136-138 Beekman Street

On a vacant lot, paired townhouses provide a study in urban etiquette. Inspired by the 19th-century counting houses that constitute the South Street Seaport Landmark District, the new façade respects the massing and proportions of these surrounding blocks. Window openings are measured to convey simultaneously an impression of mass evocative of historic construction, countered by an alternate modern notion of frame. Differences also define materials and connections. Stone lintels and cornices are retired in favor of the slender proportion of galvanized steel. The use of pale yellow brick in place of the requisite red also contributes to the contemporary insertion.