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View from the Rockefeller Capital Management All photos © Peter Aaron
main reception/lounge space across the terrace
and toward St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Chapter Design Award in Interior Architecture
Rockefeller Capital Management
New York, NY
LSM

Lighting Design: FMS
Acoustical Engineer: Longman Lindsey
MEP Engineer: Robert Derector Associates
IT/AV Consultant: Syska Hennessy Group Main reception/lounge area.
General Contractor: Shawmut Design and Construction

New York’s Rockefeller Center is a masterpiece of 20th-century urban design. Pantry/dining area.
The understated architecture of its constituent buildings is enlivened
by extraordinary works of art, many of which can be appreciated by the
general public. Casual passersby, however, do not have the opportunity
to enjoy another aspect of the complex: the planted roof terraces atop the
lower wings of several of the buildings, which afford excellent views of the
center’s slender towers and surrounding structures.
It is fitting that the new offices of Rockefeller Capital Management, the
successor to John D. Rockefeller’s family firm, should take advantage of one of
those terraces and some especially impressive vistas. Designed by DC-based
LSM, the office interiors were organized so as to maximize views toward 5th
Avenue and Rockefeller Plaza. The climax is the postcard-perfect visual axis
running from the main reception/lounge space, through the center of the
adjacent terrace, and beyond to the soaring spires of St. Patrick’s Cathedral
directly across the avenue.
Although private offices and conference rooms line some of the perimeter,
most of the workspace is open plan. Expansive glass partitions and doors
with exceptionally narrow frames allow ample light to reach inboard
workstations and meeting rooms. The building’s generous 14-foot ceilings,
which the design team was able to maintain thanks to strategic routing of
mechanical, electrical, and other services, add to the sense of spaciousness.
Throughout the space, the architects juxtaposed sleek, bright new
materials against exposed elements of the original structure. The white
Calacatta marble flooring and “mocha cream” limestone on the exterior wall
of the main reception/lounge area contrast with uncovered sections of the
concrete floor slab and brawny steel columns. In the primary pantry/dining
area, a large portion of the original brick exterior wall is exposed, while iconic
historic images of the construction of Rockefeller Center adorn other walls.
30 CORPORATE IDENTITIES