The Bank of America Tower a.k.a. One Bryant Park - by Cook + Fox Architects

[stache]

So it looks good on your computer screen, sitting in another city?


And there you have it.

[Bob]

This building is a snore-fest. Too big, too fat, too trendy. And ugly windows.

[stache]

It's kind of growing on me.

[kz1000ps]

I find it interesting how, in spite of all the modern technology and design flourishes, it manages to fit in with the sterile Sixth Ave canyon as well as anything else there. Surely Cook + Fox were trying to rise above that mediocre fray..

The one thing it does very, very well is anchor its corner of Bryant Park.

[londonlawyer]

This building is beautiful.

For people who say it's fat, everyone in London is creaming over the Helter Skelter on Bishopsgate which is fatter, and, mark my words, it will not get built.

Any other city would be going ape-sh..t over this tower.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3533/3720939768_af58741515_b.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20three/P1180384.jpg

[Alonzo-ny]

I like this building from up or down 6th ave but it looks awkward from any other angle.

[Prometheus]

This building confounds me. It should blow me away, but it doesn't. I think it maybe the aggregation of many smaller issues that diminish it's appeal to me overall.

For instance, it's only a little too short for the size of its base, but not horrible.

The clear glass is fine (indeed a nice change from the ubiquitous blue/green), because I think it provides scale. However, the light grey "spandrels" dull the end result,(a little).

It's a little stiff/angular...like something from Krypton, but I keep telling myself that this much better than a boring rectangle with a flat roof.

The odd choice of the orange trim in some areas puzzles me, too, though it's use has mercifully been to the back of the building.

None of these are horrible things, but for some reason the sum of them combined is greater than their individual values. In the meantime, I'm hoping that there will be a dramatic change on the street level once the scaffolding is removed.

[Derek2k3]

I think it's only boring because we've been looking at it for the last 6 years. I think it's comparable to Citicorp Tower, which isn't that exciting either.
I think it's envrionmental achievements are more admirable than anything else.

The building also looks good from 42nd street, looking west - from Bryant Park it looks corpulently corporate.

[kz1000ps]

Indeed, it does look good from down 42nd. This pic's from April:

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/3646/img0311z.jpg

And about the Citicorp: it may not be that exciting, but it has good proportions and a sleek, simple design.

[londonlawyer]

Know which block? The low buildings along that stretch are the ones that have places to get food, some boutique shops and general things for living creatures....

Hi, amigo.

I missed this. They're the crappy buildings on the northwest corner of 56th and Lex. They house camera shops and junky stores, and they continue up to the building with the Harley Davidson shop. They're across the street from a Bellmarc Realty and TGI Fridays that I also despise.

[BrooklynLove]

I dig it. Too bad it's stuck at 97% complete.

[lugdus]

Bank of America’s Earnest Eco-Tower Rises From New York Slump


Share (http://javascript<b></b>:togShareLinks('shr_v');) | Email | Print (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/#) | A (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/#) A (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/#) A (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/#)



By James S. Russell
http://www.wirednewyork.com/apps/data?pid=avimage&iid=iICfXw9jK_Rc

