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Architectural Renderings, Pace
Gallery, 540 West 25th Street, New York |
Located in the heart of Manhattan’s
Chelsea neighborhood at 540 West 25th Street, Pace’s new global
headquarters is being developed by Weinberg Properties and
designed by Bonetti / Kozerski Architecture, in close
collaboration with Pace President and CEO Marc Glimcher.
Spanning eight stories and measuring
approximately 75,000 square feet, the building has been designed
as an integrated and dynamic space for artists, collectors,
curators, gallery-goers, and Pace’s international team alike, to
gather together and engage with the work of the leading artists
that Pace has the honor to represent. With an astute vision for
the future of the art gallery model, the new building unites the
multi-faceted and evolving roles of the gallery under one roof—encompassing
expansive indoor and outdoor exhibition galleries; a
10,000-volume research library; an open art-storage area; and a
2,200 square-foot space dedicated to new media works,
performance, and public programming. The opening of the new
building in fall 2019 will mark a major milestone in the history
of the gallery as it embarks on its 60th anniversary year in
2020.
Marc Glimcher on 540 West 25th Street
“Designing this new building alongside Bonetti/ Kozerski and
Weinberg Properties has given our team at Pace the opportunity
to approach, with fresh eyes, the question of what it means to
be an art gallery in the 21st century. It allowed us to take a
nuanced look at the fundamentals of what we do, where we believe
the art world is heading, and how we can create a space that
will empower us to continue to serve our artists and our
community to the fullest extent of our abilities and ambitions.
Every element of this new building – from the first floor
research library, to the sixth floor outdoor terrace gallery, to
the seventh floor’s flexible performance and programming space –
was shaped to allow us to tell the inspiring stories of our
artists as dynamically and richly as they deserve to be told.
That is an immense privilege that we don’t take lightly and we
see this new building not as an end in itself, but as a catalyst
for continual innovation and evolution as a gallery.”
Samuel G. Weinberg, President/CEO of Weinberg
Properties, says: “Weinberg Properties and Pace have had the
pleasure of a 20+ year relationship in the Chelsea Arts district.
We are thrilled that Bonetti / Kozerski Architecture have helped
to bring our vision and ideas for this building to life. As the
owner and developers of the project, we feel that we have
created something truly unique and special for Pace that has not
been seen before. We are strong believers in the Chelsea market,
as we have another development site down the block on the
horizon. We are extremely proud and excited for the grand
opening of Pace’s new flagship gallery in our building and to be
able to continue our long relationship with them.” says Samuel
G. Weinberg President/CEO of Weinberg Properties.
More than doubling Pace’s current exhibition
space in New York, the new building features four distinct
galleries measuring a total of 16,500 square feet, including
both indoor and outdoor spaces. All of the exhibition spaces
allow for a broad range of installation styles and artistic
media, with features such as an entirely column-free design,
high loading capacities, and flexible lighting plans creating
extraordinarily nimble galleries that can support a diverse
approach to exhibition programming. The largest gallery occupies
the ground floor, spanning 3,800 square feet with 18-foot
ceilings, as well as a glass oversized pivot door that opens
directly onto the street. The ground floor also features the
gallery’s research library. Open to the public by appointment,
the research library will not only include much of the gallery’s
publication holdings, but also a display area to showcase the
gallery’s rich archival materials in complement to the
exhibitions on view.
The building’s second floor features a 2,600
square-foot gallery, designed with solid white oak wood flooring
and an all-glass south wall that leads directly onto an 1,800
square-foot outdoor terrace gallery. The design allows for
either one integrated exhibition fusing indoor and outdoor works,
or two distinct shows at once. The most intimate gallery
occupies 1,300 square feet on the third floor and features the
same wood flooring as the second floor gallery, as well as
south-facing floor-to-ceiling windows that allow natural light
to infuse the space.
