The designers behind the world’s thinnest skyscraper just gave fans of ultra-luxury living an early Christmas present.
New York-based firm Studio Sofield has unveiled the interiors of Steinway Tower, the newly built 1,428-foot-tall tower overlooking Central Park. The announcement marks the completion of the opulent midtown Manhattan landmark, which was built on a site once occupied by the historic Steinway & Sons piano company.
The 91-story skyscraper, also known as 111 West 57th Street, contains 46 full-floor and duplex residences. Photos released this month by the designers show opulent foyers decked out in limestone, marble, blackened steel and velvet, floors paved with smoke-grey solid oak and original artwork by Picasso and Matisse.
According to Studio Sofield, the interiors of the Steinway Tower were designed to evoke the grandeur of New York’s Gilded Age, a period in the late 19th century when the city’s boulevards were lined with the stately mansions of robber barons like Andrew Carnegie and Cornelius Vanderbilt. It is located on a street in the center of the city, lined with shining towers, that is known as “Billionaire’s Row”.
Studio Sofield founder William Sofield told CNN that he wanted the tower to feel unmistakably New York.
“We’ve all been to very luxurious places, but I wanted to create a building that couldn’t be anywhere else in the world,” he said. “I know that many people may have multiple homes, that they will have apartments here. And I wanted to create a very different experience that you could only have in New York.”
A RECORD FEAT
Elsewhere, the building’s interiors include an 82-foot-long pool set in a light-filled room with floor-to-ceiling windows and a row of Kentia palm trees. There’s also a modern take on New York’s legendary King Cole Bar, complete with an ornate balcony and custom gold and silver murals.
Other amenities include private dining rooms with a chef’s kitchen, a golf simulator, and a landscaped terrace.
“I’m always very personal in my work,” Sofield said. “So (take) the pool, for example… I didn’t want it to feel like a regular pool. It has highly detailed wood paneling and gold leaf accents.
“It has a vaulted ceiling,” he added. “It has curtains…So it’s very different from any pool you’d find in New York.”
With a height-to-width ratio of 24:1, Steinway Tower’s developers have described it as “the slimmest skyscraper in the world.” The tower’s façade includes terracotta blocks, a material that appears to change color and texture when viewed in different lights and from different angles.
At 1,428 feet, it’s also one of the tallest buildings in the Western Hemisphere, falling just below two others in New York City: the 1,776-foot-tall One World Trade Center and the 1,550-foot-tall Central Park Tower. .
Super-slim skyscrapers, also known as pencil towers, became prominent features of Hong Kong’s skyline in the 1970s. Since then, major cities like New York have followed suit.
The residences in the Manhattan skyscraper, which was developed by JDS Development Group and Property Markets Group, range in price from $7.75 million to $66 million.