Marvel Architects With projects spanning across commercial and cultural institutions, schools, civic and public works, affordable housing, high-end residential projects, and recreational spaces, Marvel Architects is a solution-driven design practice embracing global challenges and creating intentionally timeless design solutions that integrate nature and context.
Their objective is to design, plan and build shared urban spaces to improve quality of life in the long run, along with the health of our planet. Marvel Architects have offices in New York City and San Juan, Puerto Rico, where they bring together architecture with landscape, planning, urban design, and interior design.
Here is a list of 15 Projects by Marvel Architects:
1. TheatreSquared | Marvel Architects
Location: Fayetteville, Arkansas
With TheatreSquared, a union of two art theatres, artist apartments, rehearsal space, offices, education spaces, on-site workshops, and community spaces with an always-open cafe, Marvel Architects were able to create an educational outreach program giving students across the region access to live performances and leading arts-based learning tools. It provides a permanent home for Northwest Arkansas’ professional theatre.
The materials used have their own stories to tell, which highlights the ‘storytelling’ aspect of a theatre. Wood, for example, has been used in various forms to support this concept- as a raw material, charred, stained, veneered, etc.
Even the common areas have been integrated with stage lighting systems, increasing performance flexibility as well as the client’s ability to draw the public in. Glass has been used in the same context, to increase transparency and connectivity to the street.
2. St. Ann’s Warehouse
Location: Brooklyn, New York
St. Ann’s Warehouse includes a presenting theatre space, a control booth, seating rake, studio theatre, administrative offices, dressing rooms, public restrooms, and a lobby and foyer. Marvel Architects’ St. Ann’s Warehouse gained international recognition for its flexibility, in terms of multiple configurations.
The lobby opens into a garden on the waterfront side and can be used as a pre-show gathering space as well as an additional performance space.
A continuous catwalk, hung from the steel structure defining the theatre space, provides complete flexibility for the new performance space. For increased floor space, the seating is also removable.
3. Pierhouse and 1 Hotel
Location: Brooklyn, New York
The Pierhouse and 1 Hotel is located in Brooklyn Bridge Park, between Furman Street and the East River. It comprises a condominium, parking garage, and event space with connected buildings ranging from four to ten storey. Marvel Architects aim with this project was to create a new model of urban living and public/private partnership.
Integrating the built and natural environment and maintaining a connection to the park and street were the two main considerations in the planning. The complex features green residential terraces and multiple pathways to access the park, along with taking the hotel experience out to the park by extending the park into the hotel.
4. New Lab
Location: Brooklyn, New York
New Lab is a platform serving over 100 companies with 600+ entrepreneurs working on frontier technologies like robotics, artificial intelligence, and life sciences, the catalysis to innovation.
The building façade has been restored, with an insulated metal cladding replacement. “Single story build-outs mimic the stacks of raw materials and fabrication stations that once lined the naval machine shop, framing a central corridor and the industrial doors at both ends of a 350′ long building.” © https://marveldesigns.com/work/new-lab/76 New floor area was constructed, using mezzanines built into the overhead roof structure.
The industrial sliding doors serve as the main entry, along with the presence of smaller doors. Flood resilience is provided by raising the working floor.
5. Vanderbilt Hotel | Marvel Architects
Location: Condado, San Juan, Puerto Rico
The Condado Vanderbilt was designed by Warren and Wetmore, nearly a century ago. The original Spanish Revival building was renovated by Marvel Architects who also added two new towers of suites and additional parking spaces.
Vanderbilt is now an independent luxury hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It boasts of an ocean sun deck and an infinity pool overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
6. Stonewall House Senior Residences
Location: Brooklyn, New York
The 17-storey mixed-use building of Stonewall House Senior Residences by Marvel Architects, is the largest LGBT-welcoming elder housing development in the country. It occupies a prominent corner of Myrtle Avenue and St. Edwards Street in Fort Greene.
It consists of 145 apartments and a SAGE community facility space on the ground floor, marked by a cantilevered canopy. The facility creates an ideal environment for the elderly with amenities promoting a healthy lifestyle and providing opportunities for intergenerational social interaction.
7. Whaler’s Lane Residence
Location: Amagansett, New York
The Whaler’s Lane Residence has been designed by Marvel Architects as an oceanfront beach cottage. To maintain the concept of a beach-cottage, the interior and exterior spaces have been shingle-wrapped and connected with wooden pathways.
Landscaping has been done using native materials with erosion control methods like using long wooden beach palates and boardwalks to access the beach and guest house. Few additional spaces include a kitchen, trellis, bedroom, terrace, and a new swimming pool with a jacuzzi.
8. Third and Bond
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Third and Bond was designed by Marvel Architects to reinforce the connection between people and place. It is a 44-unit multi-family mid-rise luxury residential building in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.
