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Foster + Partners' new 425 Park Avenue tower opens in Manhattan

2022-10-26T18:50:00-04:00

For the third time in this already record-breaking week, Foster + Partners has revealed images of a recently-completed commercial tower after the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the firm’s long-awaited 425 Park Avenue project was held earlier today in Manhattan.

The tapering 897-foot design begins at street level with a 45-foot grand lobby that extends to the first of two setbacks which work to separate the volume into thirds, topped by a 38-foot penthouse floor and three ornamental illuminated aluminum fins. Each section is divided by two triple-height diagrid floors, with the uppermost hosting The Diagrid Club restaurant and lounge operated by prominent Alsatian chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

Image: Nigel Young/Foster + Partners

Another two-story, 14,000-square-foot restaurant is located in the tower’s podium and features a 24-foot Larry Poons commission, while its opposite comes complete with a Yayoi Kusama installation and curated meditation spaces contributed by filmmaker David Ly...

Sky Gardens Add Drama to $750 Million Park Avenue Tower

2012-12-26T20:15:00-05:00

The Park Avenue tower rises from a monumental covered plaza to two setbacks, where the 42-foot-high garden levels expose those massive, dramatic building supports. The top two floors of the tower, tentatively planned to rise 49 stories, form a glass- roofed garden. Elevator shafts morph into glowing blades that slice the sky above the roof.

Hadid, Koolhaas and Rogers Losing Designs for Park Avenue Tower Unveiled

2012-10-18T11:53:00-04:00

“For us, it was really a blend of what’s the right concept for Park Avenue, a place that has not had a new building for almost 50 years, an avenue that is quite possibly the most important commercial boulevard in New York City, quite possibly the United States, and what is the place of a new build down the street from Seagrams and Lever House, two of the greatest buildings ever built,” Daivd Levinson said.

Four very different schemes for an office tower in New York. Who's your pick?

Lord Foster Beats Rem, Zaha, Rogers for Unusual NYC Office Tower

2012-10-03T12:42:00-04:00

“We are grateful to each of the firms for the thoughtfulness and creativity they demonstrated throughout the process. 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.”

In one of the most unusual assignments around, Foster, Rogers, Koolhaas and Hadid were asked to tackle a New York City office building on Park Avenue. A famous address with two famous towers, but really, the rest of them stink. The catch for 425 Park, one of those middcentury stinkers, is that the zoning for the existing 1957 building was modified a few years later so any new building on the site would be smaller than what is there now. The developer figured out that if he tore down most but not all of his tower and built back up from there, he could keep his zoning envelope. Check out Lord Foster's fascinating design for this challenging project.

Norman, Zaha, Rem and Richard Compete to Design 425 Park Avenue in Manhattan

2012-07-12T14:38:00-04:00

The developer David W. Levinson could have set for himself the simple task of commissioning a better-designed tower for 425 Park Avenue than the one that’s been there since 1957. But that would have been a very low bar. He has engaged four of the world’s leading architects to compete for the job: Norman Foster of Foster & Partners, Zaha Hadid of Zaha Hadid Architects, Rem Koolhaas of OMA, and Richard Rogers of Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners.