This week the Hudson bloggers talk ceiling height…

Ceiling heights matter. Imagine St. Patrick’s Cathedral without its vaulted ceilings or the tunnels of Penn Station made un-cramped. If we believe Joan Meyers-Levy of the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, high ceilings encourage abstract thinking while low ceilings encourage detail-oriented thinking. If we apply her logic, then Penn Station is not only horrible because of the suffocating sensation of the low, gray ceiling, but also because it encourages you to notice all the grimy details of the nation’s busiest train station. But low ceilings aren’t always bad: Meyers-Levy suggests that complicated tasks like surgery should take place in low-ceilinged rooms.

Ceiling heights at Third + Bond are 9′ in most areas, including the living and dining areas and bedrooms. In the kitchen, hall, and bathrooms, the heights are 8′. With any luck, these heights split the difference on abstract and detail thinking so that we can attract both the left and right brained buyers.

Our preference was to do 9′ heights throughout but…

…we were constrained by the superstructure, building equipment that must run along the ceiling, and zoning height.

As discussed in Week 77, we are using an open web joist system that allows us to snake mechanical equipment through the truss (see image on left, pipe running inside joist), eliminating the need to drop the ceiling drywall beyond that point. HVAC ducts and plumbing travel from the vertical chases, horizontally into the living spaces. The closer to the ceiling we can keep the equipment, the higher the final ceiling height.

The areas with an 8′ ceiling are carrying additional equipment which can’t all fit within the trusses (see image on right, the blue lines trace the joist). For example, we have sprinkler heads that will poke out of the fascia of the dropped ceiling in the kitchen. The sprinklers will be capable of shooting water 20′ into the living room. The alternative would have been to drop the entire living room ceiling to 8′ and use regular drop-down sprinkler heads. Maybe that would be better for surgery but probably not for the abstract activities of entertaining, napping, and t.v.-watching that we expect will take place in the living rooms.

We have the architectural drawings showing how the final condition should be and the mechanical electrical and plumbing drawings that give a schematic showing what needs to run to where. But when it comes down to actually inserting duct or pipe into the joist, there are decisions to be made in the field.

The construction manager needs to coordinate with the various subcontractors to make sure that the HVAC guy leaves room for the plumber, and so on. When the trades aren’t coordinated, trouble ensues. We’ve already noticed some corridors where they are battling for space. So far crises have been averted. If 9′ is our best, and 8′ is just fine, we won’t accept 7′. We don’t want to be held responsible for creative blocks!

Inside Third & Bond: Weeks 1-86 [Brownstoner]
The complete offering terms are in an Offering Plan available from Sponsor. File No. CD080490. Sponsor: Hudson Third LLC, 826 Broadway, New York, NY 10003.