Moed de Armas & Shannon has been awarded the 2013 American Institute of Architects New York State “Design Award of Excellence for Large Commercial/Industrial Projects.”
The honor recognizes the firm’s work on behalf of the Equity Office Properties project, “The Cubes,” located at 120 West 42nd Street in Manhattan.
The AIANYS Design Awards Program was instituted to celebrate, honor and promote excellence in design by New York state architects.
“The Cubes offered our team the opportunity to completely re-imagine an urban space that, for many years, was seen as unusable,” said Dan Shannon, a principal with Moed de Armas & Shannon.
“Working with our clients at Equity Office Properties, we have created an engaging, light-filled space that truly captures the ever-changing dynamic of 42nd Street. We are honored to receive this award and thank the panel of judges for recognizing this unique project.”
The Cubes spans the full width of the block between 41st and 42nd streets just 100 feet west of Sixth Avenue and Bryant Park. The complex includes the 15,000 s/f plaza at 1095 Avenue of the Americas and the adjacent retail complex.
Comprising three occupied floors and approximately 23,000 s/fof above-grade retail with an additional 55,000 s/f of below-grade retail space, The Cubes was conceived as a Jewel Box icon to flank the western edge of the plaza.
The glass and steel structure solidifies the plaza’s prominence as an active destination by surrounding the plaza, including below grade, with spaces for retail, restaurants and rest.
The Cubes also incorporates multiple outdoor spaces totaling 4,300 s/ft. The building’s overall design concept employs several distinct boxes shifted in relation to one another to contrast the monolithic character of adjacent 1095 Avenue of the Americas while maintaining the uniformity of its grid.
Positioned as a gateway to Times Square and functioning as an extension of Bryant Park, The Cubes and the plaza at 1095 turn this stretch of 42nd Street from a throughway into a destination.
