See and be Green

Craig Kellogg -- Interior Design, 5/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

firm:bluarch architecture + interiors
site: new york 

"It's not greenwashing," Bluarch Architecture + Interiors principal Antonio Di Oronzo says of his first LEED-certified project. His client Jon Bakhshi, the owner of the New York nightclubs Home and Guest House, remained steadfast in his earth-healthy ethos despite setback after setback in his quest to open a sequel. Every time a location fell through, he returned to Di Oronzo, asking him to design yet another unique scheme.



Two years of efforts ultimately yielded the club Greenhouse. Its main bar is a clear glass box containing a 3-D cross section of the planet's crust at a 1/8-inch scale. This is where bartenders, wearing uniforms from Bono's Edun clothing line, pour 360 Vodka, bottled in glass with 85 percent recycled content. Waterless urinals and other plumbing fixtures conserve 100,000 gallons per year, while air quality stays high because the ventilation system delivers 100 percent outdoor air—no recirculating.

The walls and part of the ceiling of the 6,000-square-foot basement space display a profusion of small disks. Some are covered in eco-friendly vinyl, others sprout tufts of faux boxwood, and the rest were lacquered and fitted with LEDs that throb in patterns according to commands from a digital driver. When the beats are thumping, the lights catch a sky-scape of 5,000 crystal balls moving to the music.

From top: The main bar, a 20-foot-wide tempered-glass box, contains a sculpture of the earth's crust in high-density foam. Commands from a digital driver change the color of the LEDs. At the nightclub Greenhouse, disks of plywood are either covered in vinyl, decorated with tufts of faux boxwood, or lacquered and fitted with LEDs. Photography by Ado.