PBDW Architects - Residential and Hospitality by PBDW_Architects

Reaching Back | Designing Forward

Educational Alliance

Saint David’s School Knox Building Cooper Union Foundation Building

Non-Profit Media Company

Appellate Division Courthouse

New-York Historical Society Equinox 92nd Street Columbia Grammar and Prep School The Educational Alliance 50 Madison Equinox Hudson Yards

Powerhouse Arts, Brooklyn, NY

Founded in 1965, PBDW Architects provides creative, sensitive, and innovative responses to a wide range of institutional, commercial, and residential design challenges. We are a collegial, 32-person practice of partners, associates and staff who consistently deliver evocative designs that enrich their contexts and satisfy our clients’ objectives.

Firm Culture

We believe in fostering the growth of the “whole architect” in our practice. PBDW’s size and mix of projects exposes our staff to all aspects of design and construction. Expertise is cultivated through an open exchange of knowledge and further participation in focus groups for various topics such as material research, sustainability, and technology. This interchange underlies an informed curiosity about new design possibilities.

Client-Centered Practice

We consider ourselves to be our clients’ partners. The needs of our clients define the project. Throughout the project we listen, learn, and adapt as required to develop our client’s goals and realize their vision. We maintain a continuous and close collaboration with our clients and provide a consistent project team from start to finish to strengthen the relationships that define a successful partnership.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

We have made significant strides toward creating a more equitable, inclusive, and ultimately diverse practice, based on priorities aligned with our 2021 DEI Strategic Plan. In addition to internal staff-led DEI work groups on topics of design, process, learning, mentoring, and wellness, PBDW’s staff serve on non-profit boards and the Landmarks Preservation Commission and teach at various architecture schools in NYC. Our staff also mentor, write articles, and give lectures, engaging the firm in constant dialogue with others in intersecting fields and keeping the firm in the forefront of knowledge sharing and innovation.

Sustainability

A central part of PBDW’s work ethos is the commitment to developing environmentally responsible projects. PBDW is a signatory to the AIA 2030 Commitment, fostering energy performance improvements as we work towards a goal of carbon-neutral buildings by 2030. We strive to specify environmentally friendly materials as much as possible and take special pride in working on restoration and adaptive reuse projects, valuing the embodied carbon footprint of existing buildings along with their intrinsic historic value.

Reaching Back | Designing Forward

Award Winning Architecture

MASterworks Award, Urban Amenity

Open House New York, Open Cities Award

American Architecture Award

Religious Buildings

Preservation League of NYS: 2021 Pillar of New York State

Architizer A+ Awards, Popular Choice Architecture + Sustainability

Architizer A+ Awards, Finalist Architecture + Stone

Connecticut Green Building Council Award

AIA New York Chapter Design Award

AIA New York State Design Award

AIA Michigan Design Award

AIA National Honor Award

The Chicago Athenaeum: American Architecture Award

Powerhouse Arts

Moise Safra Community Center

Firm Award, PBDW Architects

Williams College, Fellows Hall

Moise Safra Community Center

Williams College, Fellows Hall

Powerhouse Arts

The New 42nd Street Studios

Saginaw Art Museum

New-York Historical Society

Cooper Union, Foundation Building

Powerhouse Arts

The New 42nd Street Studios

Reece School

Dana Discovery Center

Cooper Union, Foundation Building

Saginaw Art Museum

The New 42nd Street Studios

Cooke School & Institute

Saginaw Art Museum

Reece School

Moise Safra Community Center

AIA/CAE: Educational Facility Design Award

LearningSpring School

Selected Clients

14th Street Y

462 Broadway

Archdiocese of New York

Brooklyn Conservatory of Music

Central Synagogue

Cooke School & Institute

Columbia Grammar & Prep School

Educational Alliance

Fordham University

Green-Wood

Hotel Beacon

LearningSpring School

Marymount School

Moise Safra Center

New-York Historical Society

Park Avenue Armory

Park Lane Hotel

Powerhouse Arts

Regis High School

Riverdale Country School

Saginaw Art Museum

St. Joseph’s Seminary

Vassar College

Williams College

Powerhouse Arts Cooke School & Institute Moise Safra Center

Residential and Hospitality

20 TIMES SQUARE

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

This 42-story development incorporated the renovation of an existing commercial building and construction of approximately 370,000 SF of new space. The client sought to build a multi-use development that included an integrated urban hotel, retail shopping, and an entertainment destination.

