UPDATE: Renderings removed at the request of Laufs Engineering Design.

The new building coming to 528-530 Canal (southwest corner of Washington, currently the site of a parking lot and a four-story building) is going to be a statement. Here’s the first rendering anyone has seen:

It comes via Laufs Engineering Design, accompanied by this text: “This novel glass brick facade system is the first of its kind in the United States. The outer skin is a beautiful self-supporting glass brick rainscreen. An inner IGU window wall requires very little structure and keeps the occupied spaces insulated and snug.” There are other thumbnail images on the page linked to above, but I can’t seem to pull them. The ones showing the building at night and the texture of the glass are particularly noteworthy. When I tried asking Laufs for the renderings, they said this is a preliminary design, so of course it may change.

The architect cited is DXA Studio; in these parts, DXA is usually called on for projects that need Landmarks Preservation Commission approval (so this is quite a departure). You’ll recall that the building is a 12,100-foot single-family mansion. “Living quarters will start on the third floor and span through to the seventh,” YIMBY reported back in July. “According to Schedule A, the ‘grand hall’ will take up of the first floor, and a wine cave, service kitchen and formal dining room can be found on the second level. Up top, the eighth floor will have a pool, hot tub and sun room, which will open up to outdoor space and a roof garden.”

“Maybe they’ll let us use the pool,” joked the neighbor who noticed the rendering above and sent the photo below. As you can see, the parking lot has been fenced off, so we should see demolition start soon.