LVMH Tower Offers a New Slant on New York City Zoning Rules

For a new America headquarters, the international luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton wanted a design that would stand out from the trough of tall corporate towers and glossy shops of midtown Manhattan.the company got is wishes by going to the French architect, Christian de Portzamparc. The Pritzker-Prize winner came up with a slim, 60-foot-wide, 24-story tower with a multifaceted glazed facade of folded and chiseled wedge like planes that inventively responds to New York city's zoning regulation. De Portzamparc followed the rules calling for setbacks according to a sky-exposure plane, yet literally gave them a new slant.



Working with the Hiller Group and curtain wall consultant, Robert Heintges, de Portzamparc devised an architectonic facade that features three types of glass-clear glass; green glass with ceramic frit; and a white, low-iron glass with a sandblasted geometric patern. Most of the office floors of the 112,167 square-foot, steel-framed structure are perfunctory 3,000 to 5,000 square feet in size, with 12-foot, floor-to-floor heights. Topping the building, however, is a spectacular glass cube, where a 30-foot-high penthouse has been fitted out for receptions.

LVMH believes the volumetric skin is a refined, dynamic image for the company. the response from yhe public and press has made the investment-estimated at about $40 million-worth it.