A partnership between L&L Holding Co. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LBHI) announced the selection of Foster + Partners, led by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Lord Norman Foster, to design an iconic 650,000-sf office tower to be constructed at 425 Park Avenue in the famed Plaza District of Manhattan. The firm will work with the partnership to create an enduring landmark that befits its exclusive location yet is also of its current time and place.
Foster + Partners was selected at the conclusion of an international architects competition, a six-month process involving many of the world’s most acclaimed architecture firms. In addition to Foster + Partners, the partnership selected Rogers, Stirk, Harbour + Partners (Lord Richard Rogers), OMA (Rem Koolhaas) and Zaha Hadid Architects to participate in the final, conceptual design phase of the competition over the recent summer.
L&L Holding Chairman and CEO David Levinson also announced that he and Lord Foster will make a presentation on the conceptual design during the Municipal Arts Society’s 3rd Annual Summit for New York City on Oct. 19. The two-day summit, which starts Oct. 18, will also feature an exhibit featuring the 425 Park Avenue design concepts that were presented by each of the four finalists in the competition.
“We are grateful to each of the firms for the thoughtfulness and creativity they demonstrated throughout the process,” said Levinson. “There is no doubt that each group was fully capable of helping us realize our vision of a 425 Park Avenue tower that redefines the modern office environment while also respecting and enhancing the timeless allure of the Plaza district.”
Levinson added, “We are looking forward to beginning a process in which we translate Foster’s brilliant concept into a modern tower which offers its inhabitants the most functional and environmentally sustainable work environment imaginable, while also addressing the public realm in a way that hasn’t been accomplished in many years.”
Located in the heart of New York’s famed Plaza District, 425 Park Avenue will be the first full-block office development on this historic stretch in nearly half a century. The tower will be situated along Park Avenue’s double-wide boulevard with its attractive green medians, modern art exhibits and broad sidewalks. The district is also recognized as an epicenter of architectural excellence, as exemplified by the nearby Seagram Building and Lever House, which are two of only five structures in New York City to have won AIA’s esteemed “25 Year Award.”
Foster + Partners views the project as an outstanding opportunity to contribute to the existing character of Park Avenue while also responding to the scale and datum of the boulevard and neighboring buildings. Clearly expressing the geometry of its structure, Foster + Partners’ conceptual design features a tapered steel-frame tower rising to meet three illuminated shear walls, adding to the vibrant New York City skyline. The conceptual design also calls for an elegant façade that seamlessly integrates with the innovative internal arrangement that allows for three gradated tiers of column-free floors.
Offering world-class sustainable office accommodation, Foster + Partners envisions a new tower that anticipates changing needs in the workplace with large, open spaces that encompass flexible use. Each of the three tiers – low, medium and high-rise – is defined by a landscaped terrace that would provide excellent amenity for tenants and offer panoramic views across Manhattan and Central Park. At street level, the conceptual design for 425 Park Avenue gives as much to the city as to the people that will work in it with the potential for a large civic plaza marked by significant works of art.
The conceptual design will serve as the framework for a two-year collaborative process with L&L Holding’s project team to create a fully formed architectural and construction plan for the 425 Park Avenue tower. L&L Holding anticipates the start of construction in 2015, with the new 425 Park Avenue tower to be completed by the end of 2017.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Goettsch Partners wins design competition for Soochow Securities HQ in China
Goettsch Partners (GP) has been selected as the winning firm in the competition to design the Soochow Securities Headquarters, the new office and stock exchange building for Soochow Securities Co. Ltd. The 21-story, 441,300-square-foot project includes 344,400 square feet of office space, an 86,100-square-foot stock exchange, meeting rooms, classrooms, a cafeteria, and underground parking for 400 cars and 800 bicycles.
| Aug 11, 2010
RMJM unveils design details for $1B green development in Turkey
International architecture company RMJM today announced details of the $1 billion Varyap Meridian development it is designing in Istanbul’s new residential and business district, which will be one of the "greenest" projects in Turkey. The luxury 372,000-square-meter development on a site totalling 107,000 square meters will be located in the Atasehir district of Istanbul, which the Turkish government intends to transform into the country’s new financial district and business center.
| Aug 11, 2010
Urban Land Institute honors five 'outstanding' developments in Europe, Middle East, and Africa
Five outstanding developments have been selected as winners of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) 2009 Awards for Excellence: Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) competition. This year, the competition also included the announcement of two special award winners. The Awards for Excellence competition is widely regarded as the land use industry’s most prestigious recognition program.
| Aug 11, 2010
Design firms slash IT spending in 2009
Over half of architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms (55%) are budgeting less for information technology in 2009 than they did in 2008, according to a new report from ZweigWhite. The 2009 Information Technology Survey reports that firms' 2009 IT budgets are a median of 3.3% of net service revenue, down from 3.6% in 2008. Firms planning to decrease spending are expected to do so by a median of 20%.
| Aug 11, 2010
A glimmer of hope amid grim news as construction employment falls in most states, metro areas
The construction employment picture brightened slightly with 18 states adding construction jobs from April to May according to a new analysis of data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). However, construction employment overall continued to decline, noted Ken Simonson, the chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America.
| Aug 11, 2010
Thom Mayne unveils 'floating cube' design for the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas
Calling it a “living educational tool featuring architecture inspired by nature and science,” Pritzker Prize Laureate Thom Mayne and leaders from the Museum of Nature & Science unveiled the schematic designs and building model for the Perot Museum of Nature & Science at Victory Park. Groundbreaking on the approximately $185 million project will be held later this fall, and the Museum is expected to open by early 2013.
| Aug 11, 2010
SOM's William F. Baker awarded Fritz Leonhardt Prize for achievement in structural engineering
In recognition of his engineering accomplishments, which include many of the tallest skyscrapers of our time, William F. Baker received the coveted Fritz Leonhardt Prize in Stuttgart, Germany. He is the first American to receive the prize.
| Aug 11, 2010
American Concrete Institute forms technical committee on BIM for concrete structures
The American Concrete Institute (ACI) announces the formation of a new technical committee on Building Information Modeling (BIM) of Concrete Structures.
