Paramount Hotel

 hotel, high-rise, 1928_construction, Beaux-Arts (architecture)

235 West 46th Street in New York City is a 259-foot, 19-story Beaux-Arts hotel completed in 1928. Designed by Thomas W. Lamb, it opened as the Hotel Paramount. In 1988, the hotel was closed for an 18-month remodeling project. In 1990, the hotel, under the ownership of Ian Schrager (who purchased it in 1986) and redesigned by Philippe Starck, reopened as the Paramount Hotel. Another 7-month renovation took place in 1998. Schrager sold the hotel in 2004, and it was sold again in 2011.

The building has a narrow H-shaped plan, with longer, uninterrupted facades on the north and south and light courts inserted from the east and west sides. The decorative emphasis is focused on the first three floors (those that can easily be seen from the street) and the upper levels that are visible from a distance. The eight floors in between have a fairly regular façade treatment, with evenly spaced windows provided for the hotel rooms inside.

The building rises straight up from the lot line through the 11th floor. At the 12th and 13th floor levels, the nine central bays set back several feet. Another setback occurs evenly across the entire 12-bay façade at the 14th and 15th floors, which effectively continues the central setback, while allowing the two end bays on each side to appear as strong, vertical elements. At the 15th and 16th floors, the four central bays continue to rise in the same plane, while the three bays on each side set back. This central portion rises to a steep, hipped roof, while the roof on each side forms a steep mansard.

The ground story on West 46th Street features a double-height colonnade, 12 bays wide across the entire front of the building, faced with white marble sitting on a grey granite base. Recessed plate-glass show-windows fill most of the spaces between the columns with individual entrances to various stores. The main hotel entrance is located in the 3rd and 4th arches from the east, with triple glass-and-metal doors. Each archway is trimmed by decorative molding and capped by a fully embellished volute flanked by ribbons and topped by a shell. Large, elaborately ornamented bronze frames are mounted on the columns that flank the fifth arch from the west. Within each archway, a mezzanine level is indicated by a tripartite cast-iron base that cuts across the archway, topped by iron-framed, tripartite windows.

The 2nd floor is the most elaborately ornamented of the façade. It is separated from the base by a continuous marble string course. Above this is a continuous paneled band that forms a base and continuous sill for the windows. Each plain, rectangular window is surrounded by a broad, eared molding that ends in vertical foliate bands that descend to a volute. The windows are capped by ornately decorated keystones flanked by foliate swags and topped by a shell. Additional foliate swags are located under each window. Between each window is a marble panel, alternately oval and rectangular, each of which is embellished by an elaborate frame with shells below and swags above. A curving pediment topped by an angel’s head is located above each panel. Above the 2nd floor a large, projecting cornice with a variety of moldings marks the end of the base.

The 3rd-floor windows are framed by broad, eared moldings and topped by shallow, projecting pediments. These pediments are alternately triangular and segmentally-arched and are carried on small volutes with swags between the window and the pediment. Beginning at the 3rd floor, the two bays on each end are highlighted by narrow brick quoins that rise continuously up the façade through the 15th floor. The rest of the façade, from the 3rd through the 10th floor is faced with brick, its flat plane broken only by regularly spaced rectangular window openings. The windows are unadorned except for terra-cotta sills and small air conditioner grills located beneath each one. At the 11th floor, except for the bays where the quoins rise, the windows are linked horizontally by flat marble panels inset alternately with colored marble diamonds and circles. The windows at this level have broad, eared terra-cotta frames with swags below and ornate keystones above.

Another string course runs above the 11th floor, supported by brackets with acanthus leaves in groups of three between each window. Setbacks begin at the 12th floor. The eight central bays step back and are faced by a stone balustrade. Each pier of this balustrade is capped by a large vase with a terra-cotta cap. Next to each vase and extending perpendicular to the building are a series of non-historic iron balcony security grates. A row of shallow brick quoins rises vertically between each window. The windows on the 12th and 13th floors are linked vertically by wide terra-cotta moldings. The two windows on each end continue in the same plane as the main part of the building and this pair is framed by shallow quoins. Ornate iron balconnettes are located in front of the two end windows at the 12th floor.

Above the 13th floor is another string course topped by a balustrade that runs the entire width of the building. This entire level steps back allowing the central eight bays to be set back farther than the two bays on each side. Numerous balcony security grates extend from the building to this balustrade. The brick quoins continue from below, located between each of the windows, except flanking the end pairs. The windows of the 14th and 15th floors are linked by broad terra-cotta moldings, with most of the spandrel panels pierced by air conditioner grilles.

Above the 15th floor is another cornice carried on large, paired brackets with acanthus leaves. The four central bays of the 16th and 17th floors continue to rise along the same plane as the floors below, while each side section is recessed further, creating a central pavilion. The central section angles back toward the recessed areas, creating a plain brick wall between the four center bays and the three on each end. Each of these walls is ornamented by a vase on a shelf carried by a large, ornate volute set near the middle. The two end bays at the 16th floor are fronted by stone balustrades. Non-historic iron railing fronts the recessed sections in between the ends and the middle pavilion. Non-historic iron balcony security grates extend from the building plane along this balcony. Each vertical pair of the windows on the 16th and 17th floors is linked by a wide terra-cotta molding with the spandrel panels between them pierced by air-conditioning grilles. The four central bays are flanked by brick quoins that rise between them. Above the four central windows of the 17th floor are elaborate, projecting pediments with cartouches and elongated volutes that support them and extend down each side of each window.

This central pavilion extends up through the cornice to become four large, pedimented dormers that extend into the 18th floor and project from the copper, standing seam hipped roof of the central section. A wide terra-cotta frieze separates the 17th and 18th floors, with a panel with a guilloche design located beneath each window. Large, embellished vases mark the four corners of this central pavilion. The dormers are capped by projecting rounded pediments broken by elaborate cartouches with foliate and shell ornament. The base of each dormer is flanked by a large volute. The side sections of the roof are also clad in standing seam copper but form a steep mansard. There are three smaller, copper clad dormers located to each side along the lower roof at the 18th floor. Each small, round-headed window is capped by a simple open, segmentally-arched pediment. Nine small, pedimented copper dormers are located at the 19th floor, three in the central roof section and three on each side of the roof. The side dormers are topped by plain, segmentally-arched pediments. Those in the center are located between the four large dormers and have circular windows recessed within a curving hood.

The roof is capped by an embossed frieze of swags with ribbons that runs across the central, hipped section. A large, elaborate cartouche projects from each front corner, while the rest of the roof is capped by a simple coping. The nine highest floors of the rear façade are visible over the buildings on 47th Street. Unadorned windows pierce the plain façade at each level. This façade sets back at the same levels as on the front, but there are continuous balconies at these levels marked by terra-cotta string courses, with non-historic balcony security grates separating the various sections. Above the 17th floor, the copper-clad roof has the same division into hipped and mansard roof, with six plain, squared dormers rising at the 18th floor.

The hotel contains 597 guest rooms and suites. It has undergone a recent restoration by Sandra Spannan.

www.nycparamount.com/
s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2342.pdf