July 28 (Bloomberg) -- The cocked-hat silhouette of Bank of America (http://www.wirednewyork.com/apps/quote?ticker=BAC%3AUS) Corp.’s new Manhattan skyscraper pokes a few stories higher than its Times Square neighbors, a testament to the aspirations of the Charlotte, North Carolina, bank when the design was unveiled in 2004.
The building was touted as costing $1 billion in 2004, and the bank has declined to update the figure. After the 64 percent slump in the bank’s shares since September, this glinting bundle of shards, nearing completion across from Bryant Park, could be considered a monument to bonus-coddled, overindulgent, corporate excess -- if it weren’t so dumpy. Worse, it’s gracelessly, earnestly green.
The Durst Organization (http://www.durst.org/master.htm), a developer, had over decades painstakingly assembled one of the largest sites to be found in Midtown. It took a state urban-development agency’s threat of eminent domain -- the government’s right to seize private property -- to complete acquisition of the full 2 acres. The site included Henry Miller’s Theater, a small Broadway playhouse that hosted both “Our Town” and “Urinetown,” which Durst pledged to replace while retaining its 1918 facade.
The bank joined Durst as a co-owner because the site permitted a tall, thick tower, with lower floors accommodating highly desirable trading floors, one 80,000 square feet. Many of the bank’s floors (it occupies 1.6 million of the building’s 2.4 million square feet) are as large as those found in the destroyed World Trade Center.
Architecture firm Cook & Fox (http://www.cookplusfox.com/), following a fast-fading fashion for crystalline forms, assembled faceted shafts, which are intended to visually slim large floors and take advantage of diagonal city vistas and views of Bryant Park.
Ungainly Matron
The 54-story result is among the most ungainly forms on the skyline, like a matron who swathes herself in thick layers of fabric in a vain attempt to slim her burgeoning silhouette. The tower climaxes with a spire as impressive as an auto antenna.
Cook & Fox touts One Bryant Park as “the world’s most environmentally responsible high-rise office building.”
This is an overstatement. Around the world, eco-buildings have moved far beyond this design. Still, Durst has a reputation as a green-building leader because its U.S. competition is so timid. Dan Tishman (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Dan+Tishman&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), chairman and chief executive officer of Tishman Construction Corp., spelled out why on a recent walkthrough.
“America lags because we live in an energy-subsidized economy,” he said.
The key green advances are a co-generation plant that is especially useful in summer, when it reduces demand from the most polluting power plants. The building ventilates through the floor rather than the ceiling, decreasing power use while offering each occupant control over his own thermal comfort.
Filtered Air
The air is filtered of dust and harmful gasses to a much higher degree than in most existing buildings. The bank said it expects measurable increases in productivity and employee satisfaction from the improved air quality.
Because the windows are made of an especially clear glass, called low-iron, the deep floors are bathed in daylight, allowing sensors to dim electric bulbs. The light and views are a joy compared with the cave-like interiors of most towers.
Though bands of white ceramic dots fused onto the glass are designed to cut unwanted sun, a bank official said the company had regretted not investing in shades that would automatically lower when the sun beats in.
Assuming the rest of One Bryant Park’s green measures work better, such above-and-beyond commitment may pay off, since harvesting water from bathroom sinks and improving air quality may soon be mandated.
Nervous Moire
I wish Cook & Fox could package green more appealingly. On the exterior the alternating bands of clear and white glass create a nervous moire.
The clumsy gigantism of the tower overwhelms the neo- Georgian delicacy of the retained facade of Henry Miller’s Theater. Behind the entrance, Cook & Fox dropped the new 1,055- seat theater one level below the street to allow bank trading floors to run unimpeded overhead. Seating and other accommodations -- especially women’s bathrooms -- are generous, but murky colors deflate anticipation. Contemporary fussiness in details fights with archeological sanctimony. Bits of the old theater are mounted like museum exhibits.
Pity the resident Roundabout Theatre Company (http://www.byebyebirdieonbroadway.com/) which must breathe life into this mausoleum with “Bye Bye Birdie,” opening in September.
At the planning stage, City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Amanda%0ABurden&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) wisely insisted that Cook & Fox include some nice street- level amenities, like an “urban garden room” that will feature plantings sculpted in the style of “Edward Scissorhands,” generous sidewalks, and new subway entrances. Like the rest of the design, these bits seem added on rather than integrated into the whole.
Combining soaring form, welcome urbanity and green innovation is certainly challenging, but good intentions are ill-served by such feeble expression.
(James S. Russell (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=James+S.+Russell&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) is Bloomberg’s U.S. architecture critic. The opinions expressed are his own.)
To contact the writer of this column: James S. Russell in New York at jamesrussell@earthlink.net (jamesrussell@earthlink.net).

[Derek2k3]

Also 42nd Street between 6th and Broadway is now basically a deadzone. There's no reason to even pause while walking along that stretch. The bases of the Conde' Nast building and the BofA Tower are as sterile as they come. Not really the fault of the architects though if the developer didn't want much retail at street level.

Pity. Compare this stretch to the 42nd st. the next block over. IMO the rules for Times Square should have extended on 42nd street from 6th ave to 12th ave and on Eighth ave from 40th street to 57th.

[MidtownGuy]

Yes, you're totally right about that stretch of 42nd now.
Retail would have been great there instead of that long, dead stretch of glass.

[stache]

And if you walk on the other side of the street you're treated to the wacky Christian lady with her megaphone and plaster fetus wall plaques. :p

[lofter1]

Once the new Met Life building finishes the plaza across 42nd from BA I wonder if the baby lady will move on? Her pics she waves at passers-by are disturbing ...

[stache]

I think she used to hang out in front of the Marquis, if I'm not mistaken.

[OmegaNYC]

^^^ Not to get off topic, but who ever she is, she is friggin annoying...

[stache]

She always looks surprised at that. :confused:

[MidtownGuy]

I can't stand that crazy broad.

[stache]

I doubt many people like her.

[MidtownGuy]

Why is she allowed to have sound amplification like mics and megaphones?

[stache]

'First amendment.' :p :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[ablarc]

First amendment.
A good thing.

[BrooklynRider]

I always tell her to "Shut the f*ck up", when I pass her." She responds by calling me a "Homosexual" and "F*cking Faggot." It's a uniquely American debate.

[stache]

I only yell at her when she's on her phobe rant. Depending on what I'm wearing this can confuse her if I am reading str8 that day.

