Rising 25 stories tall, Journal Square Urby introduces 317 meticulously crafted apartments situated at a strategic location that bridges the evolving high-rise corridors of Journal Square with the intimate, smaller-scale residential streets that characterize the surrounding neighborhoods. The development not only provides a substantial new housing option but also activates the neighborhood’s social fabric, encouraging community engagement and interaction. As Urby’s footprint grows, with upcoming projects in Miami and other sites across the country, this project exemplifies how innovative design and urban planning can foster a more integrated, human-focused city experience.
Bridging the gap
Urby is the new kid on the block of Jersey City's 'Journal Square’, standing proudly at the corner of Summit Avenue and Pavonia Avenue. Perfectly placed next to Journal Square PATH station with a quick 15-minute transit to New York’s World Trade Center and across the future park development by the historic Brennan Courthouse.
The project forms a transition between the newly developed high-rise around Journal Square and the existing low-rise residential neighborhoods. The building is carefully massed and programmed with a public space that connects to the smaller-scale neighborhood at street level, inviting public spaces open up to the community. While above, the building rises to join the skyline, offering residents extensive views and a rooftop designed for connected communal living experience.
Inside, the apartments carry Urby’s signature design philosophy. Smart and efficient layouts create homes that feel larger than their footprint. With open flows, balanced proportions, and thoughtful details, every unit maximizes comfort and functionality, offering a modern and surprisingly spacious living experience.
Open up and connect
All Urby buildings are designed to encourage interaction and strengthen connections, both among residents and with the surrounding neighborhood. At Journal Square, this begins with the placement of the tower, set back from the corner of Summit and Pavonia Avenue to create space for a welcoming entrance square that links directly to the public realm.
On this square stands a two-story corner building whose brick façade and scale give it a timeless presence, bringing a sense of human scale and familiarity to the neighborhood. This building is home to BRBQ, a public cafe and restaurant space that opens its doors to both residents and neighbors, inviting the community to come together. The café extends outward with a terrace that flows onto the entrance square and connects seamlessly with the Urby lobby inside. The result is a lively meeting point where everyday life naturally comes together.
Interlacing towers
The tower itself consists of two interlacing towers and a lower base, all with their own distinctive facades. The tallest tower has a vertical accent in its bronze-finished facade, making it appear rather monolithic amidst the generic neighbor towers. The architectural finishing and detailing of the red copper anodized lower tower are linked to the pocket neighborhood located east of the building, while the 9-story brickwork base is part of the street wall along Pavonia avenue.
The massing of the top floors creates extensive communal areas in the form of a kitchen and garden room that extends onto a landscaped deck with pool. The smart massing of interlacing towers is simply achieved by combining a typical rather squarish ‘tower floor plan’ with a ‘center corridor’ plan. This also helps to create a wider range of apartment configurations, all with their own sizes and orientation while maintaining the core qualities of an Urby apartment: smart spacious, filled with daylight and hyper functional.
Facade as a living art canvas
The side wall of the building artistic expression comes to life with Felipe Pantone’s monumental mural, Optichromie. This vibrant, 14,000-square-foot masterpiece marks Pantone’s largest and most ambitious project to date, covering the 25-story façade of the building. Featuring his signature geometric patterns, gradients, and bright colors, the mural stands in vivid contrast to the subdued hues of the surrounding cityscape, creating a dynamic visual sight that enhances the skyline. The mural also represents Urby’s vision to blend thoughtful artistic elements with a strong connection to the surrounding community.
A warm welcome
Creating community and fostering interaction is at the core of Urby. Through careful space planning, flow design and materiality, connection and atmosphere are designed so that residents naturally meet, gather, and feel at home. Both the Urby entrance and the café open onto a vibrant entrance square, which doubles as the café terrace and acts as a welcoming public space for the neighborhood.
The entrance itself is a single-story vestibule that gracefully bridges human scale with the tower above. It appears detached from the main building and is angled toward the nearby PATH station. A carefully detailed wooden door is the eyecatcher that guides people into the main lobby; a warm, quiet inviting space build out of ribbed wood walls, terrazzo flooring and soft lighting that welcomes residents and visitors with seating corners and thoughtful curated artwork.
Pockets on all sides of the space lead to different functional spaces like the mailboxes, the communal filtered water fountain, host location, leasing offices and the elevators. One of the pockets is the internal connection to the café, designed by the BRBQ team, serving as an all-day dining space centered around an open fire kitchen, which blends seamlessly with the entrance square. Together, the lobby, café, and square create a lively, human-scaled environment where residents and neighbors can connect effortlessly, making Urby more than a building; it’s a community.
A place to unwind
While the ground floor welcomes the public, the 25th top floor is a communal retreat designed exclusively for Urby residents. Just below the tower’s crown, a serene escape rises above the city streets. A garden room and communal kitchen, both filled with greenery, flow seamlessly onto a lush landscaped deck, creating a peaceful oasis in the sky. The interior space has a very grounded and natural atmosphere, shaped by terracotta floors, wood-clad walls, soft carpets, and a wide variety of seating arrangements surrounded by pots, plants and balanced lighting.
Large, deeply recessed windows framed in wood draw the eye outward, framing views toward Manhattan. The spaces form the heart of the Urby community and are used in many different ways; intimate dinners and casual drinks, to music sessions, conversations, getting some work done, board games, or simply reading a book while enjoying the skyline view. Regular events and gatherings, curated and organized by the Urby cultural team are held in both, the kitchen and the garden room add an extra layer of connection, inspiration and joy among the residents.
The interior spaces extend onto a vibrant green roof deck and pool, designed by landscape architect Bas Smets. Here, residents can relax among diverse seating configurations, a pergola, and an outdoor kitchen with barbecue stations, all surrounded by planters overflowing with wild grasses, flowers, and small trees. A stepped terrace leads to the pool, offering the perfect spot to swim, soak up the sun, or simply unwind while taking in sweeping views of New York and beyond.
Client: Urby
Architects: Concrete Amsterdam
Project team concrete: Erikjan Vermeulen, Tobias Koch, Juliana do Prado Mul, Daisy Koppendraaier, Andreas Rechsteiner, Vivianne Medeiros, Cristina Palicari, Zuzanna Kurzawa
