When a turn-of-the-century Norwegian Church in Hoboken, N.J., became available around the time his firm was looking to expand, Dean Marchetto, AIA, PP, founding principal of Marchetto Higgins Stieve Architects (formerly Dean Marchetto Architects PC), Hoboken, immediately saw the potential of restoring the building to its original glory. “There was a dropped ceiling in place when I bought the structure, but I knew the original metal vaulted ceiling was up there,” he says. “The vaulted ceiling provided the potential for an inspiring design studio space suitable for an architectural firm.”
Within a few years the firm doubled in size from seven to 15 architects, and it became necessary to expand. Marchetto chose to add a rounded room, known as an Apse, in the style of old Catholic churches like St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, to the church building. The new addition became his office and a conference area. “Being modern architects we decided to build a modern abstract version of what an apse would be on this 120-year-old building,” explains Marchetto. “As such we had a little fun with it and named the project ‘Apse-Traction.’ The interior volume of the Apse also resulted in a creative workspace with lots of light.”
Caliper Studio, New York City, fabricated the structural steel frame for the apse, which is clad in VMZinc metal wall panels in PIGMENTO Red, Green and Blue, from Umicore Building Products USA Inc., Raleigh, N.C. The one-of-a-kind hexagonal panels are designed by a computer script written with the help of students at The Product Architecture Lab at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken. Each panel’s dimensions are directly related to the degree of curvature of each panel, and are determined by where the panel is located. The laser-cut panels were installed one at a time by Vitalistic Construction, Oakridge, N.J. Replicating reptile skin, the scales at the top are smaller and get increasingly bigger as they move down the roof’s undulating form.
Apse-Traction, Hoboken, N.J.
Award: VMZINC ArchiZinc Trophy Commercial Building Award from Umicore Group, and AIA New Jersey Design Award
Architect: Marchetto Higgins Stieve Architects, Hoboken, with The Product Architecture Lab Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken
Interior contractor: John Muller Construction, North Bergen, N.J.
Lighting design: Robert Newell Lighting Design, Westfield, N.J.
Steel fabricator: Caliper Studio, New York City
Zinc installer: Vitalistic Construction, Columbia, N.J.
Metal wall panels: Umicore Building Products USA Inc., Raleigh, N.C., www.vmzinc-us.com