The project caters to three levels- at the community scale, it becomes a threshold between the apartments and the neighborhood. At the family level, each floor corresponds to a home and can be distinguished from the façade. At the individual level, the units range from studio apartments to 4-BHK units.
9. 145 Hudson Penthouse
Location: Manhattan, New York
The 145 Hudson Street Penthouse is a mixed-use commercial and residential building housed in a former printing factory in New York. The Penthouse features premium finishes like polished concrete floors, bamboo paneling, white lacquer cabinets, and bluestone counters. Visual connection across the apartment has been given priority. It also features double-height south-facing windows which provide panoramic views of downtown New York.
Details include the custom elliptical glass and steel staircase in the lobby and the outdoor terraces. The upper floors contain 21 luxury loft condominiums that receive spectacular light due to the sheathed glass, with extensive views of Lower Manhattan. The lower floors and ground level house the retail and office space.
10. State Street Townhouses | Marvel Architects
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Located between Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill, the State Street Townhouses are 23 single-family homes that initiated townhouse development in the city.
Marvel Architects’ attempt with this project was to create a respectful dialogue between the old and new. This has been achieved using a rhythm throughout the twenty-eight facades, where no two houses look alike. The townhouses provide a visually compelling street-front, complementing its brownstone neighbors. The material used also has a role to play in connecting the new to the old.
11. Berry Lane Park | Marvel Architects
Location: Jersey City, New Jersey
Marvel Architects successfully transformed a former industrial site of chromium remediation into a state-of-the-art recreational facility in the form of Berry Lane Park. Originally a site for rail and industrial uses, the Berry Lane Park is now an urban park in the Lafayette neighborhood of Jersey City, New Jersey.
The neighborhood was actively engaged in the planning and design of the park so that the park would serve them well, to socialize and exercise. The park has increased the usable green space of Jersey City, at the same time adding 635 more trees.
12. America Media Offices
Location: New York
America Media Offices is an example of an interior design project of Marvel Architects. America Media, a multimedia news organization, required a new space supporting their new work culture while still respecting their history. The underlying theme of the office space is the combination of the dynamics of digital media with the thoughtful reflection of print. This theme is further supported by the materials and finishes used in the space- natural wood, exposed raw concrete, and soft and neutral textures.
The heart of the project is the Newsroom, which is witness to impromptu meetings, pinups, showcasing of work, and most importantly, the friendship between the employees. The newsroom has both, the reminiscent feel as well as the latest technology.
The private offices open into the newsroom for easy circulation; all other spaces too circulate around the newsroom, with access to views of the city. The conference rooms, on the other hand, are located closer to the core of the building for privacy and acoustic reasons. The rooms can be reconfigured in case of an event or special occasion.
13. Vintry Fine Wines
Location: Manhattan, New York
Another interior design project, Vintry Fine Wines is a wine store with a tasting table and storage rooms. It is located on the ground floor of the Goldman Sachs tower in Lower Manhattan.
Selecting the perfect wine requires a good browsing experience. Curvilinear forms have been used to visually expand the small space and to add a certain softness to the experience. These curvilinear forms have been enhanced with simple but rich materials that elude warmth and elegance. Corian countertops and veneer plaster add to this feel.
To further enhance the experience, each bottle is presented at a slight angle, gracefully revealing the label. Each bottle is directly lit, with soft lights to minimize glare and to draw attention to the bottle. Space has been provided to store other bottles for each displayed.
14. Downtown Far Rockaway Village
Location: Queens, New York
“In the center of Downtown Far Rockaway in Queens, Marvel is currently working on an ambitious project to bring 1,700 new affordable housing units to an under-utilized site between the A train terminus and the Long Island Rail Road and create a more vibrant, supportive community through socially thoughtful design.” © https://marveldesigns.com/work/downtown-far-rockaway-village/47
Construction of the first phase began in 2018, consisting of the first three buildings in the masterplan, ranging between eight and fifteen stories and the commercial space, the new plaza, and an underground parking lot.
A few massing principles followed include ‘each entry is defined by a vertical volume’, ‘volumes must step down towards the neighborhood’, ‘end walls should be differentiated’, etc.
15. Moriviví House | Marvel Architects
Location: Caribbean
Moriviví House is Marvels’ attempt at culturally-sensitive, readily adaptable homes that provide physical and psychological comfort when natural disasters occur. The units are designed to maximize structural stability while reducing energy and water usage. They are built using local materials that are easy to assemble, also supporting local manufacturers and tradesmen. The assembly process facilitates the interaction of homeowners and neighbors.
The concept of modularity runs through the project- using repetitive modular units that are based on standard dimensions helps reduce material usage and the need for specialized equipment and tools.
Passive strategies used include highly permeable facades for maximum entry of natural light and ventilation purposes, building orientation to dodge the harsh sun rays, wood screen shutters for shade and ventilation, and insulated-panel exterior walls to provide thermal comfort.
