The Waldorf Astoria New York originally opened in 1893 on the current site of the Empire State Building. In 1931 it opened at its current location on Park Avenue. In 1993 it was designated an official New York City landmark. Now, in 2017, the Waldorf Astoria New York has closed its doors in order to undergo one of the most complex and intensive landmark preservation efforts the City of New York has ever seen.
Plans for the renovation were recently submitted for public review by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. The plans, which were designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon, outline the restoration all of the recently landmarked interior spaces.
If approved, the restoration will modernize the building’s functional capability and revive key elements of the Art Deco building that have been altered over time. The building’s historic public and events spaces will be restored to their original intent. Additionally, when the hotel reopens, it will feature new guest rooms, suites, and condominiums.
"Our design for the Waldorf Astoria New York reclaims the full potential of one of New York City's most legendary buildings and opens a new chapter in the hotel's celebrated history,” says Roger Duffy, Design Partner, SOM, in a release. “We are honored to be leading the effort to restore this Art Deco masterpiece, while turning it into a world-class destination for the 21st century."
SOM has previously led restoration and adaptive reuse projects for other New York landmarks such as the Moynihan Train Hall and the General Electric Building headquarters.
If everything stays on schedule, the Waldorf Astoria New York will reopen in two to three years.
Lobby. Rendering courtesy of SOM and Methanoia Inc.
Lexington Entry. Rendering courtesy of SOM and Methanoia Inc.
Peacock Alley. Rendering courtesy of SOM and Methanoia Inc.
Related Stories
| Oct 13, 2010
Editorial
The AEC industry shares a widespread obsession with the new. New is fresh. New is youthful. New is cool. But “old” or “slightly used” can be financially profitable and professionally rewarding, too.
| Oct 13, 2010
Biloxi’s convention center bigger, better after Katrina
The Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center in Biloxi is once again open for business following a renovation and expansion necessitated by Hurricane Katrina.
| Oct 12, 2010
Holton Career and Resource Center, Durham, N.C.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Special Recognition. Early in the current decade, violence within the community of Northeast Central Durham, N.C., escalated to the point where school safety officers at Holton Junior High School feared for their own safety. The school eventually closed and the property sat vacant for five years.
| Oct 12, 2010
Guardian Building, Detroit, Mich.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Special Recognition. The relocation and consolidation of hundreds of employees from seven departments of Wayne County, Mich., into the historic Guardian Building in downtown Detroit is a refreshing tale of smart government planning and clever financial management that will benefit taxpayers in the economically distressed region for years to come.
| Oct 12, 2010
Richmond CenterStage, Richmond, Va.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Bronze Award. The Richmond CenterStage opened in 1928 in the Virginia capital as a grand movie palace named Loew’s Theatre. It was reinvented in 1983 as a performing arts center known as Carpenter Theatre and hobbled along until 2004, when the crumbling venue was mercifully shuttered.
| Oct 12, 2010
University of Toledo, Memorial Field House
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Memorial Field House, once the lovely Collegiate Gothic (ca. 1933) centerpiece (along with neighboring University Hall) of the University of Toledo campus, took its share of abuse after a new athletic arena made it redundant, in 1976. The ultimate insult occurred when the ROTC used it as a paintball venue.
| Oct 12, 2010
Owen Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Officials at Michigan State University’s East Lansing Campus were concerned that Owen Hall, a mid-20th-century residence facility, was no longer attracting much interest from its target audience, graduate and international students.
| Oct 12, 2010
Gartner Auditorium, Cleveland Museum of Art
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Gartner Auditorium was originally designed by Marcel Breuer and completed, in 1971, as part of his Education Wing at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Despite that lofty provenance, the Gartner was never a perfect music venue.
| Oct 12, 2010
Cell and Genome Sciences Building, Farmington, Conn.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Administrators at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington didn’t think much of the 1970s building they planned to turn into the school’s Cell and Genome Sciences Building. It’s not that the former toxicology research facility was in such terrible shape, but the 117,800-sf structure had almost no windows and its interior was dark and chopped up.
| Oct 12, 2010
The Watch Factory, Waltham, Mass.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards — Gold Award. When the Boston Watch Company opened its factory in 1854 on the banks of the Charles River in Waltham, Mass., the area was far enough away from the dust, dirt, and grime of Boston to safely assemble delicate watch parts.
