Midtown Manhattan goes green

Approved by the New York City Planning Commission this January, construction on Snøhetta’s design for a densely vegetated and expanded garden at 550 Madison is due to begin this year.

The 850,000 square-foot office tower became New York CIty’s youngest landmark in 2018, and Snøhetta’s ground-floor public garden will offer an open space accessible from the west side of the building, covered by a new steel and glass roof on slender white columns.

Work will begin on the expanded garden later this year.

Visitors will have a sense of being immersed in the garden as the landscape references the verticality of midtown Manhattan. The layered topography lifts up along the west side of the garden, and a central water wall, accessible from the garden and visible from the interior lobby, will provide an auditory element.

The vegetation planted will be carefully selected to withstand the seasonal Northeastern climate. Evergreens, perennials and flowering shrubs will respond to the natural light conditions and changing seasons, and more than 40 trees will be planted, encouraging birds, butterflies and other pollinators to the shared urban habitat.

550 Madison is a privately-owned public space.

Green space will also cover a car park and truck dock, and vplanting will extend along both street edges as the project connects the building back to the surrounding street activity.

Pavings are to be laid in circular shapes to mark out different areas of public space: the Living Room, the Waterfall Room, the Tree Room and the Picnic Room.

This series of interconnected outdoor ‘rooms’ at 550 Madison Garden will offer quiet spaces alongside larger open areas. The series of intersecting circles reference the circular motifs in Philip Johnson’s work, and allow the garden to accomodate a variety of uses, such as socialisation and connection to nature.

The vegetation planted will be carefully selected to withstand the seasonal Northeastern climate.

Donut-shaped wooden tables circle around trees, with information about the site’s environmental history and seasonality embedded in the wooden seating benches and walking surfaces.

While East Midtown is densely populated by commercial buildings and retail storefronts, and is the neighbourhood with the least open and recreational space in the whole borough, the new garden at 550 Madison will be 50% bigger than the existing exterior public space, reconnect the building to its street-life, and provide an immersive respite in a frantic city.

550 Madison is a privately-owned public space (POP), which Snøhetta’s Director of Landscape Architecture, Michelle Delk, argues are, “a critical part of New York City’s public realm.” She adds that, “urban life thrives in and around spaces that allow us to connect with one another and to nature… we need to make the most of the spaces we already have and recognise that they are part of a network that contribute to the livelihood of the city.”

Snøhetta says that, “in the tradition of the great pocket parks of New York City…the garden at 550 Madison seeks to re-shape how we occupy the city by heightening our attention to our surroundings, encouraging people to stay and take pleasure in a part of the city that is typically rushed through. 550 Madison will lead the transformation of East Midtown as it evolves for the needs of a contemporary workforce and a diversity of tenants, while ensuring it remains a world-class business district.”

550 Madison Garden will be both LEED Platinum and WELL Gold certified.