PBDW developed a design solution on the tight urban site that is comprised of a 6-story commercial base within the existing building structure, 4 stories for entertainment use, 27 floors of hotel guestrooms and base building mechanical spaces within a tower above the commercial podium. Prominently oriented towards the “bow-tie” of Times Square, the building provides one of the largest, uninterrupted outdoor LED media walls in the world. It is designed to be an immediate global attraction and a new “must-see” New York City destination by offering an unmatched shopping, hospitality, entertainment, and media experience, all within the heart of Times Square.

AT A GLANCE

Mixed-Use Development

Hotel

Retail

Entertainment

SERVICES

Architectural Design

Programming

Zoning Analysis

NYC Zoning and Building Approvals

Alteration/New Building Hybrid

Fast-Track Delivery

Design-Assist Process for Façade and MEP Systems

HIGHLIGHTS

452-Key Hotel

60,000 SF of Retail Space

18,000 SF High Definition LED Billboard

Cabaret Theater

5 Separate Food and Beverage Venues

BROADWAY + 110

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

PBDW was given the opportunity to design a high-end residential condominium building in Morningside Heights on the corner of Broadway and 110th Street. The client sought a compelling façade design within the constraints of an as-of-right zoning envelope that would accommodate residential, retail, and parking garage functions at ground level. One of the key challenges was the shallow and substandard lot depth. The project also posed geotechnical challenges, requiring deep rock excavation for the parking garage immediately adjacent to the Broadway subway station and tunnel.

What emerged from these constraints was a condominium complex that introduced 98 new dwelling units into a sunny corner with views of Riverside Park and the Hudson River. Our design embraced the as-of-right zoning form using a precast concrete expression on the lower levels and curtainwall expression on the set back upper levels. The design is knitted together using concrete balconies on the curtainwall areas and window-wall and other metal details in the precast concrete areas.

AT A GLANCE

New Construction

Multi-Family Residential

Ground-Floor Retail

SERVICES

Architectural Design

Interior Design

Zoning Analysis

NYC Zoning and Building Approvals

Fast-Track Delivery

HIGHLIGHTS

98 Condominium Units

Subgrade Levels for Retail and Parking

PARK LANE HOTEL

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Originally completed in 1971, the hotel, designed by Emory Roth & Sons for the prominent NYC developer Harry Helmsley, was considered a modern addition to the luxury hotel district along Central Park South. PBDW was hired as the architect for the complete interior renovation of the existing 630 guestrooms along with all the public amenity spaces.

The existing concessions at the ground floor lobby were transformed into a breakfast bar and evening cocktail area. The original reception area with offices was completely opened to make room for a concierge desk and a more welcoming front desk experience. The second-floor amenity offerings and event spaces were re-designed and a generous access to a previously unused roof terrace from the main ballroom was created for more public outdoor space.

A rooftop pool room, previously connected to the private Helmsley penthouse apartment, was transformed into a public bar/lounge with an outdoor terrace overlooking Central Park. An ADA-compliant elevator and new egress stair created the possibility for these spaces to be publicly accessible.

All the guestrooms, including two Presidential Suites on the top two floors, were renovated and some guestrooms were combined to increase the number of suite types throughout the building.

