METAL SHUTTER HOUSE

Moveable Perforated Shutters

When Shigeru Ban, a world renowned Japanese architect, began constructing the Metal Shutter House in the West Chelsea neighborhood of New York City, he consulted with CornellCookson to help meet his safety and dynamic design needs. The residential complex is situated among developments and cosmopolitan art galleries. In order to complement this atmosphere, Ban required that the structure illustrate an aesthetic design that was industrial yet chic.

We meticulously designed moveable perforated shutters to cover the balconies of each of the eight duplex apartments in the 11-story Shutter House. When shut, the shutters offer residents privacy, physical safety and theft deterrence while remaining chic and eye catching. When open, they retract completely into each door mechanism which allows the retractable glass windows behind them to open, revealing unrestricted views of Manhattan.

While discussing the functionality and configuration of the perforated slats, Ban expressed that they create, “an open universal floor in each of the duplex houses – one vast and uninterrupted expanse which transitions seamlessly from inside to outside, or partition the space into private areas.”

The moveable perforated slats are an essential part of the Metal Shutter House and are a direct result

of creative thinking and collaboration between architectural design team and CornellCookson.