2024-12-22T02:02:51-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150359509/eero-saarinen-s-cbs-black-rock-manhattan-tower-gets-a-gentle-overhaul-by-vocon-and-mdeas Josh Niland 2023-08-08T11:21:00-04:00 >2024-10-25T04:07:38-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/f7/f7c4bbce6c689d3ad1fa1ddf24b67a4f.png?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>A $36 million restoration of <a href="https://archinect.com/news/tag/51409/eero-saarinen" target="_blank">Eero Saarinen</a>&rsquo;s 1964 corporate headquarters for CBS in Manhattan has been announced by New York-based Harbor Group International, LLC (HGI) ahead of the project&rsquo;s expected completion early this fall.</p> <p>The architect&rsquo;s lone skyscraper design, an ominous 38-story masterpiece of sable granite and polished concrete, is now renamed 51W52 in reflection of its Midtown location and features a pair of newly-renovated lobbies, restored bronze fin wall exterior, elevator bays, and lounge areas &ldquo;curated&rdquo; with Saarinen's own furniture designs for the <a href="https://archinect.com/firms/cover/17006849/knoll-inc" target="_blank">Knoll</a> company that were originally manufactured between 1948 and the late-1950s.</p> <figure><p><a href="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/79/7963581d6a7b334468a32e53d6a82365.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;enlarge=true&amp;w=1028" target="_blank"><img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/79/7963581d6a7b334468a32e53d6a82365.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;enlarge=true&amp;w=514"></a></p><figcaption>Image courtesy Harbor Group International, LLC</figcaption></figure><p>The building, which offers proximity to Grand Central Station, the 53rd Street corridor, MoMA, and Rockefeller Center, received a landmark designation from the city in 1997 and was renovated along similar lines in 1992 in an effort <a href="https://archinect.com/news/tag/81114/paul-goldberger" target="_blank">Paul Goldberger</a>&nbsp;then criticized as &ldquo;an attempt to convert one of th...</p>