555 Fifth Avenue

 office building  Add category

225-foot, 19-story Early Modern-style office building completed in 1955. Designed by Emery Roth & Sons, it is clad in ribbon bands of dark-tinted glass originally alternating with white brick spandrels. A 1995 renovation by Der Scutt replaced the brick with light-grey metal spandrels. The base was re-clad in grey Caledonian granite with new bronze framed storefront windows. Bronze lanterns and integrated granite sconces are mounted on the piers at the top of the ground floor.

The west facade on the avenue has six main bays, with two smaller bays - at the south end, and between the northern two bays. The north facade on 46th Street has a more complex bay arrangement at the base. From east to west, there is a bay with one medium and one narrow opening at the 2nd floor, both filled by metal louvers. The next bay contains the main entrance, framed by double-height granite piers with recessed brass-and-glass doors surmounted by a curved brass fixture at the 2nd floor, which is divided by horizontal scores into six bands; a red background shows through the narrow lines - the 2nd band from the bottom is removed to show the red background behind and has brass lettering spelling out "555 FIFTH 555". Projecting flagpoles flank the top of the entrance bay (other flagpoles line the west facade). Continuing to the west, there is a tripartite bay at the 2nd floor, a bay with one narrow and two wider windows, a bay with two wider windows and then a narrow window, and another bay with a narrow window followed by two wide windows. All the windows are divided by angled granite fins that extend down onto the spandrel panels and end in points. The piers between each bay are capped by projecting, angled, brass caps at the top of the base.

The upper façade has a new slender vertical motif of alternating fins of Caledonian granite and semi-circular aluminum ribs of varying diameters. Windows are operable and integral with the mullions. The pattern of bays is regular above the base, with the north facade spanning 14 bays, each divided into four narrow windows; there is one extra set of single-windows at the far west end. The west facade has 13 full bays, with a half bay on each end.

Above the tenth-floor set-back, cantilevered bay windows create unique “greenhouse” offices and expansive new sight lines of the midtown skyline. This first setback occurs at the north half of the west facade, with the south part setting back at the 12th floor. Additional setbacks continue up the top of the building at every second floor. The ground floor is occupied by Barnes & Noble bookstore, and JoJu restaurant, with a loading dock at the far east bay on 46th Street.

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