Case Studies

The Duchess is a 22-story residential tower located at the corner of East 83rd Street and Second Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Designed by SLCE Architects and developed by Lalezarian Properties, the project delivers 70 rental units, including affordable housing, along with ground-floor retail space that activates the street level. 

To achieve a clean, modern façade that would complement the surrounding architecture, the design team selected StoneLite^®  panels in a warm gray limestone finish. The material provides the aesthetic of full-depth stone while offering key advantages in weight, speed of installation, and long-term performance, which are all critical factors for a high-rise project in a dense urban setting. 

The warm gray tone of the panels creates a subtle contrast against the tower’s grid of floor-to-ceiling windows, adding dimension without distraction. With a total area of nearly 94,000 square feet, the lightweight stone cladding system helped streamline installation and meet the project’s schedule and structural requirements. 

The Duchess stands as a refined, contemporary addition to the Yorkville skyline, with StoneLite playing a central role in bringing the design to life.