Do You Design Extraordinary Homes?

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Do You Design Extraordinary Homes?

Then this newsletter is for you.

"As builders, CNR has the ability to see around corners and prepare for the unforeseen. They are creative pragmatists."

—Billie Tsien, Architect

Pay no attention to those people in the bathtub...

Scene: UES Art Collectors' Apartment
Designer: Jacques Grange
General Contractor: CNR Group

Action: Installation Artist Alex Da Corte transforms space for W Magazine feature.

Behind the scene:

Walls: 12ft high filled-grain Silver Travertine, 5/16" veneer on honeycomb aluminum substrate.
Doors: 12ft high, stone sandwiched on honeycomb core. Weight per door 450lbs. Hidden aluminum frames engineered, fabricated, installed by Armadillo Metal.

Notes: Structural steel cage had to be created to support the stone weight and prevent deflection.

Result: Doors that move with a feather's touch along a corridor of stone perfection.

Putting It In Perspective
(or Oh, How We've Changed)

In the very beginning of NY's multi-family building boom, apartments were called "French Flats", a reference to the "loose morals" of Paris where living all on one floor made easy access to the boudoir.

Source: Alone Together: A History of New York Apartments by Elizabeth Collins Cromley

A Delicate Balance

During a recent renovation of a 1930s Park Avenue apartment, we pulled up the old floor...

Guess what we discovered hidden beneath the floorboards...

Correct!
A treasure trove of asbestos fill.

What to do? A standard removal would cause uplift to the structure. After brainstorming late into the night, many discussions of physics, geometry, applied mathematics, and many cups of coffee, the CNR team devised a plan to save the day.

Solution: Take 450 50lb bags of sand, 450 empty buckets; layout a 4'x4' grid, and slowly replace 50lb of debris with a 50lb bucket of sand. Then, section by section, remove the buckets of sand as the new fill was poured.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Giving Thanks in 2017

The Thorn Tree Project was co-founded in 2002 by our great friend Clodagh. CNR is proud to sponsor Della Leodip as she attends St. Theresa's Girls Secondary School (the best school in the country according to to Della!)

The Gift From the Heart Foundation provides assistance to children with disabilities from abroad, especially from European countries where the medical treatment that they require may not be available.

This year we are sponsoring young Tomasz. He suffered from a rare form of eye cancer and received life-saving surgery at Sloan Kettering. Through the foundation, CNR supports Tomasz and his family as they return periodically to the US for treatment and adjustments to his prosthetic eye.

Looking Ahead

January 28th begins the Chinese Year of the Fire Rooster. According to Feng Shui expert Marina Lighthouse the coming year will be more prosperous than the last few years (and, thankfully, a little calmer than last year).

All of us at CNR and Armadillo Metal wish you
a wonderful 2017!

We look forward to working with you on many
fascinating creative projects.

Wan Shi Ru Yi: May Everything Go As You Wish!

Call today at 516.313.2933 to discuss your next project
or email to schedule a special presentation.

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CNR Group · 212 West 29th Street · 1st floor · New York, NEW YORK 10001 · USA