Dive Brief:

• Architects at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, now known widely by its acronym, SOM, were given the task of renovating and sprucing up a building that their predecessors had design in 1954 for Manufacturers Hanover Trust bank.
• The building at 510 Fifth Ave. was radical in the mid-50s with roof-to-ground glass curtain walls that made the interior, including the bank vault that was a structural element, part of what the outside world saw.
• For retail use, SOM had to remove the vault, bring the structure up to New York City loading standards for retail use, and restore floor-wide ceiling lighting that had made the building distinctive at night.

Dive Insight:

The bank was long gone when the current owner, Vornado Realty Trust, had retail plans for the prime location in midtown Manhattan. It was a two-year project, concluding in 2012, done under a design-build package and carried out by general contractor Sweet Construction.