The leading authority for the Architecture & Design community
October 9, 2019
Text: Jesse Dorris
Janson Goldstein Goes Grand for NYC’s First Neiman Marcus in Hudson Yards
A custom “cobblestone” carpet by Creative Matters covers the floors of the main level’s Ladies Shoe Salon. Photography by Scott Frances.
Whatever one thinks of the massive, city-changing undertaking at Hudson Yards, anchoring the neighborhood with Manhattan’s first Neiman Marcus is an undeniably bold choice. As is the store’s design, conceived by Janson Goldstein and intended to bridge the area’s industrial past with its high-end present.
The 188,880-square-foot, three-story flagship offers two entrances: a 30-foot-tall lobby with an elevator directly to the upper floors and a main entrance on the fifth floor with striking views of Thomas Heatherwick’s “Vessel.” Neiman Marcus’s signature atrium is, here, delineated on its corners by columns sheathed in Italian Breccia stone, which reappears in Beauty as a feature wall, a striking contrast to the white Greek marble floor.
Custom chandeliers in hand-blown crystal and bronze by Preciosa hang above the Atrium, defined on four corners by Italian Breccia stone columns. Photography by Scott Frances.
Nearby rises Janson Goldstein partner Mark Janson’s favorite detail: “A grand staircase, [which] is a complex interplay of steel, stone, bronze, and metal,” he says. “We created a common language of detail and material that appear throughout the project and serves to weave all the parts together.” Which is, after all, the whole point of good design.
A mobile by Alexander Calder hangs above a curvilinear stone, steel, and bronze staircase beside a 30-foot-wall of Breccia stone. Photography by Scott Frances.In the personal shopper lounge, a Preciosa chandelier hangs above an Avenue Road sofa, arm chairs by Dune NY, a cocktail table by Ochre, a side table by Holly Hunt, a sculpture by Harry Bertoia, and a rug by Stark Carpet. Photography by Scott Frances.The main entry’s façade incorporates a “veil” of polished and brushed aluminum, with inset glass panels, which reveal Bar Stanley on the men’s floor. Photography by Scott Frances.On the sixth floor, Men’s Contemporary features floating walls of blue-tinted glass on a fine gray stone floor. Photography by Scott Frances.The 12,000-square-foot Ladies Contemporary space at the top of the staircase is ringed with metallic mesh screens and circular installations of black and white terrazzo tile flooring. Photography by Scott Frances.The Fine Apparel spaces are defined by arrangements of glass and steel mesh screens within sculpted aluminum panels. Photography by Scott Frances.