[MidtownGuy]

'First amendment.'

I always thought there were certain stipulations attached.

So, you're all telling me I can go out with sound amplification equipment anywhere I like and no laws or regulations will apply? My goodness, all this time I thought using sound amplification devices required certain permits in the city.

[MidtownGuy]

I always tell her to "Shut the f*ck up", when I pass her." She responds by calling me a "Homosexual" and "F*cking Faggot."

Hateful pseudo-religious fanatic.

99.99999% of "Christians" are the same: no clue about what their own religion actually preaches.
Christians, Muslims, Jews...all basically the same ridiculous and dangerous mythology and none of them want to face that fact.

To get back on topic, I passed by the thru-block passageway of BOA and there were some tables set up out there for the restaurant that just opened.

[lbjefferies]

/\


All you need is a microphone and the world can know you're an idiot too!

[MidtownGuy]

^Not subscribing to any of the "me-saved, you-not" sky deity religions makes me an idiot in your eyes...boo hoo.

Or is it just the part where I wish gone the sound amplifiers of moronic adherents like the woman on the sidewalk, whose bible-thumping condemnation of homosexuals reinforces hate, breeds violence, and attempts to give a twisted religious legitimacy to opposing homosexual identity and the rights of LGBT people.

IF the world were finally freed from the thought tyranny of those organized religions, and their ceaseless aggression against people who live differently, Earth would be a better place.

That woman on the street is aggressively condemning people who would otherwise peacefully accept her religiosity...but the use of loud microphones and speaker equipment instead of just her voice, on a public sidewalk, to engender disapproval and hate against a certain group of citizens is going way beyond civility.

I have nothing against believing in unseen truths, spirituality, etc., I have some of my own such beliefs. BUT my tolerance wears thin when false prophets start preaching against me or my rights. As I said, 99.99999% of "Christians" don't even understand, much less implement, the ideas of Jesus. How could they...much of it has been so twisted through the millennia. It's become a dangerous mythology hopelessly intertwined with the efforts of people to use it the wrong way.

[MidtownGuy]

Now, back on topic, heathens!

[ablarc]

99.99999% of "Christians" don't even understand, much less implement, the ideas of Jesus. How could they...much of it has been so twisted through the millennia. It's become a dangerous mythology...
So true ... but I think it's more like 80.0000%

...hopelessly intertwined with the efforts of people to use it the wrong way.
Not so true (unless you insist upon it).

[MidtownGuy]

I think it's more like 80.0000%

OK, fair enough;)

[stache]

The other 19.9% are incapacitated in nursing homes. :p

[195Broadway]

...or are nursring.

[meesalikeu]

from the esb saturday morning...


http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20three/P1200234.jpg http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20three/P1200226.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20three/P1200227.jpg

[BrooklynLove]

I think that the aquamarine reno to the immediate South provides an excellent contrast.

[ablarc]

^ No question this stretch of 6th Avenue has been improved.

But it's still crap.

[BrooklynLove]

That's an extremely valuable stretch so hopefully it will receive its justified investment.

[econ_tim]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2513/3824958616_c9e7aebee3_b.jpg

[lofter1]

This week ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/1%20Bryant%20Park%20Bank%20America%20Tower/0809_1BP_1.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/1%20Bryant%20Park%20Bank%20America%20Tower/0809_1BP_2.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/1%20Bryant%20Park%20Bank%20America%20Tower/0809_1BP_3.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/1%20Bryant%20Park%20Bank%20America%20Tower/0809_1BP_4.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/1%20Bryant%20Park%20Bank%20America%20Tower/0809_1BP_5.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/1%20Bryant%20Park%20Bank%20America%20Tower/0809_1BP_6.jpg

1 BP / B of A Tower

[Merry]

IMO it looks much better closer to and including the top, and I wouldn't have imagined the top and bottom belonging to the same building if seeing them in isolation.

I love the colour of Metlife next door, but not the building.

[lofter1]

There is one empty retail / commercial spot available on W 42, between Aureole and The BA branch.

Any bets on what that will become?

[ramvid01]

^Well surely not a bank. BOA wouldn't want to have competition in their own building. My bet, a restaurant.

[stache]

Duane Reade? ;)

[lofter1]

Duane Reade? ;)



Hush yo mouth ...

http://www.gifninja.com/Workspace/600614db-a8cc-405b-bb14-618246753f4f/output.gif

make your animated sig at www.gifninja.com

[BrooklynLove]

There is one empty retail / commercial spot available on W 42, between Aureole and The BA branch.

Any bets on what that will become?

Fed branch office.

[Cessna Pilot]

Forgive me if this was posted already....

