Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Honored with Architecture Interior Award for Apple Store, Upper East Side
The American Institute of Architects have selected the Bohlin Cywinski Jackson-designed Apple Store, Upper East Side as one of nine projects to receive its prestigious award. The awards program honors notable achievements in architecturally spectacular interior spaces.
Located at Madison Avenue and 74th Street, the project is an adaptive reuse of the 1922 U.S. Mortgage & Trust building designed by Henry Otis Chapman, and is now home to one of Apple’s Manhattan retail stores. The neighborhood is characterized by a mixture of luxury-brand retail shops and several notable landmarks, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum designed by Marcel Breuer.
Apple collaborated with Bohlin Cywinski Jackson and its consultant team to restore the building’s general ambiance and grandeur. The project included exterior restoration that required significant repair to many of the original windows; exterior paint, stone, and grout were also reconditioned. The interior finishes, such as the marble entry, plaster coffered ceilings, and chandeliers, were reconstructed with the help of historic photographs and blueprints.
Sensitive alterations were made to the original banking hall, which now serves as the store’s main sales floor. To recover the light and airy qualities of the space, partitions and mezzanines were recreated, and columns and thick bearing walls were removed. The original vault room, repurposed as a private sales space, allows for a more personal customer experience. In addition to careful restorations and modifications, many upgrades to building services were made during the renovation.
“To become a recognizable and active Apple retail environment, while respecting the original design, this project required dedicated focus to reinterpret and recreate the spatial qualities and the unique architectural detailing of the interior,,” said Karl Backus, design principal from Bohlin Cywinski Jackson’s San Francisco office. “We’re thrilled with the outcome and proud of the team’s work in restoring the grandeur of the space. We are honored to receive this recognition.”
This is Apple’s seventh New York retail store to be designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. Others include Apple Store World Trade Center Oculus (2016); Apple Store, Williamsburg, Brooklyn; Apple Store (2016), SoHo (2002, 2012); Apple Store, Upper West Side (2009); Apple Store, West 14th Street (2007); and Apple Store, Fifth Avenue (2006, 2011).
Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, founded in 1965, is a national architecture practice noted for elegant and humane design, ranging from modest houses to large academic, civic, cultural and corporate buildings. To date, the firm has received more than 650 regional, national and international awards for design, including three AIA Top Ten Green Project Awards and the AIA Architecture Firm Award. Founding Principal Peter Bohlin was also awarded the AIA Gold Medal, the highest honor an individual architect can receive. The firm is well known for its work with Apple, designing stores such as the iconic Fifth Avenue cube in New York City and flagship stores worldwide. The practice has also created headquarters for Pixar, Adobe and Square, and city halls in Seattle and Newport Beach, CA. For more information please visit BCJ.com.
The Preservation League of New York State invests in people and projects that champion the essential role of preservation in community revitalization, sustainable economic growth, and the protection of our historic buildings and landscapes. We lead advocacy, economic development, and education programs all across the state. The Preservation League’s Excellence in Historic Preservation awards program is funded by a generous grant from the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Foundation.
Contact: Abby Addams