AT A GLANCE

Hospitality

Food and beverage

SERVICES

Interior renovation and alteration

Phased regulatory filings and approvals

HIGHLIGHTS

630 guestroom renovation and combination

Improved reception and lobby experience

Renovated public amenity spaces

Full ADA compliance throughout the building

2022 AHEAD Americas, Winner in the Hotel Renovation & Restoration category

47 EAST 91ST STREET

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

This ten-story residential building at 47 East 91st Street in the Expanded Carnegie Hill Historic District contains seven full-floor apartments, a duplex apartment with a penthouse, and the Citibank branch that previously occupied the site. Our design allowed for active commercial use below the new structure during the construction process through a long-span steel transfer system.

The exterior façade features extensive use of narrow sight line steel casement windows and rusticated limestone at the building base. The building is sized and proportioned to create a harmonious streetscape with the row houses, mansions, and taller apartment buildings on the avenue that are typical of the Carnegie Hill Historic District. At the same time it marks, honors and completes the north side of 91st Street where it crosses Madison Avenue, among the most distinguished streetscapes in New York City.

AT A GLANCE

New Construction Residential

Historic District

SERVICES

Architectural Design

Landmarks Preservation Commission Approval

HIGHLIGHTS

Seven Full-Floor Apartments

Duplex Penthouse

50 MADISON

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

The former headquarters of the ASPCA on Madison Square was used in the way that good but outmoded, antiquated buildings have been used for millennia: as a starting point for a larger building for a different use—in this case, full-floor apartments.

PBDW completed the conversion of the former four-story 1898 Italianate mansion on the eastern side of Madison Square into an eleven-story condominium building. To integrate the combination of old and new, the cornice and top story of the old building were removed. The remaining three stories dovetail with eight new ones in a dignified but non-derivative expression of an eleven-story condominium.

AT A GLANCE

Multi-Family Residential

Addition to a Historic Building

SERVICES

Architectural Design

HIGHLIGHTS

9 Full-Floor Apartments

View of Madison Square Park

7-Floor Addition to Existing Historic Building

711 WEST END AVE

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Located within the Riverside-West End Historic District Extension II, 306 West 95th Street residential development consists of a new 125,000 SF residential building constructed above an existing 148,000 SF seven-story residential building. Nine additional floors with 64 loft-like luxury apartments will take advantage of the city and river views. The apartments have 10’ ceilings and range from 1,215 SF two-bedroom units to 3,900 SF five-bedroom units.

A series of articulated setbacks in the form of the building create opportunities for private residential terraces in all directions with landscaping features throughout. The new building will rest on a large 16’ deep steel truss transfer table with external columns that carry the new building loads down to the foundation. The floor level located within the steel transfer trusses will house residential amenities including social spaces, wellness areas, mechanical rooms, and egress transfer corridors and stairways.

AT A GLANCE

New Construction

Multi-Family Residential

9-Story Addition Over Occupied Existing Building

SERVICES

Programming

Architectural Design

Zoning Analysis

NYC Zoning and Building Approvals

HIGHLIGHTS

64 Loft-Like Apartments

Social and Wellness Amenity Spaces

Structurally-Independent New Addition

1st NYC DOB-Approved Structure of its Kind

TOWER TERRACES PODIUMRETAIL SW CORNER SE CORNERNE CORNER NWCORNER

OFFICE TO RESIDENTIAL CONVERSION

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Adaptive re-use office to residential conversion of an existing high-rise office building into a multi-family high-end condominiums supported by extensive amenities and retail/restaurants at the first two floors. Entire facade to be replaced and modernized to comply with natural ventilation requirements by code.

Total units - 152

Total area - 382,500 sf

Total ﬂoors and height - 32 ﬂrs, 355’ height

AT A GLANCE

Multi-family Apartments

Fitness and Wellness Center

Outdoor Terraces

Ground Floor Retail

SERVICES

Feasibility, Programming, Concept Studies

Architecture and Design

Zoning

Renovation

HIGHLIGHTS

Ofﬁce to Residential Conversion

Adaptive Re-use

Facade Reclad and Modernization

2815

2790

JFK

JSQ

JERSEY CITY DEVELOPMENTS

JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY

Zoning, feasibility, and programing studies for three high rise developments along JFK Blvd near the Journal Square PATH station.

