© Kwong Von Glinow Design Office
In 2017, Kwong Von Glinow Design Office was awarded the 1st Prize in the New York Affordable Housing Challenge competition. Their project aimed to be both flexible to accommodate the various lot sizes of New York City and adaptable to various unit combinations to provide diversity.
Table Top Apartments Technical Information
- Architects: Kwong Von Glinow Design Office
- Team: Lap Chi Kwong, Alison Von Glinow
- Location: New York, USA
- Client: NY Build 2017, Vividly
- Type: Multi-Unit Housing
- Project Year: 2017
- Images: © Kwong Von Glinow Design Office
The concept of the module is taken from a table top with four legs where the table top or slab is shaped as either a circle, square or rectangle, and the table legs or columns serve as the building’s structure and space for vertical services.
– Kwong Von Glinow Architects
Table Top Apartments Photographs
© Kwong Von Glinow Design Office
© Kwong Von Glinow Design Office
© Kwong Von Glinow Design Office
© Kwong Von Glinow Design Office
© Kwong Von Glinow Design Office
© Kwong Von Glinow Design Office
Text by the Architects
The Table Top Apartments uses a system of modules based on the form of stacking table tops to generate affordable housing as 4-story walk-ups, piers, towers with setbacks and cascading balconies, and even superblocks. This table top system is not only flexible to accommodate the various lot sizes of New York City but is also adaptable to various unit combinations, providing diversity within the housing.
The Table Top Apartments emerges from the use of a few simple modular elements which aggregate to create a new mode of living between the inhabitants, their neighbors, and the public. The concept of the module is taken from a table top with four legs where the table top or slab is shaped as either a circle, square or rectangle, and the table legs or columns serve as the building’s structure and space for vertical services. The post-and-slab table top units stack and aggregate, creating different combinations of unit-types to emphasize the project’s assertion that diversity paired with density makes for a healthy and sustainable living environment. A simple storefront glazing system mediates between the interior of the units and the exterior, while private spaces and bathrooms are enclosed in wood cabinets.
The use of three different table top shapes, which are deliberately misaligned when stacked, create apertures in the slab between units. The resulting vertical courtyard space forms a realm that serves as space for public circulation, bringing in light and air. The spatial juxtapositions of The Table Top Apartments generate a new way of living in affordable housing that is dense, diverse, open, and light.
Table Top Apartments Plans
© Kwong Von Glinow Design Office
© Kwong Von Glinow Design Office
© Kwong Von Glinow Design Office
Table Top Apartments Image Gallery
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About the Kwong Von Glinow Design Office
Lap Chi Kwong and Alison Von Glinow co-founded Kwong Von Glinow Design Office in Chicago in January 2017. Since then, the office has been awarded several prizes including the 2018 Architectural League Prize for Young Architects. Their office is currently working on several projects in Chicago, New York, Switzerland, and Hong Kong.
Other works from Kwong Von Glinow Design Office
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What’s particularly interesting is how the vertical courtyards not only provide natural light and airflow but also foster community interaction—something not often seen in typical affordable housing projects. I wonder if this innovative design could inspire more cities to adopt similar concepts for both affordability and urban space optimization.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Kelly! You’re absolutely right—Kwong Von Glinow’s use of vertical courtyards is a clever way to enhance natural light, ventilation, and social interaction, all within a compact urban footprin