Local architecture studio Mancini Duffy led the completion of the Times Square skyscraper, which included raising the historic Broadway Theater and incorporating a giant LED screen that opens onto an outdoor stage.
Duffy Mancini, Perkins Eastman and PBDW Architects led the demolition, restoration and design of TSX Broadway, a 47-story skyscraper that now hosts retail space, a bar and lounge, the 661-room Hilton Hotel, the Broadway Theater and an elevated outdoor area. Performance stage.
Developed by L&L Holding Company and Fortress Investment Group, the project involved a number of engineering and construction works, most notably the £14 million raising of the 111-year-old Broadway Palace Theatre to a height of 30 feet (9 metres) above ground to provide space for ground-level retail.
The project also included the restoration of the theatre, led by PBDW Architects – which also worked on the building’s master plan starting in 2016 – and the creation of a performance stage, hidden behind an 18,000 square feet (1,672 square metres) LED screen mounted on the building’s facade.
“We hit the ground running and never stopped,” said John McCampbell, Mancini-Duffy’s top aide. “While we were building part of the building, we were tearing down another part. While we were doing the completion ceremonies, we were tearing down the basement.”
“We had to move at different speeds to solve the detailed problems of different stakeholders with different priorities.”
An animation of the project shows several of the key steps involved in creating the skyscraper, which used part of a pre-existing tower that hosts the Double Tree Hotel above the Palace Theater.
The video shows the demolition of the former tower, as well as the installation of a “complex hydraulic lift system” in the basement of the building that was used to lift the theatre to its final location.
“Teams of 10 to 12 construction and engineering companies evacuated the building’s basement and sub-basement [and] “We installed an elaborate hydraulic lift system and a large concrete beam around the stage,” the team said.
“This created a pocket of height. Once the stage reached a height of 16 feet [4.8 metres]“The elevator was stopped so he could build the new floors.”
Originally opened in 1913 and designated a New York City indoor landmark, the 1,648-seat theater now spans the building’s third to eighth floors, where visitors can access it through a new entrance on 47th Street.
Mancini Duffy also designed a new third-floor lobby, backstage area, and additional restrooms surrounding the space.
The TSX Theater is also located on the third floor of the building and 30 feet above the ground, located directly across from the Palace Theater, separated by retail space.
Hidden behind a large, curved LED screen that covers the base of the tower, it serves as a venue for both indoor and outdoor performances.
“The TSX Theater is a major evolution of the stunning Times Square display, creating new possibilities for brands and artists,” the team said.
“Viewed from the ground-level pedestrian plaza, the theater, the first permanent outdoor performance venue in Times Square, hovers 30 feet above the street.”
Two hidden doors inside the outdoor LED screen open inward to open the stage to Times Square visitors.
“The custom-designed 84,000-pound doors are a world first – doors of this size have never been integrated into operational LED signs before,” the team said.
According to PBDW, the tower’s LED display is also one of the “largest LED displays in the world.”
For the hotel’s interiors, designed by Wimbley Interiors, and the overall design of the building, the team referred to the “interplay between different worlds.”
Snøhetta’s Times Square transformation officially opens
“The overall design of TSX Broadway is about the interplay of different worlds – with the lights and excitement of Times Square forming the backdrop to many of the interior spaces,” said Duffy Mancini CEO William Mandara Jr.
“At the same time, the Palace Theatre exists in its own limited world. We have carefully examined every aspect of the design to ensure that not only does everything fit together, but also serves its own distinct purpose.”
“The TSX Broadway building is a complex puzzle, and one of the biggest challenges was designing the building to accommodate the flow of people while respecting the different uses of the building,” said Mandara Jr.
“Visitors could see a Broadway show at the Palace Theater, and a few hours later, the audience could gather to watch a concert on the outdoor stage, and vice versa. Hotel guests in bathrobes wouldn’t miss the point of ending up in either place. Even by New York City standards, this was a complex project.”
Times Squares received a redesign by Snøhetta in 2017, while a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed theater in Wisconsin was recently restored.
Photography is by Mike Van Tassel unless otherwise stated.
Executive Engineer: Mancini Davi
Master Plan and Theatre Restoration Architect: PBDW Architects
Design Engineer (Facade): Perkins Eastman
Tempo by Hilton Hotel Interiors: Wimbley Interiors
Electrical and Mechanical Engineer: Cosentini Associates, Inc.
Theatrical Consultant: Theatrical Projects
Structural Engineer: Consulting Engineers Severud Associates, PC, and Robert Silman Associates Structural Engineers, DPC (peer reviewed)
Stage Lift Engineer: Urban Foundation Engineering LLC
Kitchen: The Next Step in Design
State-owned company: Langan
Code consulting: Design 2147 and Rizzo Group
Conservator: Jablonski Building Conservation, Inc.
LED display: sensory interactive
Lighting Designer: ZeroLUX Lighting Design and Reveal Design Group
Acoustic Consultant: Longman Lindsey (Tower and Stage Spaces FOH/BOH)
Elevator Consultant: Vidaris, Inc. and IROS Elevator Design Services
Construction Director: Structure Tone Building Group (theatre), Pavarini McGovern (entertainment, hospitality and retail)
Owner Representative: PRA Consulting
