In October 2016, Gensler relocated over 600 employees to 1700 Broadway between 53rd and 54th Streets in New York’s Theater District. Their new space includes the second through sixth floors, providing a total of 120,000 square feet of office area. This new workplace is designed around Gensler’s workplace research, and incorporates an abundance of amenities, conference rooms and specialized meeting areas. It also features sit-stand desks and a bike room to encourage health and wellbeing. Amenities like a digital lab, model shop, design center, visualization theatre, work cafés, and “collaboration avenues” – flexible spaces that celebrate and enable the design process – show why Gensler landed on Glassdoor’s Companies We’re Excited About in 2017 list.

The most dramatic features are the stairs and bridges connecting the five floors through a shape-shifting atrium. Twelve inch deep rectangular tubes act as stringers for each stair or bridge, with architecturally exposed horizontal bracing trusses formed from three inch square tube steel. Stair guardrails are formed from quarter inch sheet steel, which is stiffened by trusses of two inch square tubes, with handrail and lighting integrated into the design. The atrium and bridge guardrails are either mid-height or full-height glass panels, supported by standard shoe details. This major circulation path is surrounded by conference and collaboration spaces.

GMS worked with the Gensler designers to minimize the effects of the atrium renovation on the lateral resistance system for this 42 story tower. Our engineers provided a possible sequence for reinforcing and demolition and teamed with the Contractor to brainstorm cost savings.

Project Team

Client: Gensler

Architect: Gensler

Mechanical Engineer: RDA

Lighting: HDLC

IT, AV & Acoustics: Cerami

Security: Linear Technologies

Contractor: Structure Tone

Steel Stair Fabricator: Burgess Steel

Structural Engineer: Gilsanz Murray Steficek – Jonathan Hernandez, Virginia Diaz, Mark Beltramello, Paola Fontanelli

Photo: GMS / Hannah Garfield

Photo: GMS / Hannah Garfield

Photo: GMS / Hannah Garfield

Photo: GMS / Hannah Garfield