NBC Studios: 2015 BoY Winner for Office Lobby
The days of families and friends gathering around the TV have been replaced by binge-watching on personal tablets. But for the fans who throng to this network’s headquarters, the future of the small screen has never looked better.
A grand stairwell creates a sense of occasion—at 16 feet wide with black granite steps and gray marble slab walls offering a sophisticated update of the original, built in 1933 for RCA’s radio studios but demolished in the ’70’s. The snail-shape chandelier in bronze-finished brass and the fluted architectural columns were likewise inspired by archival plans and photographs. “Revitalizing and re-envisioning this memorable public space is the consummate journey back in time,” Interior Design Hall of Fame member Michael Gabellini says.
Gabellini and principal Kimberly Sheppard also established new circulation paths to ensure that guests navigate the 26,000 square feet of exhibits with ease. Seating groups demarcated with sheers serve as program areas. Curved LED screens line the rotunda’s perimeter, flashing black-and-white photographs commissioned from Margaret Bourke-White for a mural in the old mezzanine. They’re now mixed with images from today.
Project Team: Daniel Garbowit; Randall Goya; Gulay Dukkanci; Laurin Goff; Silvia Maffei; Tomoko Hirose.
Photography: Paul Warchol/Estate of Margaret Bourke-White and Vaga, New York.
