At the threshold of Central Park, the modernist profile of the 9W57 office tower is unmistakable in the Manhattan skyline. SOM spearheaded the revival of the office it was first tasked with designing by Solow Development in 1971. A sensitive but effective interior refresh by SOM’s interior design and adaptive reuse studios enriches high-traffic zones and repositions the landmark as a 21st century workplace. “9W57 is an iconic legacy SOM project, one of the crown jewels in the historic SOM portfolio,” says SOM design associate Van Kluytenaar. “The biggest challenge was to maintain, as much as possible, the simplicity and clarity of the original travertine lobby. As a solution, the renovation maintains the beautifully detailed original travertine floors and walls while emphasizing the historic Soloviev art collection.”
With the original travertine lobby intact, colorful new artwork extends the adjacent Soloviev gallery into the workplace. Bespoke lights comprising a series of recessed acrylic fins brighten the space, accentuating the raw textures of natural stone and bronze surfaces while imbuing their own artistic flair. Distinguished by soft, rounded corners, a new reception desk made of Claro walnut anchors the lobby along with integrated planters to soften the atmosphere with greenery. Walnut abounds again in lobby seating as well as updated elevator cabs, “bringing the warmth of the lobby vertically up into the building,” Kluytenaar adds. “Art, greenery, wood materiality and new lighting installations combine to create a brighter, warmer, almost hospitality-like feel as you enter the renovated space.”
A new vestibule leads to the lower level, where a former storage space is newly transformed into an expansive fitness and wellness center. The core of the subterranean space is also now visible via a new skylight installed within the tower’s glass-enclosed rotunda as well. “It allowed for the opportunity to enclose an unused exterior area with a large circular ground-level glass skylight, significantly increasing the area of the fitness center while bringing daylight into the basement level. This design solution maintains the fundamental geometry and logic of the original design, while creating additional usable space for the building tenants.”
Up on the 27th floor, an amenity floor hosts a multifunctional suite overlooking the park’s canopy as well as the Plaza Hotel. A central lounge populated with abundant seating, greenery, and coffee bars showcase walnut, travertine, Avorio limestone and rich upholstery set against an entrancing backdrop of Blue Sodalite marble.
