New York, New York, USA
Originally developed by the Time & Life Building by Harrison & Abramovitz & Harris Architects and completed in 1959, 1271 Avenue of the Americas illustrates a typology of commercial buildings that embody the transformational ideas and technology of the postwar period of the twentieth century but are now underperforming and facing obsolescence.
With Pei Cobb Freed & Partners in the lead, from 2016 till 2020, the building underwent a $600 million redevelopment that focused on the modernization of the building and its systems, while accentuating its original design detail.
The project was awarded with a 2021 Green Good Design® Award by The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum.
The repositioning of the iconic 48-story, two-million-square-foot tower demonstrates that the imperative for sustainable architecture need not be incompatible with commercial success.
The building was fully leased prior to completion while modeling an extraordinary energy-use reduction of 41 percent and earning LEED Gold certification.
The reuse of a structure of this scale, rather than its demolition and replacement by new construction, represents the project’s greatest offset of both embodied carbon and environmental impact. In addition, the majority of the original stone and stainless steel material in the lobby was restored and retained.
The Plaza
The east plaza transformation opens the building toward the avenue and creates a more inviting and human-scaled public space.
The fountain, which had originally blocked access to the tower storefront, was reimagined as a stepped landscape feature with seating, seasonal plantings, and five lively fountain pools that mask the noise of the city and provide a serene respite on one of the busiest streets in Manhattan.
The signature Copacabana paving pattern, recreated in a more durable custom decorative concrete, was extended to the curb, creating a single expansive public space.
Evoking the dynamic cantilevered entrance canopies on the 50th Street side, a new canopy extends nearly 100 feet toward Avenue of the Americas, announcing the reopened breezeway and defining the north edge of the plaza while sheltering the retail entrances.
The Facade
As the building’s iconic identity is one of its most valuable assets, preserving and enhancing that identity was a primary goal.
The design dramatically improves the curtain wall’s energy performance while retaining the main tower facade’s character, the essential organization of the lower register, and the configuration of the 50th Street entrance canopies.
Respecting the rhythm of the existing limestone piers, silver fins, and bronze mullions, the design reverses the proportion of spandrel to vision glass, thereby maintaining the original facade’s architectural module while increasing the vision glass by more than 50 percent.
The new unitized, thermally broken curtain wall, featuring a double-glazed IGU with high-performance low-E coating, contributes to an energy savings of 28.5 percent over the code baseline and 41 percent over the existing building.
The tower’s limestone piers were cleaned and repaired but remain otherwise unaltered; the enclosure replacement occurs entirely between columns.
At the podium, the new six-story wraparound enclosure introduces a double-wide window module to increase light and views from offices on lower floors.
50th Street Frontage
The expansive sidewalk along 50th Street, anchored by restored canopies and new street trees with large planter beds, serves as a welcoming main entry.
The Copacabana paving pattern extends seamlessly into the expanded lobby, while oversized IGUs with ultra-clear, low-iron double glazing provide maximum visual transparency into the lobby, creating the perception of a single unified public space.
The Lobby
The lobby, a designated landmark, has been scrupulously restored and expanded to accommodate new reception desks capable of serving a multi-tenant configuration.
The original breezeway has been reopened, reconnecting the lobby with the plaza and avenue beyond. Originally a narrow corridor between the elevators and 50th Street retail spaces—and later altered to create a lounge area that obscured the interior’s distinctive finishes—the south lobby has been fully opened.
Its checkerboard stainless steel panels and marble wall cladding have been restored, its damaged terrazzo replaced, and its glass ceiling renewed and fitted with sprinklers. Such finishes restore the lobby to its mid-century grandeur while satisfying landmark requirements.
Large murals by Fritz Glarner and Josef Albers have been painstakingly conserved and restored to their original vibrancy.
Additional Environmentally Friendly Improvements
The project promotes two highly sustainable transportation options: cycling and public transit. The concourse level includes a new bicycle room for more than 200 bikes with a repair station and private changing rooms with showers.
An upgraded subway entrance, integrated with the design of the plaza’s new stepped landscape feature, includes fountains, planters, custom-patterned fritted-glass cladding, granite stair treads with an integrated snow-melt system, and illuminated stainless steel handrails.
Vertical transportation is also greatly improved: with a full mechanical upgrade and new destination-dispatch technology, elevators are much more efficient.
Cab interiors have been recladded in opaque matte-white glass, echoing the white marble of the lobby walls; stainless steel wall panels morph into a V-shape, evoking the iconic 50th Street entrance canopies.
Architects: Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
Client: The Rockefeller Group Development Corporation
Photographers: Albert Vecerka/Esto Esto Photographics Inc.