jersey city urby
completed
april 2017
responsibilities
architecture, interior & landscape design
programme
762 apartments, 69 floors
location
jersey city, us
completed
april 2017
responsibilities
architecture, interior & landscape design
programme
762 apartments, 69 floors
location
jersey city, us
high-rise stacked blocks
The architectural design of Jersey City Urby reflects the organic nature of the Urby brand, focusing on openness, space and connection. The tower is made up out of stacked blocks, creating a vertical neighbourhood and an expressive and playful structure, meticulously positioned so that every apartment enjoys unobstructed views. The result is a diverse offer of 12 different units. Besides creating diversity, the cantilevering floors form striking blocks in the building’s architecture, creating towers that look as if they were built by a child with wooden blocks.
the welcoming human scale urby entrance
Urby buildings have been designed to create natural opportunities for neighbours to meet. Jersey City Urby is entered through a publicly accessible entrance café instead of a lobby. In this way the building opens up to the local community and gives something back to the city. The entrance cafe has a pitched roof and ceiling, creating a space and arrival moment that every person associates with coming home.
vertical social activation
The communal resident spaces are actively programmed to foster interactions between neighbours and include a kitchen, a gym, gardens and a pool. Jersey City Urby offers its residents an artistic program and it even has an in-house scientist. The communal kitchen houses cooking events and lessons, in the LAB unit workshops are organized and in the cafe events and performances are programmed not only for the residents but also for the wider neighborhood to join.
rooftop garden & pool with the best views of manhattan
The 9th-floor rooftop houses a pocket park with views over the Hudson River towards downtown Manhattan. It features a reading nook, a large terrace with a fire pit, and an outdoor kitchen, all designed for residents to escape the hustle and bustle of the city.
the spatial balance of the units
All Urby apartments feel larger than they are as a result of smart use of the available space. Despite being compact, the units are built with an optimal flow and spatial balance in mind. Sliding doors between connecting spaces let residents fully open up the apartment and experience its full size and sense of space. All apartments boast windows across the full width of the units. Combined with a straightforward design and use of light colours, the large windows bring daylight and a sense of spaciousness deep into the apartments, while at the same time offering panoramic views.
wow unit
lab unit
oriental unit
pop unit
here comes the neighborhood
Jersey City Urby serves as a transformative urban intervention, strategically located at a major transit hub with direct five-minute links to Manhattan. The project was designed to inject much-needed vitality into a neighborhood previously defined by generic office towers and a lack of street-level activity. To break down the site's massive scale and integrate it into the city, the design extends Bay Street through the property, allowing public life to flow naturally across the site.
By offering a wide variety of rental apartments rather than exclusive condos, Urby attracts a diverse demographic, ensuring the area remains lively and inhabited long after business hours. This community-centric approach is anchored by the ground floor, which serves as a public social hub. Most notably, a shared entrance café brings together residents, local workers, and neighbors, successfully turning a residential high-rise into a vibrant, inclusive neighborhood anchor.
two additional towers
The first phase of the project consists of 762 apartments in a 69-storey tower that has now been completed. At 220 metres, it’s the largest residential tower in New Jersey. Phase two will see the completion of an additional two towers, starting construction in summer 2026. Once all towers are complete, we will have created over 2300 homes for approximately 4000 residents.
facts & figures
type multifamily residential
start design 2012
opening april 2017
total gross 69.235 sqm
communal spaces communal kitchen, garden room, gym, urby lab
landscaped deck pool deck, outdoor kitchen, mini park, different seating facilities incl. fire-pit
retail area 455 sqm
parking garage 222 spots
concrete
responsibilities architecture, interior & landscape design
team erikjan vermeulen, rob wagemans, cindy wouters, matthijs hombergen, jolijn vonk, sofie ruytenberg, ana bissau pereira, jakob kunst, wouter slot, jesse nolte, robert schellekens, kayla lee
partners & collaborators
client ironstate development & mack-cali/ roseland residential trust, us
executive architect hlw, us
executive landscape architect mkw + associates, us
contractor hitt contracting, us
general contractor ajd construction co, us
marketing and branding ...,staat, nl
art by concrete & ironstate
graffiti wall parking garage steve locatelli via street art today, nl
photography ewout huibers, ryan koopmans, michael cerrone
awards
dezeen awards finalist tall building
jersey city arts council awards winner best architecture & design
inside awards winner residential
ait awards winner future living
nyc x design awards winner multi unit residential
architizer a+awards winner architecture+living
americanhort int plantscape awards winner interior plantscape
