660 Fifth Avenue in New York City was the focus of a recent article in The Architect’s Newspaper. Photo Credit: Raimund Koch
The outlet interviewed KPF Principal Lauren Schmidt about the building’s unique façade, which minimizes waste and maximizes views, repositioning this New York City office tower for today’s tenants.
KPF’s modernization of the prime building in Midtown Manhattan involved replacing its existing aluminum cladding with a custom glass curtain wall that provides mullion-free, floor-to-ceiling windows from column to column, nearly tripling the window area provided to the office space and maximizing daylight and views.
The Architect’s Newspaper reports how the tower’s thin slab edge was unable to support a curtain wall assembly, requiring KPF to take a creative approach and fix the façade’s large-format IGUs to perimeter columns. These custom-made, 18-by-10-foot glass panels, which fit precisely to 660 Fifth Avenue’s perimeter structure, offer unobstructed views between columns and dramatically improved thermal performance. In addition to the new façade, the building’s formerly cramped lobby was overhauled and updated, double-height spaces were carved out of upper floors, and terraces were added on setbacks. The result, writes AN, is that “660 Fifth Avenue has now been thoroughly improved for 21st-century occupants.” Read the full story here.