The design of the lobby was developed as a response to the found conditions of the steel beams and columns that were inserted into the existing brick structure of the Refinery. Ordinarily this structure would be hidden in a lobby build out. However, the strength of this structure, we felt, gave more weight and importance to the triple height of the space.
So, the enclosure of the space was made from backlit cast glass channels that were inserted in between the flanges of the blackened steel beams and columns. We let the braces and bolted connections stay exposed to further celebrate this structure. A new stone floor of grey basalt stone was laid in large slabs while the walls of the corridors leading off the lobby are clad in concrete panels.
At the Kent Avenue entrance, visitors to the building pass through the vertical garden that was installed between the new glass building on the inside and the existing brick. We placed a large planter in blackened steel at the entry so that visitors can interact with the garden in interstitial space.
Moving through the glass and black stainless-steel turnstiles to the elevator lobby has the visitor passing through two imposing portals of New York Schist stone; the fundamental bedrock stone of the city. Large slabs of this ancient stone with a natural cleft finish encourage the visitor to touch and feel this unique stone that is part of the hidden underground structure of NYC.