Offering panoramic views of the Manhattan
skyline, the entire sixth floor is devoted to a 6,000
square-foot outdoor exhibition space that can accommodate
large-scale sculptural installations. Partially covered by the
volume of the seventh floor, the design creates the sense of an
outdoor room. Rising over 14 feet high, the ceiling has been
configured with a removable lighting system and audiovisual
equipment to support a wide array of exhibitions and programming.
The floor is composed of solid end grain Black Locust wood
blocks installed on a bed of sand—a design selected for its
resistance to weather elements, ability to support large point
loads, and higher comfort level than concrete or stone pavers.
Dedicated to presenting new media works, live
performances, and public programming, the final gallery occupies
2,200 square feet of the building’s seventh floor. With a
north-facing wall of 17-foot-high glass windows, the gallery is
designed with a concrete floor, configured into two different
levels connected by a series of continuous steps. The space’s
flexible layout, enhanced with a special acoustical treatment,
is optimized to create dynamic audience experiences for rotating
and multidisciplinary exhibitions and programs.
“The chance to design this innovative gallery
project for Weinberg Properties and Pace was a unique
opportunity,” remarked Bonetti / Kozerski Architecture. “We were
challenged to re-evaluate the gallery paradigm, both in terms of
building and gallery design, whilst being supported to make
in-depth studies into materiality, natural and artificial light,
as well as building construction technologies. The result is a
project that reflects our close collaboration with both Weinberg
Properties and Pace, and a structure that will further enhance
the burgeoning Chelsea neighborhood—with a strong street and
skyline presence, materials that will age gracefully, and a
variety of dynamic indoor and outdoor spaces for people to
experience and be inspired by art from around the world.”
NEW YORK
With both Weinberg Properties and Pace Gallery using Bonetti /
Kozerski Architecture for the construction and interior design
of the new building, the process has been a collaborative,
integrated and efficient one from beginning to end – allowing
for every element of the building to reflect and reinforce the
distinct programming needs and vision of the gallery. Targeted
to achieve a LEED Silver Certification, the 135-foot-high
building has been designed with close considerations of its
environmental impact. The exterior of the building features
volcanic stone up to the sixth floor of its north façade, and
aluminum foam on the other three sides. The construction of the
building envelope used a custom fabricated “mega-panel” system,
which has allowed for an efficient on-site installation process
– with the entire construction period of two years. Both the
volcanic stone façade panels and the aluminum side panels were
pre-assembled under precise factory conditions, resulting in
very high quality control and performance for thermal,
acoustical, and water barrier factors in comparison to the
traditional fieldbuild methodology.
The lighting for the entire building has been designed in
collaboration with Arnold Chan of London-based Isometrix
Lighting Design, one of the world’s leading designers of
lighting for galleries and museums. Guided by the gallery’s need
for fully customizable lighting options, the scheme fuses
natural and artificial light to create distinct lighting
environments throughout the entire building. Hidden fixtures
deliver ambient light that can be adjusted in terms of intensity
and color temperature. This is combined with a sophisticated
system of spot and flood lighting that is adjustable within the
same parameters, allowing for an extremely high level of
flexibility and customization according to the requirements of
the art on display.
In the coming months, Pace will be sharing news about its
inaugural season of exhibitions, programming, and special artist
commissions leading up to the September 2019 opening. Beginning
in summer 2019, Pace will no longer occupy 537 West 24th Street,
but will continue to operate in its current exhibition spaces at
510 West 25th Street and 32 East 57th Street. The exhibition
programming throughout the new building will also encompass the
programs of Pace/MacGill Gallery and Pace African and Oceanic
Art.
Design Team Overview
Architect Bonetti / Kozerski Architecture DPC
(architecture and interior design)
Project Team Enrico Bonetti AIA – Co-Design
Partner Dominic Kozerski RIBA – Co-Design Partner Matteo
Fraticelli AIA – Associate in charge / Project Architect
Lighting Design Arnold Chan, Isometrix Lighting Design, London
Structural Engineer WSP, New York
Mechanical Engineer ADS, New York
Construction Manager AECOM Tishman