50 JSQ:

Total keys - 400

Total area - 380,000 sf

Total ﬂoors and height - 50 ﬂrs, 530’ height

2815 JFK:

Total units - 575

Total area - 560,000 sf

Total ﬂoors and height - 42 ﬂrs, 450’ height

2790 JFK:

Total units - 425 Phase 1, 325 Phase 2, 750 total

Total area - 475,000 sf Phase 1, 350,000 sf Phase 2, 825,000 sf total

Total ﬂoors and height - 47 ﬂrs, 500’ height

AT A GLANCE

Multi-family Apartments, Hotel

Amenities

Ground Floor Retail

SERVICES

Feasibility, Programming, Concept Studies, Masterplanning

Architecture and Design

Zoning

HIGHLIGHTS

Rezoned District

Major Transit Hub Developments

TOWER ONE

TOWER TWO

TYSONS CENTRAL

FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA

Design and development of TWO mixed-use towers within a larger master plan at Tysons Central. Tower 1 is a luxury residential tower. Tower 2 consists of senior living units, as well as a hotel at the upper ﬂoors. Both towers include amenities and ground ﬂoor retail, and share automated parking at the podium and below grade levels.

Tower 1 (Residential):

Total units - 515

Total area - 700,000 sf

Total ﬂoors and height - 35 ﬂrs, 385’ height

Tower 2 (Senior Living and Hotel):

Total units - 230

Total keys - 288

Total area - 422,000 sf

Total ﬂoors and height - 35 ﬂrs, 385’ height

AT A GLANCE

Residential, Hotel, Senior Living

Amenities

Ground Floor Retail

SERVICES

Feasibility, Programming, Concept Studies, Masterplanning

Architecture and Design

HIGHLIGHTS

Major Retail District Development

Automated Parking System

34TH STREET RESIDENTIAL TOWER

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Currently on the boards, this 15-story, 39 residential rental unit new building will sit adjacent to the Midtown Tunnel entrance on 34th Street. The 40ft x 100ft lot presented a challenge to the development as the NYC zoning “sliver law” limits the height of new buildings on lots with less than a 45ft width, which, as-of-right design would cap the building to 10 stories. Upon our hiring, we challenged the law through the ZRD1 review process and discovered an exception which allowed the building to contain 5 additional stories, adding 15 more residential units to the project.

The limited width of the site demanded a very efficient core and apartment layout, utilizing every inch available. The bulk of the apartment units will be studios and 1-bedrooms with 2-bedroom units at the top floor and along the 2nd floor street façade. The ground floor will contain a rental commercial space. Outdoor recreation spaces will be provided at the 2nd floor setback roof and on the main roof.

Ground Floor Plan

Second Floor Plan

Typical Floor Plan

Other Work

MOISE SAFRA CENTER

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

The Moise Safra Center is a new institution organized around the need for a place to worship and celebrate, as well as to nurture its members. Drawing from our deep understanding of similar institutions, PBDW helped guide the Center to develop a building that would act as a second home for the Jewish community it serves, as well as unite a broad range of programming inclusive of both community center and religious functions. We were also challenged to create distinct identities for the religious and community spaces that would ensure that the building, as a whole, remained cohesive.

The 65,000 SF building is packed with community and religious spaces in a vertical campus spread over 14 floors. The program includes a wellness center and pool, classrooms, and flexible spaces designed to adapt to varying program needs. Religious spaces include a double-height sanctuary space and a smaller daily sanctuary, a generous library/study, and offices for the rabbinical staff. We located banquet rooms on the building’s upper floors with an outdoor terrace. This floor’s fully retractable glass wall allows events to flow seamlessly from interior to exterior.

