In the center, there is a setback at the 4th floor, with four bays of windows in the middle, and two angled bays at the ends, between the east and west wings of the base. These continue as double-height windows at the 5th & 6th floors, before setting back to the main south face of the tower.

The north and south faces of the tower are organized into three sections. The center has three bays of windows of varying width on the south facade, while the north also has three bays on most floors (including a 2-story window at the 38th-39th floor), except for the section with four windows from the 42nd-46th floors. There are two end bays at the west and three at the east; the 3rd bay begins at the 10th floor, just above where a small, projecting cantilever extends out to the east. This extra bay ends at a setback on the east side above the 37th floor. On the north facade, the two bays on the end sections change to three bays at the 10th floor. There is a balcony across the center section at the 16th floor, and a small balcony only at the center window at the 22nd floor. The 33rd-37th floors have recessed bays with projecting, angled balconies at the outer bay closest to the center section, and again at the 48th-57th floors. Small balconies are located at the outer windows of the center section on the 42nd & 46th floors. The 59th floor has angled balconies at the end bays, and there is a wide central balcony at the 60th floor. The south facade has no balconies.

The crown of the building begins above the 60th floor, with setbacks at the corner, where there are projecting, angled balconies at the 62nd & 64th floors. There are double-height windows at the center of the 61st-62nd floors, and the 64rd-65th, and a double-height crown with decorative metal panels in the openings. The side elevations are three bays wide, with one bay of tripartite windows at the uppermost floors.

The Villa facing Central Park West has a main facade organized as a central section of three bays (with 2-over-4 windows) flanked by wider bays of 3-over-4 windows, and with an extra bay on the west side, slightly recessed, that has 2-over-4 windows, all with aluminum framing. There are shallow balconies fronting the wide center section at the 3rd & 5th floors, with railings of wrought-iron and paired metal-framed glass panels. At the west bay, the 6th floor has a projecting balcony with angled sides and similar railings. In the center section, the spandrels between the 5th & 6th floors are ribbed. The base sets back above the 6th floor, creating a terrace that has more railings with metal-framed glass panels.

The upper floors continue the same window configuration, except that the outer bays are now narrower (2-over-4 panes), and the middle bay of the center section is wider with 3-over-4 panes. There are shallow balconies at the outer bays (but not the west end bay) on the 9th floor, and a deep, projecting balcony on four brackets at the center section of the 10th floor. The 12th & 14th floors have projecting balconies with angled sides at the outer bays. There are shallow setbacks topped by glass-and-metal railings at the center section above the 12th & 14th floors, and another setback above the 15th floor. The middle window of the center section has a balcony with angled sides at the 16th floor. The top two floors are set back, and have double-height windows in the center.

The building contains 118 condominium units.

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