Structure studio Snøhetta has carried out a sequence of renovations to the postmodern 550 Madison skyscraper, which was previously referred to as the AT&T constructing.
Snøhetta opened up a few of the facades, added a public backyard and improved air flow and elevation techniques as a part of the conversion of the 647-foot-high (197-metre) skyscraper from a single-occupant tower into an workplace for a number of occupants.
Snøhetta founding accomplice Craig Dykers advised Dezeen that the strategy to constructing was “surgical”, with the vast majority of the interventions occurring on the within, which allowed the studio to open up points of the outside.
“Oftentimes had been requested to have a look at buildings or locations which have stopped having worth to individuals,” he stated.
“Nobody had occupied it for thus lengthy that it wanted a well being evaluation in a manner. It wanted recent air. It wanted daylight and wanted spaciousness given to its tenants and wanted entry to nature, all of these items to carry it again to the glory that it had at one time.”
Now referred to as 550 Madison, the granite-clad skyscraper designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee was nicknamed the “Chippendale” constructing when it opened in 1984 due to the pediment that resembles furnishings by the well-known American producer of the identical title.
Initially constructed for American telecommunications firm AT&T, and referred to as the AT&T constructing, the skyscraper was later occupied by Sony after which sat vacant for a variety of years earlier than being acquired by international funding agency The Olayan Group.
In 2017, Snøhetta unveiled its plan to reconfigure the facade of the decrease parts of the constructing, however the plan was nixed by town authorities, which gave the constructing landmark standing after protests from native communities.
The realised renovation aimed to respect the modified standing by scaling again interventions to the facade. Solely a small portion of the unique stone was eliminated in an effort to create a window block for the brand new facilities ground and it was reused to restore stone in different areas.
In accordance with Dyker, the primary purpose was to open up the areas on the base of the tower to be extra public-facing and to revamp the storefronts on road stage.
“The decrease stage of the constructing was difficult,” he stated. “Phillip Johnson stated the identical factor. He actually criticized his personal constructing.”
“It is a terrific constructing,” he continued. “I nonetheless actually prefer it, and I’ve all the time loved it, and I really feel like I prefer it much more now which you can benefit from the decrease ranges of the constructing.”
“There was plenty of dialogue about how a lot glass we had been going to placed on the constructing and that brought about some controversy” added Dyker. “However what was essential was that we discovered a strategy to carry mild into these amenity areas,” he continued.
“So we have added glass to the west aspect of the constructing overlooking the gardens under and made the area slightly extra linked to the outside than it was beforehand that stage had no little or no daylight.”
In an effort to open up the areas at floor stage, Snøhetta moved an elevator core to create “unbroken” views from Madison Avenue, by way of the foyer and into the general public gardens.
The backyard is product of a redesigned mid-block passageway. Snøhetta added a water characteristic and a glass cover to the area.
“Our design for the brand new backyard transforms the streets surrounding the enduring 550 Madison constructing into accessible, lavishly vegetated, and extremely seen public area,” stated Snøhetta panorama architect Michelle Delk.
The studio additionally modified the air flow system to supply higher air high quality and use much less vitality and to open up extra inside areas that had been beforehand occupied by mechanical elements.
The system additionally allowed for a few of the portholes of the constructing that had been used within the air flow system to be opened up and transformed into home windows.
“It is a greener system in that sense,” Dyker advised Dezeen. “But additionally we had been capable of take away 1000’s of sq. ft of area that had been devoted to mechanical area.”
Eradicating the previous system additionally allowed the studio to create extra peak within the porticos and workplace areas. Whereas the tenants are allowed to make modifications to the person areas, Snøhetta insisted that marble staircases on the higher ranges be retained.
American structure studio Gensler was in control of redesigning the foyer, which incorporates new terrazzo flooring and a dangling sculpture by Polish artist Alicja Kwade. New York design studio Rockwell Group carried out the inside design for the facilities stage.
Snøhetta was based in Oslo, Norway and is formally based mostly there and in New York. The studio has launched a variety of renovations of landmarks together with the 2017 renovation of Instances Sq. in addition to the conversion of an industrial website into a spot for the Oslo Opera Home.