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ac56q_lzAB2Y

Bank of America’s Earnest Eco-Tower Rises From New York Slump

July 28 (Bloomberg) -- The cocked-hat silhouette of Bank of America (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=BAC%3AUS) Corp.’s new Manhattan skyscraper pokes a few stories higher than its Times Square neighbors, a testament to the aspirations of the Charlotte, North Carolina, bank when the design was unveiled in 2004.
The building was touted as costing $1 billion in 2004, and the bank has declined to update the figure. After the 64 percent slump in the bank’s shares since September, this glinting bundle of shards, nearing completion across from Bryant Park, could be considered a monument to bonus-coddled, overindulgent, corporate excess -- if it weren’t so dumpy. Worse, it’s gracelessly, earnestly green.
The Durst Organization (http://www.durst.org/master.htm), a developer, had over decades painstakingly assembled one of the largest sites to be found in Midtown. It took a state urban-development agency’s threat of eminent domain -- the government’s right to seize private property -- to complete acquisition of the full 2 acres. The site included Henry Miller’s Theater, a small Broadway playhouse that hosted both “Our Town” and “Urinetown,” which Durst pledged to replace while retaining its 1918 facade.
The bank joined Durst as a co-owner because the site permitted a tall, thick tower, with lower floors accommodating highly desirable trading floors, one 80,000 square feet. Many of the bank’s floors (it occupies 1.6 million of the building’s 2.4 million square feet) are as large as those found in the destroyed World Trade Center.
Architecture firm Cook & Fox (http://www.cookplusfox.com/), following a fast-fading fashion for crystalline forms, assembled faceted shafts, which are intended to visually slim large floors and take advantage of diagonal city vistas and views of Bryant Park.
Ungainly Matron
The 54-story result is among the most ungainly forms on the skyline, like a matron who swathes herself in thick layers of fabric in a vain attempt to slim her burgeoning silhouette. The tower climaxes with a spire as impressive as an auto antenna.
Cook & Fox touts One Bryant Park as “the world’s most environmentally responsible high-rise office building.”
This is an overstatement. Around the world, eco-buildings have moved far beyond this design. Still, Durst has a reputation as a green-building leader because its U.S. competition is so timid. Dan Tishman (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Dan+Tishman&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), chairman and chief executive officer of Tishman Construction Corp., spelled out why on a recent walkthrough.
“America lags because we live in an energy-subsidized economy,” he said.
The key green advances are a co-generation plant that is especially useful in summer, when it reduces demand from the most polluting power plants. The building ventilates through the floor rather than the ceiling, decreasing power use while offering each occupant control over his own thermal comfort.
Filtered Air
The air is filtered of dust and harmful gasses to a much higher degree than in most existing buildings. The bank said it expects measurable increases in productivity and employee satisfaction from the improved air quality.
Because the windows are made of an especially clear glass, called low-iron, the deep floors are bathed in daylight, allowing sensors to dim electric bulbs. The light and views are a joy compared with the cave-like interiors of most towers.
Though bands of white ceramic dots fused onto the glass are designed to cut unwanted sun, a bank official said the company had regretted not investing in shades that would automatically lower when the sun beats in.
Assuming the rest of One Bryant Park’s green measures work better, such above-and-beyond commitment may pay off, since harvesting water from bathroom sinks and improving air quality may soon be mandated.
Nervous Moire
I wish Cook & Fox could package green more appealingly. On the exterior the alternating bands of clear and white glass create a nervous moire.
The clumsy gigantism of the tower overwhelms the neo- Georgian delicacy of the retained facade of Henry Miller’s Theater. Behind the entrance, Cook & Fox dropped the new 1,055- seat theater one level below the street to allow bank trading floors to run unimpeded overhead. Seating and other accommodations -- especially women’s bathrooms -- are generous, but murky colors deflate anticipation. Contemporary fussiness in details fights with archeological sanctimony. Bits of the old theater are mounted like museum exhibits.
Pity the resident Roundabout Theatre Company (http://www.byebyebirdieonbroadway.com/) which must breathe life into this mausoleum with “Bye Bye Birdie,” opening in September.
At the planning stage, City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Amanda%0ABurden&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) wisely insisted that Cook & Fox include some nice street- level amenities, like an “urban garden room” that will feature plantings sculpted in the style of “Edward Scissorhands,” generous sidewalks, and new subway entrances. Like the rest of the design, these bits seem added on rather than integrated into the whole.
Combining soaring form, welcome urbanity and green innovation is certainly challenging, but good intentions are ill-served by such feeble expression.
(James S. Russell (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=James+S.+Russell&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) is Bloomberg’s U.S. architecture critic. The opinions expressed are his own.)
OBP Trading Floor:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/data?pid=avimage&iid=iq9M4_oK95Ac






HM Theater

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/data?pid=avimage&iid=iAdYeXjcZAaA

[stache]

Maybe I posted this before, does anyone remember when this theater was Annabelle's nightclub?

