Like so many great things in life, the idea of designing Beckford House and Tower as a pair started with a conversation over drinks. Todd Cohen and Terrence Lowenberg, principals of Icon Realty Management had commissioned Bill Sofield, the designer behind 117 West 57th Street and a darling of the fashion elite, to design a tower on East 81st Street and 2nd Avenue, but one evening at Temple Bar in Soho, fate intervened. When Sofield learned about the opportunity to create something one block north, he told Cohen and Lowenberg that they had the chance to design a new neighborhood. As Sofield tells it, a few hours later they changed course and began designing the buildinas as a pair-and the results are stunning. Departures got an exclusive first look.