Really too bad Bob Iger didn't build on top of the existing buildings.
Disney and its architects could have easily used the strong-as-an-ox old masonry structures as a base and built on top.
Would have preserved the strong sense of place that was here until, well, Disney came along.
As is, the planned building is nice and all, but it could be an upscale office in Moscow, Chennai or a second-tier Chinese city (note those are all emerging markets - W. Europe builds better, and it preserves its heritage, at least these days). This building is nouveau-riche vapid, and it will be constructed on a block that just a few months ago had as much character, pound for pound, as one could ask for.
Iger can sing "Ta-Nehisi Coates' " praises to get in with the PC crowd and show his wonderful "woke values" - but if he does something like this it's clear he has no actual moral fiber or grounding as a human.
If Disney had built this 30 years ago it would have likely been some absurdist Micheal Graves Pomo palace. While this design is buttoned up and conservative and doesn't reflect really at all the playful nature of its' tenant, I will take this any day.
Demolition Complete For Disney’s Headquarters At Four Hudson Square, In Hudson Square
Quote:
Demolition is finished and excavation work is now in full swing for Disney’s new 1.2-million-square-foot headquarters at 137 Varick Street, aka Four Hudson Square. Since YIMBY’s last update in late February, the final remaining building at 304 Hudson Street has been cleared from the property, which Disney purchased from Trinity Church Real Estate for $650 million. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and developed in partnership with Silverstein Properties, the upcoming 22-story building will eventually top out at 320 feet tall. Skanska oversaw the demolition process for the Hudson Square complex, which involved the razing of four structures.
Recent photos from Tectonic show activity underway on the entirety of the plot. A number of excavators and piling machines are scattered across the dirt that has yet to be hauled away. The vastness of the cleared space gives an impression of how massive the new headquarters will be once it starts to rise above street level. We should expect to see work occur further below grade throughout the rest of the summer.
The renderings below show the finished look of the symmetrical pair of 320-foot-tall towers that will rise from a full-block podium. Multiple setbacks will provide outdoor terraces for occupants. The exterior envelope is planned to be composed of pale green terracotta panels, bronze finishes, and floor-to-ceiling glass. The materials were selected in order to contextually blend with the surrounding Hudson Square neighborhood. The property will include multiple film and production studios, office space, and ground-floor retail.
A completion date for Disney’s new headquarters has not been publicly announced yet.