...And now, one of the biggest new buildings in the area—the Walt Disney Company’s new headquarters, taking over the site of what was once City Winery—is getting ready to rise. Disney, Silverstein Properties (which is developing the building), and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill have unveiled the first batch of renderings for the media conglomerate’s new HQ, known as 4 Hudson Square. The 1.2 million-square-foot building will occupy the entire block bordered by Varick, Hudson, Vandam, and Spring streets, with ground floor retail and new sidewalk pavings included as part of the package.
But don’t expect a glassy high-rise; instead, SOM is looking to the past, and the architecture of the surrounding neighborhood, for inspiration. The facade will be covered in soft green terra cotta tiles, with anodized aluminum panels adding accents throughout. The structure will top out around 320 feet, with two smaller towers rising from a 10-story base (for a total height of 22 stories, including mechanicals)...
...The headquarters itself will house between 4,000 and 5,000 employees of Disney and its various affiliates, including ABC7 and shows like Live with Kelly and Ryan. On the ground floor, the firms expect to build out a “singular retail experience” similar to Chelsea Market, according to Koop, with the goal of providing an amenity for both the workers in the building and neighborhood residents...
Demolition on the site’s existing buildings has already begun, and the firms expect that the new Disney HQ will take about four years to complete.