British architect David Adjaye has released a revised version of his firm's first New York high-rise: a 66-storey concrete skyscraper in Downtown Manhattan.
The newly released official renderings show a much different design to the conceptual images leaked earlier this year, which depicted the skyscraper with golden facades.
Instead, the residential tower on William Street in the Financial District will have a textural hand-cast concrete exterior, designed to complement the materiality of the surrounding historic, brick commercial buildings.

Another feature that take cues from these buildings is the "rhythmic" layout of the arched windows that puncture the lower half of the tower.
Openings across the upper portion will also have a regular pattern, but will be flipped so that the curve is at the base and much larger. The tower appears to slightly fan out towards the top to accommodate them. "The design for 130 William acknowledges the tower's location on one of the city's earliest streets," said Adjaye.
"Understanding that rich history, I was inspired to craft a building that turns away from the commercial feel of glass and that instead celebrates New York's heritage of masonry architecture with a distinctive presence in Manhattan's skyline."

By straying away from the stark glass design typical to New York's skyline, Adjaye's first skyscraper in the city is among a series of recent proposals that look to the past for inspiration. Examples...