Construction Update: Pearl House at 160 Water Street
Construction is nearing completion at Vanbarton Group’s Pearl House, an office-to-rental conversion in the Seaport district in Lower Manhattan. Led by Gensler, this is the city’s largest office-to-residential conversion to date. Interventions to the existing office tower include altering building cores, retrofitting operable windows, and new floors on top of the existing structures.
When completed, the development will offer over 30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor private club-inspired amenities over three floors. The lobby will feature a sculptural brass staircase along with lounges and a reception desk. The concourse level below will offer a Technogym, bowling alley, sports simulator, game room, craft-making workspace, children’s playroom, children’s playroom, pet grooming salon, spa, and interconnected social lounges. Floor 28 will feature a terrace, lounges, co-working space, a player’s lounge with a sports book room, a full size bar, and chef’s kitchen.
Lobby lounge.
Lower Manhattan view from the 28th floor amenity terrace.
Midtown Manhattan view from the 28th floor amenity terrace.
Residences will range in size from studios, to 1- and 2-bedroom apartments. The Gensler-designed residences feature custom kitchens with stone countertops, integrated appliances, and bathrooms with Italian porcelain tile.
Architect: Gensler; Developer: Vanbarton Group; Program: Residential; Location: Seaport District, New York, NY; Completion: 2024.
Tour: Century Plaza
Southeast corner of the site from Avenue of the Stars.
Construction is wrapping up on Next Century Partners’ Century Plaza in the Century City neighborhood of Los Angeles. The development includes the restoration of Minoru Yamasaki’s Century Plaza hotel (originally opened in 1966) and two new 44-story towers designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners.
Northwest corner of the site from Constellation Boulevard.
Looking up at the south facade of the towers from Solar Way.
Restoration of the 400-room Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel has been overseen by Marmol Radziner with guestrooms and public space interiors by Yabu Pushelberg. The hotel will offer a gourmet café, an American brasserie, a rooftop bar, a 14,000-square-foot spa, and two ballrooms. Along with hotel guest rooms, the restored hotel structure will also offer 63 single-story and townhouse homes designed by Yabu Pushelberg.
Entry plaza with a sculpture by Jaume Plensa.
Restored entry canopy at the Century Plaza Hotel.
Century Plaza Hotel lobby.
Hotel restaurant.
Spa.
Rooftop terrace.
The two 535-foot tall residential towers feature facades of floor-to-ceiling bent glass and glass enclosed terraces. Residents will have access to a collection of amenities that include a pool, fitness center and spa, screening room, library, game room, wine cellars, party spaces, and concierges.
Looking up at the towers (center, right) and restored hotel (right).
Architect: Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Gensler; Interiors: Marmol Radziner (Century Plaza Hotel), Yabu Pushelberg (Tower Residences); Landscape Architect: Rios Clementi Hale Studio; Developer: Next Century Partners; Program: Hotel, Residential, Retail; Location: Century City, Los Angeles, CA; Completion: 2021.
Construction Update: 550 Madison Avenue
Construction is underway on the new glass canopy at the renovation to Philip Johnson’s landmarked 550 Madison office tower in Midtown by The Olayan Group, RXR Realty, Chelsfield, and CBRE. Built in 1984, the postmodern tower is getting a modern update led by Snohetta and Gensler with Rockwell Group overseeing the interiors. The renovation will keep much of the original facade while refreshing key portions of the interiors and ground floor public space. The Garden will almost double the previous public space adjacent to the lobby and feature full size trees, a water feature, artisan food kiosks, and a glass canopy. A newly designed lobby from Gensler will incorporate terrazzo, leather, bronze mesh, and the large windows at the tower’s base that will fill the space with light. The rest of the office floors will feature column free floors with high ceilings and improvements to building systems to pursue LEED Platinum and WELL Gold ratings. Rockwell designed amenities for building tenants will include a wellness and fitness center, conference facilities and lounge areas, grab and go food options, coffee and juice bars, and bike storage. At the top penthouse floors directly below the “Chippendale” roof pediment, a tenant can inhabit the three to four story space with panoramic views.
Architect: Snohetta with Gensler; Interiors: Rockwell Group; Developer: The Olayan Group, RXR Realty, Chelsfield, CBRE; Construction: AECOM Tishman; Program: Office; Location: Midtown East, New York, NY; Completion: 2022.
Tour: Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
Southwest corner of the Saban Building from Wilshire Boulevard.
A December 14th opening date has been set for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. Construction continues at Renzo Piano Building Workshop’s Academy Museum in Los Angeles. Situated on the “Miracle Mile” adjacent to LACMA, the Renzo Piano Building Workshop designed museum for motion pictures will be housed within two structures. A 1939 building that once housed the May Company department store, now renamed the Saban Building, will hold 50,000 square feet of gallery space, project spaces, an outdoor piazza, an education studio, a restaurant, and store. The six-story building was originally designed by Albert C. Martin Sr. in the Streamline Moderne substyle of Art Deco.
South facade of the Saban Building from Wilshire Boulevard.
Closeup of the Saban Building’s southwest corner.
Closeup of the Saban Building’s gold tiled southwest corner.
West facade of the Sphere Building from South Fairfax Avenue.
A new concrete structure, the Sphere Building, will house the 1,000-seat David Geffen Theater and be topped by the Dolby Family Terrace with its steel and glass canopy.
Northwest corner of the Sphere Building (center) and the Saban Building (right) from South Fairfax Avenue.