[ablarc]

Russell tells it like it is. This building is gauche and clumsy.

[TREPYE]

This building is a textbook example of poor execution.:cool: I would have sacraficed the funds commited to that haphazard "spire" on top of it for a more quality facade that would have actually accentuated this buildings qualities.

[Prometheus]

They're mounting the giant sliding doors that make up the eastern wall of the Urban Garden Room. Based on their installation, it looks like they will be able to open the walls to the street. They roll upwards like giant casement windows.

[BrooklynLove]

In this shot over at curbed the BofA apex looks spellbinding.
http://cdn0.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2533/3834059283_4765d55d19_o.jpg

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/mgt/lowres/mgtn47l.jpg

[econ_tim]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2626/3854811022_0800d2c8da_b.jpg

[dtolman]

Bank of America with 3 other giants (from the observation deck at 30 rock). I like it better from this angle than the ground... but I'd still put it in 4th place compared to its compatriots in the midtown skyline.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3541/3866313396_9827a0e67d_b.jpg

[Derek2k3]

Some nice shots posted by NYGuy from SkyscraperPage. They've been doing a better job keeping on top of construction than we are.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=44861&page=196


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2671/3817980635_9d39738b4a_b.jpg
hoveringcheesecake (http://www.flickr.com/photos/34471641@N07/3817980635/in/set-72157620967620515/)


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3473/3818802110_17f62c2130_b.jpg
hoveringcheesecake (http://www.flickr.com/photos/34471641@N07/3820038677/sizes/l/in/set-72157620967620515/)


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2672/3856514832_f791be820c_b.jpg
M. Leigh (http://www.flickr.com/photos/m_leigh/3856514832/sizes/l/)

[lbjefferies]

/\/\

It's so amazing how the New York Times Tower makes everything around it better.

[HoveringCheesecake]

I thought I had posted those top two here a while ago. Oops.

[Derek2k3]

Nope but they're fantastic shots.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2449/3889867088_d025aabcf3_o.jpg
zoltaan (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zoltaan/3889867088/)

[Derek2k3]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3478/3912494955_817c24e6de_b.jpg
tgeorg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/17599980@N04/3912494955/sizes/l/)

[ablarc]

^ Trusswork wherever you look.

[kz1000ps]

Random vistas...

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/3010/img0381o.jpg

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/2582/img0415xk.jpg

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/7273/img0424b.jpg

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/3240/img0436lq.jpg

[Pinkie]

Are they ever going to install those last few glass panels on the crown???

[Prometheus]

They're mounting the giant sliding doors that make up the eastern wall of the Urban Garden Room. Based on their installation, it looks like they will be able to open the walls to the street. They roll upwards like giant sash windows.


They've planted/installed several huge free-form topiaries in the urban garden room.

[kz1000ps]

9/4/09 - From A Daily Dose of Architecture (http://archidose.blogspot.com/2009/09/dem-dirty-windows.html)

"Window cleaners work their way down one of the bays on the west side of The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park, designed by Cook + Fox."

http://www.archidose.org/Blog/dirt.jpg

[Hamilton]

Will they ever open that midblock subway entrance and passageway between 6th and 7th? I thought it had been scrapped, but there is one of those subway globe lamps at the midblock passageway. Does anyone know?

[lofter1]

That entrance is on hold.

[ablarc]

Holding for what ?

[lofter1]

Some snafu between city agencies ...

From the 2004 Public Hearing:

A public benefit of this project is that it will enhance public transportation facilities by providing a number of subway related amenities.

These new facilities include a stair and glass entry pavilion within the property line at the northwest corner of Sixth and 42ndStreet, providing a new below ground walkway between Sixth Avenue subways and the Times Square subways, and new stairs at the western end of the site to this passageway. This connection will expand the capacity of 42ndStreet for pedestrian movement and will allow pedestrians to walk below ground from Eighth Avenue to Fifth Avenue.

The character of these below grade passages needs to be addressed, particularly if it is in the free or paid zone, and whether there will be retail.

[Derek2k3]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3152/3060329720_af835212c5_b.jpg
JamesPolk (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhcarter3/3060329720/sizes/l/in/set-72157618585788993/)

[kz1000ps]

Still lots of window cleaning to be done:

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/2628/img1515.jpg

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/2417/img1516.jpg

What are those things? They look like cellular antennae:

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/8306/img1517.jpg

http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/8622/img1526r.jpg

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/6783/img1520f.jpg

Can you guess where the construction elevator was? ;)

http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/6950/img1521p.jpg

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/5140/img1524.jpg

The winter garden.. you'll have to squint

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/8545/img1525.jpg

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/6123/img1528f.jpg

[Tectonic]

I'm sorry but I find this building amusing at times. Any know what the story is behind the 'side walk shed' around the 6th & 42nd side?

