Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has been instructed to revise plans for a penthouse atop a historic Manhattan building after neighbours described the design as resembling 'a Malibu beach house that got blown on to our New York roof'. The proposed two-storey apartment, designed by renowned architect Norman Foster, failed to gain approval from New York's Landmarks Preservation Commission.
During a community meeting, commission chair Sarah Carroll told Ackman that the design had provoked strong opposition from local residents, who also likened it to a 'flying saucer' or 'temple to a titan'. Carroll urged Ackman and Foster to reduce the size and scope of the project, stating: 'You are in the right direction, [but continue] thinking about how you can fulfil the design intent of this glass house on the roof by sinking it down, lowering it, maintain a more sort of horizontal quality.' No deadline was set for revised plans.
Several residents and conservation experts spoke against the design at the meeting. Novelist Mary Breasted, a 14-year resident of the building, called the penthouse 'shockingly out of place'. Christabel Gough of the Society for the Architecture of the City warned that the 'gigantic glass walls' would make it a 'dazzling beacon' visible across the city and even to passengers flying into JFK airport.
Ackman, who purchased the existing pink stucco penthouse for $22.5m in 2017, argued the current structure was decrepit and needed replacing. He promised the commission that the Foster-designed apartment would be a 'great asset for New York City'. Foster compared the plans to Philip Johnson's glass house in Connecticut, describing the design as 'very gentle' and 'very respectful' to the original 1927 building.
