Schindler Offices, Manhattan, USA
2006
ikon.5 architects



Schindler Elevator Corporation
620 12th Avenue New York, NY
New York City Regional Offices

• 22,000 SF
• $2,500,000.00 construction cost
• Occupied February 2006

PROGRAM
• Executive and administrative offices
• 100 open office workstations
• Conference rooms
• Break room
• Training room
• Compact storage file room
• Bid room



The city of New York is a city of vertical displacement. From the moment one enters the urban fabric of its streets, the observer is forced to look skyward to a new horizon. The city is composed of multiple horizons stacked vertically starting with the ground plane, our natural human condition, and moving upward to man-made horizons in the sky.

In contemplating the New York regional offices for the Schindler Elevator Corporation,
we explored the phenomena of vertical movement, displacement and changing
horizons. These are characteristics of space that are partially, if not exclusively,
attributable to the elevator.

The elevator, a nineteenth century invention, for the first time allowed the displacement of the natural human condition- that is, to see the world from a higher viewpoint of approximately 5 feet above the ground plane. The elevator magically transports people to a displaced viewpoint high in to the sky. Upon entering the elevator cab, the observer is transported from the ground plane to another horizon high above the ground plane. It is this condition of vertical movement and displacement that serves as inspiration for this project.

The lobby of the Schindler Elevator Corporation New York Regional offices explores the phenomena of vertical movement and displacement by creating a homogenous room in which walls, floors, ceiling are displaced from one another. The walls and floors have been pulled away from each other, thus emphasizing their abstract planar quality and reinforcing the notion that the wall, floor, ceiling are interchangeable. The furnishings in the space, a reception desk, a coffee table, a bench and lighting are vertical shafts of light displaced from their adjacent position in a wall, floor or ceiling and are set to appear as if they are piecing the ceiling and ground plane, similar to the shaft of an elevator traveling through a building. The overall experience serves to remind for visitor and employee of the powerful spatial phenomena created by the elevator.



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Schindler Elevator Corporation building: page - adrian welch / isabelle lomholt