Office tenants of this converted Beaux Arts manufacturing building began using the rear freight entrance more and more frequently following the extension of the #7 subway line to nearby Hudson Yards. We responded to this shift in user patterns by converting the freight entrance into a second pedestrian lobby, separating the still-active loading dock area from the newly adopted tenant access with a new glass and steel partition.
To minimize future maintenance and to honor the manufacturing roots of the loft building, the raw industrial character of the space was embraced; historic steel panels and masonry walls were stripped and left to weather over time. Decades of paint over the historic plaster ceilings was scraped off. The distressed nature of the stripped paint was featured as the new ceiling finish against new lighting and a crisply painted border. A decommissioned 60” x 60” steel chute was repurposed into a light feature over the pedestrian entrance ramp. Contrasting against these distressed finishes are crisp new light fixtures and bright industrial yellow wayfinding graphics.