AT A GLANCE

Vertical Campus

New Construction

Religious and Community Functions

SERVICES

Programming

Space Planning

Architectural Design

HIGHLIGHTS

Double Height Formal Synagogue

100-Seat Daily Synagogue

Half Basketball Court

4-Lane Pool

Dining Facilities with Outdoor Terrace

2021 American Architecture Award, Religious Buildings category

2021 Architizer A+ Awards, Finalist in the Architecture + Stone category

POWERHOUSE ARTS

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

Rising from the vestiges of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit power station, Powerhouse Arts is a new 170,000SF art fabrication facility in Gowanus providing workshops for large scale art production in 5 mediums: metal, wood ceramic, textiles and printmaking. PBDW teamed up with Herzog & deMeuron to integrate the station’s majestic but long-abandoned Turbine Hall into a larger complex to serve as a home for the dynamic new institution.

The new complex echoes the original power station in its massing and site usage, maintaining a distinction between modern and historic components while combining them into a harmonious whole. The design retains vestiges of the artistic grittiness and flourish of the Turbine Hall remnant, which had become a renowned exhibition site for graffiti artists before the renovation. The new volume, reminiscent of the station’s original Boiler House, is rendered in cast red concrete that is sympathetic in color and sheen to the Turbine Hall’s brickwork, but distinctly modern in its craft. The interplay between the original, annotated industrial surfaces and the modern addition creates a refreshingly vibrant environment for creating and experiencing art.

AT A GLANCE

Cultural Facility

Adaptive Reuse

Preservation

Industrial Architecture

Waterfront

SERVICES

Preservation

New Construction

Renovation

Executive Architect

HIGHLIGHTS

2023 AIANYS Design Award Winner

2023 MASterwork Award Winner, New Urban Amenity

2023 Open House New York, Open Cities Award Winner

Workshops in 5 Mediums

Grand Hall and Exhibition Hall

Material Library and Administrative Offices

Lecture Hall

Photography by Albert Vecerka/ESTO and PBDW Architects

462 BROADWAY

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Erected in 1880 with frontage on Broadway, Grand, and Crosby Streets, 462 Broadway is the largest fully-clad cast iron structure within the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. PBDW was retained to restore the entire façade, including all 400 linear feet of ground level storefront. We replaced 11’ tall double-hung wood windows, repainted the entire six-story elevation in the original color, and restored more than 1,550 of the original 2,000 cast iron pieces that made up the 108 Corinthian capitals.

All work is based on our Landmarks approved Master Plan, which allows different layouts while retaining the building’s historic character. After PBDW’s restoration, 462 Broadway has regained its original grandeur as one of the most impressive buildings in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. Our restoration was recognized with a Restoration Award from the Municipal Art Society, a Stanford White Award from the Institute for Classical Architecture & Art, and a Lucy Moses Award from the New York Landmarks Conservancy.

AT A GLANCE

Historic Restoration

Commercial Structure

Cast Iron Building

SERVICES

Historic Research and Paint Analysis

Façade Restoration

Master Plan for Future Interventions

Landmarks Preservation Commission Approvals

HIGHLIGHTS

Cast Iron Capitals

2-Color Paint Scheme

Monumental Storefronts

NEW 42 STUDIOS

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

This public project was commissioned by the not-for-profit arts organization, The New 42nd Street, Inc., and is a distinctive facet of the redevelopment of New York’s Times Square. PBDW Architects designed an eleven-story building that houses spacious dance rehearsal studios, two reception halls, a black box theater, dressing rooms, and office facilities for dance and performing arts companies.

In place of the conventional Times Square neon, we created a façade that is an abstract collage of color and light, which acts as signal for its use as a creative “factory” for the performing arts. Perforated metal blades and dichroic glass create pattern and color by day, while theatrical lights play over the façade in an infinitely variable sequence of colors by night.

Named one of the twenty most significant buildings in the city in “Architecture in Detail: New York,” this project has received significant worldwide recognition. It has been exhibited at New York’s Urban Center as one of the city’s thirty most distinguished buildings built during the last thirty years. New York Magazine included it in “The New York Canon.”