[Derek2k3]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2615/4003268594_dfcee4e0c2_o.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2598/4003268614_32f7bc2458_o.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2456/4003268560_8de3b0f9fa_o.jpg

[Tectonic]

I'm sorry but I find this building amusing at times. Any know what the story is behind the 'side walk shed' around the 6th & 42nd side?

You can see it here:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3492/4003848211_f13c3c53c5_o.jpg

[Merry]

Showtime

Curtain goes up on the new Henry Miller's Theatre at One Bryant Park

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/image/HMT.jpg
Cook + Fox recreated the facade of the old Henry Miller Theater in the base of the firm's One Bryant Park office tower.

In its previous incarnations over the last nine decades, Henry Miller’s Theatre on West 43rd Street has been a Broadway mainstay, a discotheque, and a porn palace. Reaching back into the past was therefore something of a delicate matter for Cook + Fox Architects, which has resurrected the theater’s glory days in the base of the firm’s Bank of America tower that soars 55 stories above.

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/HenryMillerTheater3_highres.jpg
The interior is a departure from the historic space, though it riffs on its past, as well as that of Miller's.

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/DBX_1690.jpg
There are many new pieces, as well, such as this bar, all of which include sustainable features.

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/DBX_1579.jpg
The designers sought to make the theater a direct extension of Miller's thoughts on dramaturgy.

Fortunately, designers found a guiding spirit in the original theater’s namesake, the actor and producer Henry W. Miller. “This is a unique typology: a Broadway theater with a shallow balcony arch that keeps the audience close to the stage,” said partner Rick Cook, noting that the 1918 venue emphasized a direct relationship between audience and actors, “We had the benefit of Henry Miller’s writing about what made a great theater, and we wanted to preserve that typology.”

Working for the civic-minded Durst Organization, which built the tower, known as One Bryant Park, designers also aspired to connect the performing arts to the broader urban experience. The most obvious link to both the past and the public was the neo-Georgian facade, a city landmark that remained in place throughout the process of construction. The design team also placed artifacts from the old theater on the walls, while salvaged bits of the original plaster proscenium adorn the stage.

But a larger opportunity lay in the way the former space is knit into the tower complex. “Because it was part of a much larger project,” Cook said, “we wanted to make sure it would benefit from being part of One Bryant Park. We could have the midblock entrance and a really unique experience.”

To that end, the midblock passage features a portrait of the rakish Miller in “kinetic sequins” that enliven the entry for bank employees and lawyers who daily pass through the space, according to Keith Helmetag, a principal of C&G Partners, which worked on signage and navigation plans from the corporate lobby and midblock loggia to the theater.

Sustainable features, the hallmark of One Bryant Park, also extend to the 1,055-seat theater’s public and private spaces. “This was an opportunity for a Broadway theater to benefit from technologies developed for a larger project—stormwater capture, and energy that’s about three times as efficient as the grid,” Cook said. “People will feel a much higher quality of air, with 95 percent particulate filtration.” In a nod to Douglas Durst’s fidelity to green demonstrations, the project, which aims for LEED Gold status, will also include carbon-dioxide sensors and what Helmetag described as a “green clock” in the midblock space charting the energy savings in the tower and other sustainability-tuned buildings around the world.

And then there are the bathrooms. Behind the angled mezzanine seats facing the stage, and via a broad winding staircase, red-walled restrooms dominate the middle level. These are said to be the most capacious restrooms in the industry (boasting 22 fixtures in the women’s room), with a bar placed one level below to avoid cramping space. Designers also moved the dressing room under the seats, and placed the orchestra pit directly under the stage, where it sits more or less alongside ice storage. Among other benefits, these moves help the circulation plan provide for ample entrances from stage left and right.

These strategies get their first test on October 15, when John Stamos and Gina Gershon stride onto the stage, confront sloping rows of bright-red seats, and tear through Bye Bye Birdie as the kickoff for the Roundabout Theatre Company’s 20-year lease of the space.

http://www.archpaper.com/e-board_rev.asp?News_ID=3891

[lofter1]

I'm sorry but I find this building amusing at times. Any know what the story is behind the 'side walk shed' around the 6th & 42nd side?

Among other things, they are still installing the "Bank of America Tower" lettering atop the canopy ...

http://www.durst.org/prop/images/1bp/hires/2.jpg

[NoyokA]

I don't like the cursive Henry Miller Theatre on the the minimalist glass. Make it one style or the other. Either make the type modern or make the background traditional. Cook + Fox handled the theatre horribly, that said I rather like the tower. It could've been better but its a good addition to the City.

[MidtownGuy]

That rendering shows trees on the corner of 42nd and 6th...I hope these are still part of the plan after the shed is removed.

