25 West 45th Street

This light-filled lobby and bold marquee for a mid-block,1930’s office building dramatically improve its street presence and reposition it to attract upscale tenants. The marquee, composed of metal spines and punctuated on either side by a brilliant red “25,” announces the midtown Manhattan entrance and its street address. The graphic brand was designed by the architects.

The lobby’s existing light-hued marble walls inspired a contemporary back wall of cream colored glass panels, joined by stainless steel mullions, that suggest the pattern of the marble blocks. The same glass paneling continues in the elevator cabs, whose doors are framed in stainless steel. And a single line of panels makes up the cornice that extends around the marble walls. Adding bold punctuation is the oval concierge desk in the same brilliant red, set on a pale terrazzo floor with a large-scale, dark grey “25” set in the center. A few gestures, deftly used, transform the space.