SHVO: Winner of World Design Awards 2022. Built at the turn of the 20th century, 530 Broadway is a unique property comprised of what was originally three adjacent buildings on SoHo’s most coveted corner at Broadway and Spring. The 198,000-square-foot building is an icon of SoHo’s Cast Iron district and features classic ornamental architectural details.

Purchased in March 2020, 530 Broadway merges the artistic spirit of the neighborhood with contemporary design and bespoke art, creating the idea of Art/Work. Snarkitecture was commissioned to reimagine the lobby with unexpected and memorable moments.

Every object in the 530 Broadway lobby is conceived as a work of art. The concept is a gallery-like environment with a neutral material palette of concrete and white with custom oil-quenched blackened steel objects that appear to be floating in space. The lobby design is minimal and contemporary while preserving and restoring the rich detail of the building’s historic fabric. Ornamental surfaces in the interior of the lobby are painted white to create a monochromatic backdrop that still celebrates the rich history of the space and invites the user to get up close to the details to fully appreciate them.

Floating objects are meant to feel uncanny – like there is a weightlessness in the space despite the objects being heavy solid masses made of steel. The desk appears to be decaying, and lifting off of the ground plane. A complex contradiction of ornament and fundamental pragmatism is integrated within the artistic expression of these purposeful and whimsical objects.

Curtain (2021), a site-specific art installation by acclaimed New York-based contemporary artist Daniel Arsham creates an unanticipated moment. “The general idea was thinking about causing the surface of the wall to do things it shouldn’t be doing,” writes Arsham.

Custom black topography wallpaper in the stairwell and white wallpaper in the elevators are signature Snarkitecture interventions. L’Observatoire International brings its celebrated lighting design to the lobby, enhancing Snarkitecture’s lobby concept and existing intricate details.

As an extension of the in-situ collaboration, Snarkitecture is currently an artist in-residence in the building. This residency reinforces a layered commitment to the building and experiential immersion.

Project Details
Firm
SHVO

Designer
Snarkitecture

Architect of Record
Crown Architecture

MEP Engineer
MG Engineering

Lighting Designer
L’Observatoire International

General Contractor
Triton Construction

Artist
Daniel Arsham

Project Name
530 Broadway

World Design Awards Category
Interior Design

Project Location
530 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 USA

Team
SHVO

Country
United States of America

Photography ©Credit
©SHVO

Snarkitecture is a New York-based design practice established to investigate the boundaries between disciplines. The name is drawn from Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of The Snark, a poem describing the “impossible voyage of an improbable crew to find an inconceivable creature.” In its search for the unknown, Snarkitecture creates work that includes large-scale projects, installations, and objects.

Snarkitecture’s work focuses on the reinterpretation of everyday materials, structures, and programs to new and imaginative effect. With a conceptual approach centered on the importance of experience, the studio creates unexpected and memorable moments that invite people to explore and engage with their surroundings.