The Greenwich by Rafael Viñoly Upends the Mansion-in-the-Sky Model of Manhattan Luxury
by David Hay
May 2025
Jim Herr was at a loss for words.
Having been a key figure in the development process of The Greenwich by Rafael Viñoly—a new, exceptionally innovative addition to New York City’s coveted collection of luxury residential buildings designed by renowned architects—Herr is only now getting the chance to reflect on what he and his colleagues at Rafael Viñoly Architects (RVA) have accomplished. He needed a moment to collect his thoughts.
Herr, who is a senior partner at the firm, soon jumped into an animated discussion of the building’s progress, beginning with an explanation that developing the property was, first and foremost, a team effort among vital partners—from Bizzi & Partners, Fortress Investment Group LLC, and Bilgili Holding to MAWD | March and White Design and Douglas Elliman Development Marketing (DEDM), which Herr credited with providing critical input on the Manhattan residential market.
“The market changed considerably over the span of the building’s construction,” he told me. “We had to learn to be flexible.”
The number of apartments and their sizes changed to reflect a demand downtown for a more particular range of options: from studios to three bedrooms.
Rafael Viñoly, who passed away in March 2023, may have known this would be the case when his firm set out to design this slender, 88-story tower. First off, it had to be narrow. The footprint of the site at 125 Greenwich Street, where formerly a 10-story telephone factory stood, is just 9,083 square feet.
The firm’s solution was to give the tower a central spine, Herr explained, using his fingers to illustrate how they essentially “hung” the apartments from it. Rather than enclose the spine—and thereby extend the building’s width beyond the dimensions of the site—they have sheathed it in concrete and incorporated it into the façade.
The genius of this design enabled the firm to adjust the mix of the residences’ sizes more easily in response to DEDM’s market research.
“It was exciting to keep changing the numbers—and to do that quickly,” Herr recalled. “We were lucky to have partners we trusted.”
While the design strategy added enormous flexibility to the building process, another radical choice was to spread the unit mix throughout the tower and place The Greenwich’s cutting-edge amenities at its pinnacle, not in the middle or below, as is typical.
“The Greenwich is not designed according to the ‘mansions in the sky’ philosophy popularized in the early 20th century,” Herr said, referring to the custom of locating the largest residences—often penthouses—at the top.
Not only does The Greenwich by Rafael Viñoly eschew penthouses at its summit, but it also distributes the various sizes of its 272 units throughout the tower. What distinguishes them floor-to-floor is the variety of views of the city around it, which range from the more usual outlook on the lower floors, to more rarified perspectives over the less vaulting buildings in the middle, to the sweeping, wholly unobstructed sightlines over the city skyline and miles into the distance beyond. Seeing nothing but sky is an extraordinary asset for anyone intending to make a home there.
Besides conceptualizing the overall interior design for The Greenwich, MAWD, the international design firm founded by Elliot March and James White, designed a number of interior models and worked closely with Rafael Viñoly (and more recently with Herr and his partners) to meet the challenges of The Greenwich’s design philosophy.
A prime example is the entry, which is a very tight one by New York standards. However, once you cross the threshold, you emerge into a dramatic 30-foot cube of white marble, lined with a giant bookcase on one side and a large fireplace.
“After you’ve been brought through the compression created by the entry, you arrive in this totally expanded and exaggerated lobby—warm, residential, unexpectedly homey,” March told me. “It’s a total surprise as you make your way towards the three banks of elevators.”
And there’s another dramatic feature waiting at the top. As mentioned, where once architects may have placed penthouses, RVA and MAWD decided to create a three-story amenities space. The epitome of state of the art, it showcases a 50-foot lap pool from which you can look out over Manhattan, surrounding boroughs, and neighboring states, as drops of the saltwater drip from your body. Additional highlights of the amenities suite, dubbed “The 88,” include a salon, relaxation room, screening room, and fitness center by Technogym, among other offerings.
Choosing materials to add warmth, even a touch of nature, to this spa in the clouds demanded a very particular approach from MAWD.
“It called for a cross-tonal palette,” March said. “We made sure there were a lot of contrasts happening. We used some darker woods to add a sense of comfort and ease—important with all this abundant light around you.”
When The Greenwich by Rafael Viñoly officially begin closings this Spring, New Yorkers will get to witness a breathtaking testament to the late architect’s imagination—one with the potential to upend what we want or expect from our luxury homes, that puts residents of different-sized apartments next to one other yet adds little to the density of the city on the ground.
This is home life looking upwards, touching the earth’s atmosphere and fulfilling the dream of a visionary who dared create this new ode to living.
David Hay is a well-known architectural writer and playwright. His stories have been featured in The New York Times, Dwell and New York.
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