589 Fifth Avenue

 office building  Add category

211-foot, 16-story modernist office building completed in 1954. Designed by Emery Roth & Sons, it underwent a radical renovation of the first five floors on the west half of the building in 2013-14, replacing the original facade with a large, open, cube-like expanse of glass for the first four floors surrounded by white metal panels at the 5th floor, a wide portion to the east on the north facade, and a narrow strip at the south end of the west facade. A soaring retail atrium was created inside by the renovation for apparel store H&M, with glass-doored entrances at the northwest corner. Glass display windows also extend along the ground floor on the north facade, below the white metal panels. The rest of the 2-story base at the east end on 48th Street was re-clad in stainless-steel, with the main building entrance and a small loading dock at the far end. The 2nd floor has large metal louvers.

The rest of the north and east facades retain the original curtain wall of green-tinted glass and stainless-steel spandrels and mullions. There are shallow setbacks at the east end of the north facade above the 8th floor and at the west end above the 9th floor (along with the full west elevation), creating a projecting central portion on the north elevation. Additional full-floor setbacks occur above the 11th, 13th, 15th, & 16th floors, and there is a narrow, rectangular, metal-clad mechanical penthouse above the main roof line.

The east and south facades are faced in light-grey brick. The east elevation has bands of windows across each floor, narrowing at the front facade's setbacks. The south facade, above the neighboring buildings, has three bays of windows at the west end, narrowing at the setbacks. The base is occupied by H&M Home.