[lofter1]

You don't like the silly topiaries that they've planted there?

[MidtownGuy]

Actually no I don't care for them in comparison to real trees, but I meant the other trees that are outside, along 42nd st.

[lofter1]

Aha -- Yes, those trees on 42nd would be a very welcome addition.

[MidtownGuy]

They will help soften what is now a very austere block...I hate the way BOA meets the street along 42nd and disses it. A very long, boring block to walk along now...my biggest gripe with 90% of the new towers is their streetscape-killing bases. This is one of the worst, and in a place that screams for street level interest; the corridor leading into Times Square deserved better.

[nykid17]

It looks so much better when you omit the fat base:
http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww310/nYkind17/100_1188.jpg?t=1255565185
And the verticality of the lines picks up right where the Grace and HBO towers left off.

[Derek2k3]

They will help soften what is now a very austere block...I hate the way BOA meets the street along 42nd and disses it. A very long, boring block to walk along now...my biggest gripe with 90% of the new towers is their streetscape-killing bases. This is one of the worst, and in a place that screams for street level interest; the corridor leading into Times Square deserved better.

Have you seen that high-end restaurant that opened on the 42nd Street side? It looks nice and helps enliven the stretch a bit. Of course a typical New Yorker can't eat there...


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=at7G.3YyKhRQ

Bank of America Tower’s Aureole Serves Pastrami, $180 Pairing

Review by Ryan Sutton
Sept. 30 (Bloomberg)

Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis, who paid $2.5 billion for Countrywide Financial Corp. and $29 billion for Merrill Lynch & Co., can now enjoy a $180 Krug champagne-paired tasting menu in the company “cafeteria” at the base of its new $1 billion Manhattan skyscraper.

Or he could save money and order some pastrami in the same joint. My advice: Get the pastrami.

Welcome to Aureole -- not really a mess hall. Charlie Palmer has relocated the fine-dining gem of his restaurant empire from a townhouse on the quiet Upper East Side to a heavily trafficked stretch on the edge of Times Square. That means tourists, Conde Nast editors and bankers who drop in from upstairs.

And since bankers aren’t eating as lavishly as they used to, there’s a new casual component to the restaurant: a bar room up front with pork-belly pastrami sliders. They’re slathered with Russian dressing that cuts through the fatty spiced meat.

I’d recommend these little $15 sandwiches to Lewis, even though a chief executive may prefer to indulge in a square $180 meal every now and then (It’s $115 without wine). But that supper, just like billion-dollar acquisitions, needs to offer value. This one doesn’t.

It’s a parallel tasting menu. Fish eggs are prepared two ways: Sun trout roe, atop a bland mound of crab, explodes into a briny bliss; the second dish, American caviar, nearly disappears amid a horseradish creme fraiche sauce.

Culinary Redundancy

Flatfish comes two ways too: Dover sole is speckled with brilliant hints of slightly sweet, slightly musty champagne grapes; Atlantic gray sole is fried to a flavorless crisp, Gorton’s fish-stick style.

Course three is red meat, yet again, two ways: A slice of duck breast and a slice of underseared dry-aged strip steak. You eat the duck first, which is a mistake, since your beef is now cold. You’re still hungry after the minuscule portions. So you fill up on course four: cheesecake two ways, one with ricotta, the other with blue cheese. No wonder America keeps getting fatter.

Chef Christopher Lee, who led Midtown’s Gilt to two- Michelin stars, is to blame for this expensive experiment; Adam Tihany, the designer, is to blame for the interiors. The low dining-room ceiling does little to remind you you’re in Manhattan’s second-tallest building.

Cacophony

Tables are cramped -- the rear ends of waiters can hover dangerously close to your face. Raucous businessmen can raise the sound to unbearable levels. Refuse to sit at a table near the bar room: A lack of doors separating the spaces results in cacophony.

The fare is billed as progressive American. Here’s what that means: Christopher Lee takes excellent ingredients and manipulates the flavor out of them.

Take the diver scallops, on the three-course, $84 prix- fixe. The bivalves are typically seared on the outside and left rare inside. But Lee sees a need to deconstruct where no one else does. His textureless scallop is topped with a crunchy disk, with overseared foie gras thrown on top to make things fancy. A good scallop is complex. Lee’s is complicated.

Remoulade, tasty on its own, is disassembled into sour little purees of shallots, cornichons and lemon. Don’t let the misplaced molecular gastronomy touch your soft-shell crab. Lee also takes mirin, a Japanese cooking wine, and whips it into foam that mimics the taste of shaving cream.

Haute Office Fare

Like Nissin’s “Cup Noodles’’? Lee goes through all the effort to recreate the signature mushy pasta and thin broth of the $1 office snack. Cost: $25 for the pork-belly noodle bowl at lunch. The $19 bar burger is a mix of expertly aged beef overwhelmed by a ramp dressing; the sweet sauce is a ringer for the “special sauce” at McDonald’s.

