Handel Architects

Inspir Manhattan is a 23-story, 215-unit senior living development including assisted living, enhanced care and memory care sited on the Upper East Side’s 2nd Avenue with views of the East River.

Working with Maplewood Senior Living and Omega Healthcare Investors, Handel Architects created a concept based on the importance of connecting with the outdoors and natural light, which can have such a positive impact on people’s lives, particularly in large cities.

The building was designed with a simple elegance and order that would act as a framework for introducing the outdoors. The facade was derived from the building’s structural system, using the concrete as an overlay on large glass window walls. The concrete was hand-crafted with a board forming technique to create a banding, providing texture to the surfaces and connecting it with its masonry neighbors. Complementing the concrete is warm wood and bronze.

Special attention was given to the care floors where glass walls can slide out of the way at each of the residential common rooms and residents can enjoy the feeling of sitting in front of a garden of climbing vines. Similar indoor/outdoor spaces are incorporated throughout the building, including in the lobby, the ground floor dining area, the 2nd floor education and amenity area, and at the 16th Floor sky park. Our hope is that the building residents will work in the gardens and become stewards of the building’s landscape.

The building’s interior is designed as a backdrop to nature using materials and detailing that are calming and bring focus to the landscape and light. Accent finishes in earthy tones such as wood and naturally colored stone enliven the residents’ experience.