AT A GLANCE

New Construction

Performing Arts Building

Times Square Redevelopment

SERVICES

Programming

Architectural and Interior Design

HIGHLIGHTS

299-Seat Black Box Theater

Dance and Rehearsal Studios

Reception Halls

Dressing Rooms

Administrative Offices

AIA National Honor Award, 2002

AIA New York State Design Award, 2001

AIA New York Chapter Design Award, 2001

POLY PREP LOWER SCHOOL

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

PBDW’s addition serves as a transition between the architecture of the row houses and the school’s existing “castle”—the Hulbert Mansion—in Brooklyn’s Park Slope Historic District. The height of the new building was limited so as not to obscure the mansion. A raised landscaped base and below-grade gym, combined with a dramatic sloping skylight across the third-floor dance studio, gives this four-story structure the appearance of a two-story building. The school includes homerooms for nursery through grade four, a multi-purpose room, dining and music rooms, dance and art studios, a new play yard and an ADA-compliant entrance. Classrooms are inviting, daylight-filled environments with views of the street through large windows.

This project was completed on a fast-track basis, within 23 months from programming to occupancy, including Landmarks Preservation Commission approval.

It is the first school in New York City and the first K-12 school in New York State to achieve LEED, and is LEED Silver®. Since completing the addition, Poly Prep Lower School has become the most competitive lower school in Brooklyn.

AT A GLANCE

Coed N-4 School for 240 Students

Addition to Historic Building

Fast Track Construction

First LEED-Certified School in New York City (LEED Silver)

SERVICES

Landmarks Preservation Commission Approval

New Construction

Renovation

NYC Zoning and Building Approvals

HIGHLIGHTS

Seamless Interior Transition Between Old and New

Landscaped Play Yard

Skylit Dance Studio

Lucy Moses Preservation Award

Building Brooklyn Award

COOKE SCHOOL & INSTITUTE

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Cooke School & Institute is an organization committed to providing academic programs, therapy, support, and life skills services to students with special needs in grades K-12, as well as young adults ages 18-21. In combining the grammar and high schools, PBDW was faced with the challenge of creating a design that would serve a diverse age range within a single facility. Additionally, a deed restriction limiting the building height, plus a tight budget, led PBDW to look at both space and cost-efficient design solutions to address the client’s complex program requirements.

Larger shared spaces, along with administrative areas, are located on the lower floors of the building. The upper three floors are divided in half, creating separate vertical campuses for both the grammar and high schools. Separate academic and specialty classrooms, therapy and counseling spaces, and stair towers for each school allow for the controlled separation of the youngest and oldest students. Classrooms are positioned to take advantage of daylight, and each has its own break-out room within the space where therapists or teachers can work with individuals or small groups as needed throughout the day.

AT A GLANCE

Special Needs School

New Construction

SERVICES

Programming

Architectural and Interior Design

HIGHLIGHTS

Classrooms

Gymnasium

Therapy and Counseling Spaces

Play Roof

Daily Living Labs

2022 American Architecture Award, The Chicago Athenaeum

2022 Architizer A+ Awards, Special Mention in the Architecture + Color category

2022 Vanceva® World of Color Awards, Honorable Mention

14TH STREET Y

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

The 14th Street Y is a multi-generational community center in New York City. Their vision for the new Y is to serve simultaneously as a “town square” for the East Village community as well as provide a cutting-edge cultural destination that explores four programmatic pillars – arts and culture, education, health and wellness, and civic engagement.

Since 2005, PBDW has been working with the 14th Street Y to prepare their current facilities for future growth through various adaptive reuse schemes. The comprehensive space planning articulated in 2017 resulted in a design that is inspiring, welcoming, spacious, modern, sustainable, and reflective of its community. Programming includes a lobby with café, market and gathering areas, theater and arts education center, preschool and parenting center, fitness and wellness center, community event space, rooftop recreation and gathering spaces. The complex programming is organized around a 7-story atrium created in the middle of the existing building. This symbolic “town square” floods the building with natural light, activating the “heart” of the complex while providing a comfortable place for community members to gather and socialize.