A Greener, Brighter 1271

Green New Details

41 percent gain in energy efficiency

LEED Gold certification for new construction and major renovations

New bike room with more than 200 spaces, a repair stand, and showers for cyclists

New air-handling units allow tenants to modulate outside air in specific spaces

Ventilation systems replaced with 4,021 low profile heating/cooling fan coil units Bigger podium windows (floors 2–7) Old size: 4' 7"x 4' 10"

New size: 9' 4"x 7' 2"

Taller tower curtain wall windows Old height: 4' 10" New height: 7' 2"

Larger windows increase natural light on work surfaces by an average of 15 percent

Lobby Improvements

New glass ceiling replaced in kind

Stainless steel–clad elevator bank walls and marble lobby walls restored

New white Vietnamese marble used to match the old on the newly exposed columns on the south side

Landmarked floor revamped. New zinc strips exactly replicate the original terrazzo pattern based on surveys of the 1959 floor. Artisans toss handfuls of

composite stone onto wet concrete mix to create terrazzo pattern

Insulated double-pane windows replace more than 400,000 square feet of single-pane curtain wall

Elevator Modernization

30 passenger cabs and 2 shuttle cabs (for floors 47–48) refinished

Opaque matte white glass has a brightness and light similar to the lobby marble walls

Cab floors are a half-scale version of the lobby terrazzo but made with an epoxy base rather than concrete to be thinner and lighter Passenger elevators upgraded to a destination dispatch system to reduce wait times

Elevator ceiling design replicates the peaked undersides of the south canopies on 50th Street

Copacabana Paving

Plaza: 22,000 square feet

Lobby: 14,000 square feet

Sidewalk: 9,500 square feet added to wave pattern that originally stopped at property line

Two reception desks with curved tops added in the south lobby evoke 1958 lobby elements

New turnstiles relocated to elevator lobby threshold

Card readers and intercoms added to entrances for after-hours access Sprinklers and LED lighting added to the new laminated-glass ceiling, matching the original in color

New lobby cameras added

Relational Painting #88 by Fritz Glarner restored on the eastfacing wall of the elevator bank

Outdoor Updates

New 25-foot-tall, 26-foot-wide canopy reaches out 98 feet to the Avenue of the Americas

Jet Mist granite plaza features include 5 fountains, 3 planters, and tiered seating

Paving extended out to new granite curbs

Plaza Details

118 aerator jets in fountains produce soft arcs of water that flow into 5 small pools 50th Street subway station entrance refurbished with new granite stairs, glass walls, illuminated railings, and a small fountain overhead

20 3-inch-diameter ginkgo trees plus ground cover planted along sidewalks

New plaza lighting highlights the tower’s restored limestone columns