2024 Vitruvian Design Competition
Architect: Skidmore Owings Merrill
Façade Contractor: Fabbrica LLC
Main Contractor: Pavarini McGovern
In a section of Manhattan defined by skyscrapers, Pendry Manhattan West makes an outsized impression with its undulating facade of granite and glass. Carefully chosen materials and a sophisticated massing endow the building with an intimate scale, while also subtly distinguishing its role as a hotel within Manhattan West, an eight-acre, mixed-use development adjacent to Penn Station. The cladding on the lower amenity levels, along with the spandrel panels between each upper floor, comprise black, striated granite that contour the building’s form and help articulate its dramatic curvatures. Behind the main tower, a two-story extension houses retail and restaurants, culminating in a roof terrace. Atop the terrace, curving pavilions sympathetic to the main building and clad in light aluminum and glass house a boutique rooftop bar.
Moving up the tower, the convex glass curves exhibit a modern take on the bay window, providing panoramic views for each of the 164 guestrooms. Horizontal bands of stone across the facade frame the guest rooms on the building’s northern and southern sides. Between the bay windows, the facade’s opaque concave curves mask the building’s columns, signifying a natural division between rooms and tying the expression of the facade to the underlying structure.