North facade of the Sphere Building from the grounds of LACMA.
North facade of the Sphere Building from the grounds of LACMA.
East facade of the Sphere Building from the grounds of LACMA.
The Spielberg Family Gallery, a restaurant, cafe and retail space will occupy the 10,000-square-foot lobby.
Ground floor of the Saban Building.
Red carpet stair at the ground floor of the Saban Building.
Circulation space adjacent to the exhibition space in the Saban Building.
David Geffen Theater
Housed within a sphere constructed of 13,000 tons of concrete, the 1,000-seat David Geffen Theater will be able to screen 35MM, 70MM and digital laser projections.
Ted Mann Theater
Adjacent to the larger David Geffen Theater, the 288-seat Ted Mann Theater will accommodate various programming including Saturday morning children’s matinees.
Ted Mann Theater
Barbara Streisand Bridge
Barbara Streisand Bridge to the Dolby Family Terrace.
Closeup of the Barbara Streisand Bridge.
Dolby Family Terrace
Located above the David Geffen Theater, a glass dome constructed of 1,500 panes shelters the Dolby Family Terrace. Visitors will be shielded from the Los Angeles sun by shades that adapt throughout the day.
Detail of the canopy structure on the Sphere Building.
Detail of the canopy structure on the Sphere Building.
Northwest corner of the Sphere Building (center) and the Saban Building (right) from South Fairfax Avenue.
West facade of the Sphere Building from South Fairfax Avenue.
Tour: Museum of Modern Art Renovation and Expansion
The Museum of Modern Art is ready for it’s reopening later this month, with expanded gallery space, renovations to existing entry and gallery spaces, and a new museum store.
Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Gensler, the MoMA’s expansion occupies two sites to the west of the existing museum. Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects‘ Folk Art Museum occupied the first site from its completion in 2001 until demolition in 2014. The rest of the expansion is located in the base of the adjacent Jean Nouvel tower 53 West 53.
The museum’s main entrance is now marked by a large cantilevered metal canopy at West 53rd Street. Inside, the lobby ceiling height has been raised and the museum store has been relocated one floor below to open up views outward from the lobby. Ticketing desks have also been installed in new locations in the ground floor lobby.
A new blade stair serves as the circulation spine of the new gallery spaces in the west expansion. A solid six inch divider hangs from the roof structure to support the bead blast stainless steel panels and solid northern oak treads and risers. Glass balustrades are cantilevered off of the stair and held in place by pins. The walls of the stairway are clad in bird’s eye maple with acoustic micro-perforations. A separate blackened stainless steel stair at the sixth floor leads to the cafe.
The museum’s expansion includes 47,000 square feet of new and renovated gallery space. Along with the five floors of new gallery space in the west building, some of the galleries added in the Taniguchi expansion of 2004 have also been renovated and reconfigured.
Architects: Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Gensler; Client: The Museum of Modern Art; Program: Museum; Location: Midtown, New York, NY; Completion: October 2019.
Construction Update: 25 Kent Avenue
Northwest corner from Kent Avenue.
Construction is wrapping up at 25 Kent, an eight-story office building in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, from developers Rubenstein Partners and Heritage Equity Partners. The 500,000-square-foot project occupies a full block with a massing design that features a north and south bar centrally connected. Both bars step back on their north and south street facing facade to allow for rooftop terraces on each floor. The facade will feature brick and punched window on the north and south of both bars with a glass curtain wall on the east and west. Design of the project is led by Gensler, with concept design by Hollwich Kushner.
Looking up at the west facade.
Southwest corner from Wythe Avenue.
East facade from Wythe Avenue.
Northeast corner from Wythe Avenue.
North facade closeup of 25 Kent (right) and the William Vale (left).
Architect: Gensler (Design and Executive Architect), Hollwich Kushner (Concept Design); Structural Engineer: Desimone; Mechanical Engineer: Cosentini; Developers: Rubenstein Partners, Heritage Equity Partners; Program: Office, Retail; Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY; Completion: 2019.
CUMC Vagelos Education Center
Looking west on West 171st Street.
New York's latest, high-profile education building has opened on the campus of Columbia University Medical College in Washington Heights. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Gensler, the 14-story Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center houses classroom, simulation and training facilities for the college.
Close-up of the "Study Cascade" at the southeast corner.
Southeast corner from Haven Avenue.
Looking up at the east facade from Haven Avenue.
The building's iconic feature is the "Study Cascade," a south facing 14-story space, connected by a grand stair, with a variety of indoor spaces for individual and group interaction, outdoor rooms and terraces that foster collaborative learning amongst students and faculty. With the "Study Cascade" DS+R has sought to subvert the normative medical building typology by rethinking its circulation strategy, which the studio has focused on in a wide range of projects over the past few decades.
The "Study Cascade" at the south facade.
Southwest corner of the "Study Cascade."
GFRC paneling and Douglas fir wood clad the solid forms of the "Study Cascade," while the transparency of floor-to-ceiling glass with glass fin supports allows for open views of Manhattan and the Hudson River.
Close-up of the "Study Cascade" at the south facade.
West facade.
Looking up at the west facade.
Looking southeast from an outdoor terrace on the 13th floor.
View south from an outdoor terrace.
Grand stair at the lobby.
Architects: Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Gensler; Structural Engineer: Leslie E. Robertson Associates (LERA); Program: Education; Location: Washington Heights, New York, NY; Completion: 2016.
