Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT
08/02/2018.
by Rustam Mehta & Tal Schori [NYC] USA
metalocus, JORGE FERRER
metalocus, JORGE FERRER
The building was designed by Emery Roth and is unique for its ornamental motifs referencing the apparel industry and for being occupied to this day by the garment trade.
Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT. Photograph © Naho Kubota
Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT. Photograph © Naho Kubota
Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT. Photograph © Naho Kubota
Detail. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT. Photograph © Naho Kubota
Old renovated access. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT. Photograph © Naho Kubota
Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT. Photograph © Naho Kubota
Interior view. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT. Photograph © Naho Kubota
Interior view. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT. Photograph © Naho Kubota
Interior view, detail, calacatta marble. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT. Photograph © Naho Kubota
Interior view, detail, calacatta marble. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT. Photograph © Naho Kubota
Interior view, elevators. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT. Photograph © Naho Kubota
Interior view, bench. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT. Photograph © Naho Kubota
Interior view, detail, calacatta marble. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT. Photograph © Naho Kubota
Interior view, bench. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT. Photograph © Naho Kubota
Interior view, bench. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT. Photograph © Naho Kubota
Interior view. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT. Photograph © Naho Kubota
Urban site plan. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT.
Site plan. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT.
Lobby plan. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT.
Detail walls, east elevation. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT.
Stone pleat detail. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT.
Enrty arch detail. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT.
Before. Preview to the restoration, detail. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT.
Before. Preview to the restoration, detail. Access and Façade renovation of Fashion Tower by GRT.
Initial view of Fashion Tower designed by Emery Roth.
The practice GRT Architects received the commission to renovate the façade and the main entrance, and the result was a great renovation. Inside, GRT extended Roth’s stylized celebration of the fashion industry with a double-height lobby clad in pleated calacatta marble and bronze-tinted aluminium.
Description of project by GRT Architects
GRT Architects recently completed the renovation and historic restoration of Fashion Tower, an Art Deco-era skyscraper in New York’s Garment District. The building was designed by Emery Roth, best known for his iconic pre-war residential towers including the San Remo and Beresford. Among the many buildings in what was once the epicenter of American clothing design and manufacturing, Fashion Tower is unique for its ornamental motifs referencing the apparel industry and for being occupied to this day by the garment trade. Motivated by the resurgence of the Fashion District and the building’s unique history, the current owner asked GRT to restore the facade of the tower’s base while sensitively incorporating a contemporary lobby.
Guided by Roth’s original drawings archived at Columbia University, GRT restored the exterior of Fashion Tower to its original splendor. Earlier renovations obscured a figured sandstone facade with layers of grey stucco and destroyed intricate detailing at the entry. Into a restored carved stone archway, GRT added a minimal all-glass entry set back from the line of the masonry. True to Roth’s intentions, this portal is once again flanked by polychrome terracotta panels with peacock motifs— symbols of apparel, elegance and style. These peacocks rejoin surviving ornament that include winged putti holding shears and draping fabric, and women admiring their reflections and clutching spindles. A delicate façade cleaning revealed a richly veined sandstone cladding and paint analysis was used to bring the appearance of cast iron spandrels and window frames back to the original.
Inside, GRT extended Roth’s stylized celebration of the fashion industry with a double-height lobby clad in pleated calacatta marble and bronze-tinted aluminium. The geometry of the lobby wall nods to folds in fabric while the scale and material palette play on the delicate balance between imposing and intimate that is a hallmark of New York Art Deco. Off-site CNC fabrication and on-site handcraft was used to realize a contemporary design in a classic material. Drawing upon the building’s history to prepare it for the next hundred years of service, the renovation reasserts the importance of fashion and style in a dynamic neighborhood.
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Prizes
2015 AIA New York State Design Award. 2015 MIA Pinnacle Award of Excellence
Tal Schori, Rustam-Marc Mehta. GRT Architects
GRT Architects is an architecture study founded by Tal Schori and Rustam-Marc Mehta. They met in third grade and proceeded, unintentionally, to attend the same university and architecture school. After working at different firms for seven years they decided to do the right thing and start a business together.
Rustam-Marc Mehta is an architect whose experience includes 7 years working as a Senior Associate at Cesar Pelli. Previously, he taught at Wesleyan University and worked as an exhibition designer at the Brooklyn Museum. Yale School of Architecture (2007)—M. Arch; Brown University (2002)—A.B., Architectural History.
Tal Schori is an architect whose experience includes 6 years working at design firms including Deborah Berke Partners, Michael Maltzan Architects, Arquitectura911, and REX. Previously, he was manager at the non-profit gallery, Storefront for Art & Architecture, an editorial assistant at Cabinet Magazine, and a teaching artist with the Center for Urban Pedagogy . Yale School of Architecture (2009)—M. Arch; Brown University (2003)—A.B. (Honors), Art-Semiotics & Architectural History.
Rustam-Marc Mehta is an architect whose experience includes 7 years working as a Senior Associate at Cesar Pelli. Previously, he taught at Wesleyan University and worked as an exhibition designer at the Brooklyn Museum. Yale School of Architecture (2007)—M. Arch; Brown University (2002)—A.B., Architectural History.
Tal Schori is an architect whose experience includes 6 years working at design firms including Deborah Berke Partners, Michael Maltzan Architects, Arquitectura911, and REX. Previously, he was manager at the non-profit gallery, Storefront for Art & Architecture, an editorial assistant at Cabinet Magazine, and a teaching artist with the Center for Urban Pedagogy . Yale School of Architecture (2009)—M. Arch; Brown University (2003)—A.B. (Honors), Art-Semiotics & Architectural History.
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