The modernization of a mid-century Midtown Manhattan office tower features a new façade intended to improve occupant comfort and reduce energy consumption. The building, at 666 Fifth Avenue, was originally designed by Carson & Lundin.
First opened in November 1957 when it was considered cutting-edge, the original façade of the 500-foot-tall modernist skyscraper was highly inefficient by today’s energy efficiency standards. Using an early version of a semi-unitized curtain wall, the old façade featured units with punched aluminum panels on the bottom and a single glass pane on top. This was advantageous in its light weight, but yielded poor energy efficiency. The project team chose a full reskinning as the best option to upgrade the aging building.
The new façade features the largest single-pane units ever used on an office development in New York City, according to a blog post at KPF.com. These large panes created efficiencies in construction, logistics, and structural detailing. Panel fabricators used a single cut, yielding only minimal waste when producing each unit. Situated inside a four-sided shadowbox, the panels span the full width between columns and the full height between floors. This approach tripled the window area, bringing in plentiful daylight for tenants.
Other improvements on the 1.2 million-sf office tower include:
- Mechanical upgrades for high-efficiency heating and air systems that draw in greater quantities of fresh air.
- A reconstructed lobby with modernized elevators that will support a retail space.
- Numerous columns and low ceilings were eliminated from office floors to maximize interior space.
- Some units offer double-height spaces and interconnected floors, taking advantage of the building’s wide range of floor plate sizes.
- Designers used existing massing—a podium and tower interspersed with multiple setbacks—to create exterior terraces at multiple levels on three sides.
“One of the important aspects of an adaptive reuse project is finding the existing value in a building, and identifying areas that can create more desirable space for users," said KPF Principal Lauren Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP BD+C. "The existing façade at 660 Fifth Avenue was one of the first curtain wall systems when it was built in the 1950s and very modern at the time, but it had limitations in terms of thermal and acoustical insulation, as well as small windows. We approached the façade as a clean slate and proposed opening it up completely with units that would span column to column. This, in a sense, allowed the columns to disappear and create open views. It was a great opportunity to propose something that was perhaps considered atypical, but actually, as we worked through the logistics of it, made sense for a number of reasons and was highly efficient.”
On the team:
Client: Brookfield Properties
Design Architect (full services): Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF)
MEP Engineer: Cosentini Associates
Structural Engineer: Gilsanz Murray Steficek (GMS)
General contractor: Turner Construction
Related Stories
| May 23, 2014
Top interior design trends: Gensler, HOK, FXFOWLE, Mancini Duffy weigh in
Tech-friendly furniture, “live walls,” sit-stand desks, and circadian lighting are among the emerging trends identified by leading interior designers.
| May 22, 2014
Big Data meets data centers – What the coming DCIM boom means to owners and Building Teams
The demand for sophisticated facility monitoring solutions has spurred a new market segment—data center infrastructure management (DCIM)—that is likely to impact the way data center projects are planned, designed, built, and operated.
| May 22, 2014
No time for a trip to Dubai? Team BlackSheep's drone flyover gives a bird's eye view [video]
Team BlackSheep—devotees of filmmaking with drones—has posted a fun video that takes viewers high over the city for spectacular vistas of a modern architectural showcase.
| May 21, 2014
Check out Pandora's posh NYC offices [slideshow]
The new East Coast office for the Internet radio provider is housed on two interconnected floors of the classic 125 Park Avenue building, and features multiple spaces for music performances, large gatherings, and “all hands” meetings.
| May 20, 2014
Kinetic Architecture: New book explores innovations in active façades
The book, co-authored by Arup's Russell Fortmeyer, illustrates the various ways architects, consultants, and engineers approach energy and comfort by manipulating air, water, and light through the layers of passive and active building envelope systems.
| May 20, 2014
Gensler envisions 'law firm of the future' with pop-up office project
Called "The Legal Office of the Future," the pop-up demonstration project made its debut this week at the annual conference for the Association of Legal Administrators in Toronto.
| May 20, 2014
Using fire-rated glass in exterior applications
Fire-rated glazing and framing assemblies are just as beneficial on building exteriors as they are on the inside. But knowing how to select the correct fire-rated glass for exterior applications can be confusing. SPONSORED CONTENT
| May 20, 2014
World's best new skyscrapers: Renzo Piano's The Shard, China's 'doughnut hotel' voted to Emporis list
Eight other high-rise projects were named Emporis Skyscraper Award winners, including DC Tower 1 by Dominique Perrault Architecture and Tour Carpe Diem by Robert A.M. Stern.
| May 19, 2014
What can architects learn from nature’s 3.8 billion years of experience?
In a new report, HOK and Biomimicry 3.8 partnered to study how lessons from the temperate broadleaf forest biome, which houses many of the world’s largest population centers, can inform the design of the built environment.
| May 13, 2014
19 industry groups team to promote resilient planning and building materials
The industry associations, with more than 700,000 members generating almost $1 trillion in GDP, have issued a joint statement on resilience, pushing design and building solutions for disaster mitigation.
