HQ has served as historic preservation consultants to Tishman Speyer on a wide range of preservation and design projects throughout Rockefeller Center. One of New York City’s most celebrated sites and a designated landmark, Rockefeller Center is comprised of commercial buildings, landscape features, public artwork, and significant interior spaces. As part of Tishman Speyer’s stewardship team, HQ has provided historical research and analysis, design consultation, and representation at the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission on numerous projects. These include the development and ongoing application of a Master Plan for the Center’s retail storefronts and public spaces, preservation consultation for the re-opening of the original Observation Deck (Top of the Rock), restoration and rehabilitation of the iconic Rainbow Room, and technical preservation services associated with the restoration of artwork including Atlas and the murals in the lobby of 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

Atlas, International Building (2009)

Sited prominently on Fifth Avenue across from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Atlas is one of New York City’s most iconic public sculpture. In 2008, the sculpture underwent an extensive conservation campaign to remove previous, inappropriate coatings, treat the deteriorated bronze patina, and repair cracks in the bronze rings. Guided by archival information found in the sculptor’s own letters, Atlas was restored to its original appearance and is now poised to carry the weight of the Earth into the twenty-first century and beyond.

Commissioned in 1935 by the Rockefeller family, Atlas was designed by the artist Lee Lawrie and modeled by Rene Paul Chambellan. As originally intended, the sculpture embodied the strength of modernism and the international reach of Rockefeller Center. In 2008, Tishman Speyer Properties engaged a team of professionals to research the sculpture’s historical finishes, execute a conservation program that would restore Atlas to its original appearance, and develop a program for on-going maintenance. At the outset of this conservation project, HQ researched historical documents that chronicled the myriad treatments Atlas was subjected to over the years, from the original use of turpentine and wax to the inappropriate use of heavy matte lacquer coating in the 1980s. Based on HQ’s archival research and spot testing, conservators developed an appropriate treatment scope and maintenance plan for Atlas. HQ’s archival research also identified the original casting finish of the sculpture—a statuary bronze with green undertones. Additional work included re-patination of weathered areas and weld repairs on the armillary sphere to prevent moisture penetration.

For seventy years, Atlas has continued to grimace under his burden while passersby walk beneath his heavenly spheres. Today, however, one can appreciate this muscular bronze figure again as Lee Lawrie intended.

Rainbow Room (2014)

Conceived at the depth of the Great Depression and completed months after the repeal of Prohibition, the Rainbow Room opened in 1934 as New York City’s preeminent supper club and dance venue. Poised at the sixty-fifth floor of the RCA Building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the glittering room afforded patrons panoramic views of the city from the top of one of its most iconic skyscrapers.

HQ worked closely with Tishman Speyer as it planned for the re-opening of the Rainbow Room, providing a range of historic preservation consulting services throughout this significant restoration and rehabilitation project. Advising the client during the New York City Landmarks designation process, HQ carried out extensive archival research and evaluated the remaining finishes and features to determine what original fabric remained and what had been replaced during a series of previous renovations in the second half of the 20th century.

Following the Landmarks designation of the Rainbow Room, HQ provided consulting services through the design and public review processes. HQ worked with Gabellini Sheppard Associates to integrate the findings of the archival research into the overall design approach, resulting in a design that is focused simultaneously on the preservation of the room’s character-defining features and the incorporation of new materials, finishes, and systems into this interior landmark space.

Top of the Rock (2024)

HQ consulted with Tishman Speyer and architects Gabellini Sheppard & Associates for the reopening of the Top of the Rock observation deck at 30 Rockefeller Center. As landmarks consultants, HQ conducted research to understand the historic use and configuration of the observation deck, consulted on masonry restoration, and guided the project through the public hearings process at the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. HQ has also served as preservation consultant for numerous other projects at Rockefeller Center, notably the many retail alterations throughout the center.