The Brevoort, 11 Fifth Avenue

The Brevoort is one of the city’s best mid-century modern residential structures and a rare example of a named apartment building on Fifth Avenue, where most residential buildings are known solely by their address number.  Designed by Boak & Raad in 1955 and constructed of glazed beige brick, the Brevoort’s matching wings of balconies extend towards the street to frame a semi-circular drive.  Murals in the lobby by American Regionalist artist Paul Starrett Sample depict scenes from colonial-era Manhattan.

Unexpected details abound (a plaque commemorating a house on the site once frequented by Mark Twain; a sweeping aluminum canopy that features the building’s name in marquee-like letters) but they never overwhelm the sensible and dignified tone.

The building has recently undergone a major energy efficiency program that has resulted in its being one of the greenest buildings of its class in New York.

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