WFC Renovation Is All in the Family
Retail Complex is Slated for Rebirth
A rendering of the future pedestrian boulevard and retails stores on West Street
On Monday, Brookfield Office Properties broke ground on the new glass pavilion entryway into the World Financial Center (WFC) from West Street, which will anchor one end of the half-mile underground connector between the World Trade Center (WTC) and Fulton Street Transit Hub. Rafael Pelli, partner of Pelli Clarke Pelli -- the designers of the WFC renovation -- said at the occasion,
Sabrina Kanner, Brookfield senior vice president of Design and Construction, and Rafael Pelli, partner of Pelli Clarke Pelli, break ground at the new pavilion
"The new entry pavilion has been a very special design commission, both because it creates a new front door for this urban complex to the City and because it repairs and reconnects to the City one of my father's most important projects." Mr. Pelli's father, César, designed the original WFC complex for Olympia & York more than thirty years ago, when Battery Park City consisted solely of Gateway Plaza.
Rafael Pelli was first approached by Brookfield Properties, which assumed ownership of the complex in 1996, after the bankruptcy of Olympia & York. After the complex was severely damaged in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, both the lobby of One WFC and the Winter Garden required extensive repair, while a new facade on the West Street side of the building needed to be created, where the second floor bridge that crossed over West Street had stood. Pelli Clarke Pelli managed to complete the work within a year, allowing Brookfield to ceremonially reopen the WFC on September 11, 2002.
Photo of Cesar and Rafael Pelli from 2012, courtesy of Rafael Pelli
"We stayed working with Brookfield since 2001. They were already looking at changes within the complex, and knew that we could work sympathetically with the existing buildings, while helping them to create a new identity," said Mr. Pelli, who recalls falling in love with New York life after moving here in 2000. Much of his earlier years had been spent in Los Angeles, in Boston (at Harvard University), and in New Haven, where his father started his firm and also served as dean of Yale University's School of Architecture.
"The City as a whole is such a fascinating, vibrant place. There have been big changes in urban design in the last 10 to 15 years. I love projects like the Hudson River Park and the High Line. It's an example of the renewed emphasis in bettering the pocket parks throughout the City. There's such a density of people who love to walk and have places to be outside that are not just a sidewalk," said Mr. Pelli, adding that Battery Park City is an example of a park that now feels central to Downtown.
The WFC redesign, which began its first phase in fall, 2011, is intended to further open Battery Park City and the WFC complex to Lower Manhattan. "What was primarily an office complex with some retail amenities for its employees has become so much more varied and used by a large residential population as well," Mr. Pelli said. With this in mind, the WFC renovation aims to integrate the complex with the City and open it up to Lower Manhattan on the street level.
Pavilion Rendering
Examples of this vision are seen in the addition of retail stores along West Street, replacing walls with windows to let in more light from the Esplanade, and a large glass entrance onto West Street that allows a view through to the Hudson River. Additionally, the redesign adds a broader variety of retail across the complex to "appeal to a wider range of visitors," said Mr. Pelli. All of these changes are meant to put the WFC on the map in a way that was never possible prior to September 11, 2001, when the complex's 30 foot high plinth blocked views from Lower Manhattan. "Most of Downtown didn't know it was there," he added.
Among the redesign elements, he said that the "painfully reconfigured front entrance forced onto us by September 11," meant that the Winter Garden stairs had to be reconsidered. "I was not surprised by the community response," said Mr. Pelli, in a reference to a grass roots campaign among community residents to preserve the iconic staircase. "We all love the stairs as a great civic piece. But the destruction of the second floor entrance meant that we had to reconfigure the space so that people could come up underneath and behind the stairs." This biggest of design challenges caused the first rendering to eliminate the staircase, but in response to the community's desire, the final redesign keeps the stairs almost completely intact. "We had to clear space underneath the stairs so that you could see through some retail to the Winter Garden and beyond," he said. "But it will remain intact while allowing the Winter Garden to feel natural, open and with clear views to the back."
A rendering of the outdoor dining on Vesey Street
The influx of commuters from the WTC and Fulton Street Transit Hub will necessarily bring more activity to the Winter Garden during rush hour, but, said Mr. Pelli, it is a big space that can accommodate a lot of people. Moreover, for the rest of the day, he envisions it will stay the "welcome oasis that it is."
Brookfield began its $250 million WFC renovation in November, 2011, with construction of the first and second floor dining terrace and marketplace along the Esplanade-facing corridor to South End Avenue. The third phase of the Center's renovation will start later this year with the introduction of luxury local and international retailers. Renovation of the marketplace is expected to finish in Spring, 2013, while the glass pavilion, restaurants, dining terrace and retail renovations are scheduled for completion in Summer, 2013.
Dianne Renzulli
Top photo and renderings courtesy of Brookfield Properties
Photo of Rafael and Cesar Pelli Peter Hurley
Groundbreaking photo Dianne Renzulli
