Located between Eero Saarinen’s iconic TWA Flight Center and the modern Terminal 5 at JFK Airport, Connie is bar and lounge converted from a 116-foot-long original Lockheed Constellation “Connie” L-1649A Starliner -- one of only four of its kind left in the world. For the interiors, top New York architectural and interior design firm, Stonehill Taylor, married a contemporary guest experience with design details that evoke the glamour of 1960s air travel and the industrial marvel of aviation.

Ascending an original staircase with playful “Up, Up, and Away” lettering, guests enter Connie through the forward hatch, arriving just behind the pilot’s cockpit. Once inside, the main cabin echoes the TWA Flight Center’s recognizable terminal “tube” design, with soft glowing ceilings and Eero Saarinen “Chili Pepper Red” carpeting running underfoot.

Turning right guests are greeted by seating vignettes that nod to the original styling of the TWA Commodore Club where Chili Pepper Red banquet seating complete with fold-down drink holders and Saarinen tulip tables and stools. Or if guests prefer, they can sit in one of the 16 reupholstered original airplane seats, and await drink service from a vintage bar cart fit for first class.

Running almost the full circumference of the cabin, a one-foot-wide backlit reveal uncovers the raw bones of the plane, while the tambour-clad back bar separates the lounge from a rivet-lined brushed-steel backdrop inspired by both the plane’s fuselage and Saarinen’s Gateway Arch elevators in St. Louis.

For those interested in exploring, guests can take their Negronis to sit behind the original navigator’s desk beside the open cockpit. Here they can capture a picture-perfect moment looking out onto the TWA Hotel’s sweeping sculptural forms or simply look up and out the original “constellation” window, once used to guide the plane by starlight on overnight flights.

Credits:
- Stonehill Taylor - Director of Industrial Design - Steven Eshelman
- Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners - Senior Associate - Joe Gall
- Stonehill Taylor - Interior Designer - Lauren Gorgano
- Stonehill Taylor - Principal - Sara Duffy
- Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP - Partner, Director of Historic Preservation - Richard Southwick
- Stonehill Taylor - Interior Design Associate - DeeDee Sanchez
- MCR/MORSE Development - Owner/Developer - Tyler Morse
- Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners - Associate - Susan Bopp
- Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners - Principal - Miriam Kelly