The food’s not all bad. Short ribs inject a welcome hint of beefiness into a sweet carrot soup. Tuna Wellington is a clever, hearty interplay of soft dough and softer, rare fish. And perhaps a man like Lewis can afford a bad meal or two to find the winning dishes here. But the rest of us cannot.

Rating: *
The Bloomberg Questions

Cost? Prix-fixe at $84, $115. A la carte at bar room.

Sound level? Unusually loud for fine dining.

Date place? No. It says you’re trying too hard.

Inside tip? Eat at the bar; skip the stuffy dining room.

Special feature? Excellent value $65 wine pairing.

Private room? Yes.

Will I be back? For the pastrami sliders and wine.

Aureole is at 135 West 42nd St. in the Bank of America Tower. Information: +1-212-319-1660; http://www.charliepalmer.com

[MidtownGuy]

Have you seen that high-end restaurant that opened on the 42nd Street side? It looks nice and helps enliven the stretch a bit. Of course a typical New Yorker can't eat there...

Yes, I have seen the restaurant and it's very nicely designed. Unfortunately it can't compensate for that very long stretch of lobby and dumb bank branch.

[BrooklynLove]

Don't waste your money in this restaurant unless you're trying to get laid. Food, atmosphere and service are decent but not worth the price of a nice laser printer.

[AMGLANYC]

The first 40 or so floors of the wedge of light are on now..... :):):D

[MidtownGuy]

Wow! I've been wondering about that. Does it look good? Maybe I'll go over there tonight to check it out.

[Tectonic]

Lets see pics!!:)

[AMGLANYC]

Pic of light effect from this evening...

[AMGLANYC]

Here is another

[Tectonic]

Thank you! :) Hopefully it will be done by the end of the decade.

[DKNY617]

Yes I may be in Manhattan again on Friday and hopefully BoFA has its light wedge on again so I can get some pics of it, and hopefully its more complete than it was in those pictures. They need that crown lit damn it. :D

I saw that Goldman Sachs had its decorative lights on in pictures last week and then when I went on Tuesday, they weren't on so I was disappointed. :(

[Derek2k3]

You would have been disappointed either way.

[MidtownGuy]

I snapped a few, but it was in a hurry.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2784/4116425289_49fdb3b88a_o.jpg




http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2560/4116425359_b81bc1147e_o.jpg



http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2739/4117194412_1c062860ea_o.jpg



http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2518/4116425423_2c834d0546_o.jpg

[lofter1]

Nice ^ and the signature is a good touch.

[dtolman]

It looks nice at night. But then again - so do most skyscrapers - especially in b/w.

Nice pics!

[BrooklynRider]

They should light the crown in a way similar to Bear Stearns.

[nykid17]

A sharp blade of light in the cloudy sky
Crown of BOA from 43rd street:
http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww310/nYkind17/100_1290.jpg?t=1258676256

[DKNY617]

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t263/DKNY617/IMG_0692.jpg

[Derek2k3]

Disappointment again, eh?
nice pic irregardlessly.

[Tectonic]

This must be the weirdest new building in the city. Guess it must be all the new technology. :rolleyes:

[Derek2k3]

Well the night-time illumination is that way because of this LEED credit that aims to limit light pollution from buildings.


CREDIT 8 LIGHT POLLUTION REDUCTION

i. Minimize light trespass from the building and site, reduce sky-glow to increase
night sky access, improve nighttime visibility through glare reduction, and reduce
development impact on nocturnal environments.

ii. Interior Lighting: angle of maximum candela from each interior luminaire is
located to intersect opaque interior surfaces and not exit out through the windows
OR All non-emergency interior lighting shall be automatically controlled to turn off
during non-business hours AND provide manual override capability for after-
hours use.

iii. Exterior Lighting: Only light areas for safety and comfort. Do not exceed 80% of
the lighting power densities for exterior areas and 50% for building facades and
landscape features as defined in ASHRAE 90.1-2004 (Ext. Lighting). All projects
shall be classified under one of the IESNA RP-33 zones, and shall follow the
requirements of these zones: LZ1 Dark, LZ2 Low, LZ3 Medium, LZ4 High.


b. Submittal Requirements:

i. Provide the LEED Letter Template, signed by a lighting designer.

ii. Interiors: Provide project lighting drawings (interior and site), confirmation of
interior lighting design evaluation OR that automatic controls have been installed

iii. For projects with no exterior lighting: confirm that no exterior lighting has been
installed.

iv. For projects with exterior lighting: complete the lighting power density tables on
the submittal template, confirm the site zone classification, complet the site
lumen calculation, provide a narrative (not optional)