Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)

Intern season is one of our favorite times of the year! From June to August, we welcomed talented undergraduate and graduate students into our Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., studios. Our interns immersed themselves in a wide range of activities, from architectural tours and project site visits to interactive workshops and design challenges. They had the chance to engage across design disciplines, build connections, and gain hands-on experience in both virtual and in-person settings. Thank you to all of our interns and everyone who contributed to making this year’s program such a success!

Commercial office design was forever changed with the completion of Lever House in 1952 as the first International Style building in the United States. Since then, we have continued to care for the landmark for more than 70 years. After restoring the facade in 2001, we returned again in 2023 to recapture the midcentury icon’s original splendor in a restoration effort that won the Docomomo US Modernism in America Award of Excellence. This year, the program honored 16 monumental preservation efforts around the world, with Lever House leading the Commercial Design category and representing the only project in New York. Reflecting on Lever House, Jury Member James Russell writes, “The project team brought a beautiful approach to the materials after intense research. Seeing the before and after was very impressive. Everything came to life in an unexpected way.” As our midcentury modern built environment ages, projects like this will become far more important. Lever House is a primary showcase of the promise restoration holds. MORE → bit.ly/47r6JKT 📷: Lucas Blair Simpson © SOM

Event tomorrow: As part of CTBUH’s “Vertical Villages” Global Walking Tour, Principal Kim Vanholsbeke and Associate Principal John Hollenberg will lead a walking tour of Manhattan West and the High Line — Moynihan Connector, two projects connect people to transit and seamlessly link public open spaces and other community assets in New York City’s Midtown West. Join us on September 12 to learn how the projects transform an underdeveloped district into an entirely new 24/7 neighborhood that connects to the High Line. The tour will continue with a collection of residential towers along the High Line and conclude with a social gathering at Pier 57. Register below. MORE → bit.ly/4ehMilE

“In the case of wind turbines, the deployment has to be more ambitious than installing one on every corner,” Partner Kent Jackson recently told Property Week magazine about the urgent need to widen the net of available clean energy solutions in the UK. “This could mean harnessing the power of turbines or finding ways to deploy turbines within a building.” Commenting on the UK’s latest wave of clean energy projects including onshore wind and solar farms—and just in time for World Green Building Week—Jackson refers to SOM’s Pearl River Tower in Guangzhou, China, as an early example of a creative design solution. The building funnels wind to power turbines that generate up to 15 times more energy than regular freestanding turbines and has the potential to produce as much energy as it consumes. Read on for the full Property Week story as the industry reacts to the onshoring of renewable energy. MORE → bit.ly/3zdtWDv Images: © Tim Griffith #WGBW24

“Everyone you talk to in New York has a Waldorf Astoria story,” Principal Frank Mahan, AIA told The Sunday Times, sharing a glimpse into our comprehensive renovation, restoration, and preservation of the iconic New York City hotel. Originally built in 1931, “The art deco-inspired limestone façade and distinctive twin pinnacles, the capacious public spaces, the Peacock Alley lounge bar, and the 1893 World’s Fair Clock … all have a place in the affections of many Manhattan’s residents,” the article describes of the icon. We’re aiming to preserve the essence of that era with the original facade design and renewed landmarked spaces, while reviving it once more with a respectful renovation to include a residential conversion and enhanced amenities. Read about the transformation in The Times' Sunday edition below. MORE → bit.ly/3XAEwO6 📷: Noe Associates | Boundary

A new exhibition in New York City, organized by Pratt Institute’s Center for Climate Adaptation (CCA), presents a range of perspectives on climate adaptation strategies in archipelagos—communities that are at the greatest risk and in need of finding livable solutions for climate change. Titled Adaptations 2.0, the exhibition takes place on Governors Island, where the SOM-designed New York Climate Exchange, a center for developing solutions to the climate crisis, is taking shape. SOM’s master plan and architecture for this waterfront site embodies the center’s sustainable mission, with a range of strategies to reduce the carbon impact of building construction and operations. Pratt CCA’s exhibition coincides with Climate Week NYC and the UN Summit of the Future. At a special event on September 24, SOM Design Partner Colin Koop will join a panel of designers, policymakers, and civic leaders to discuss the challenges and opportunities for waterfront development. Learn about the exhibition below. MORE → bit.ly/3MBFFyP 📷 : © SOM | Miysis Climate Group, David Erdman

Join Peter J. Kindel AIA ASLA RIBA, SOM's Cities and Climate Lead, at the upcoming Circular Cities Summit 2.0 in Dubai. Building upon last year's UN COP28, this conference will delve into the future of sustainable urban development in the Middle East and the application of circular design principles in urban planning to address the region's pressing environmental challenges. Kindel will deliver a keynote lecture, "Biomorphic Urbanism: Cultural and Ecological Circularity for a Sustainable Middle East," where he will showcase four scales of circularity—the region, the city, the district, and the building—using SOM projects, including the Bahrain National Plan and Sultan Haitham City in Oman. Both projects seek to enhance the quality of urban development and promote ecological resilience using different strategies. Learn about the conference below. MORE → bit.ly/4efkPBd 📷 : © SOM | ATCHAIN

For decades, the West Side Rail Yard has sat as an urban void in New York's Midtown West, an open train yard and sunken parking lot. Now, we are reimagining the site into a 7-million-square-foot, mixed-use development known as Hudson Yards West—with a 5.6-acre park to boot. Alongside Related Companies, Wynn Resorts, and landscape architects Sasaki and Hollander Design Landscape Architects, we envision a new neighborhood complete with modernized rail infrastructure, enhanced pedestrian access, a landmark resort and hotel, a residential tower with affordable housing, offices, and a school that repositions 11th Avenue as a citywide destination. “The project would transform Manhattan’s western green spaces into an interconnected necklace of parks and public amenities, knitting Hudson Green with the High Line, Hudson River Park, and Hudson Yards,” said SOM Partner Colin Koop. Learn about the vision for Hudson Yards West below. MORE → bit.ly/3yY7AG6 📷: © SOM | ATCHAIN, Binyan Studios, and Brick Visual

Now open: The SOM Foundation released its call for applications for the annual Research Prize and European Research Prize under the topic of "Advancing Toward a Water-Secure Future.” Applications are also now open for the Robert L. Wesley Award—named in honor of the first Black partner at SOM—to support BIPOC undergraduate students enrolled in architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, urban design, or engineering programs in the United States. Share the opportunity or throw your hat in the ring before November 11. MORE → bit.ly/350vu1N 📷: © Lauren Jian, 2023 Robert L. Wesley Award Recipient

Good news: The U.S. DOT Volpe National Transportation Systems Center has been recognized with a LEED Platinum certification! It’s the highest mark of excellence for sustainability awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council. In collaboration with Atelier Ten, we engineered a structure with an orientation that fully maximizes daylighting and a glass and aluminum facade that minimizes glare, all with triple glazing and an overall window-wall ratio of 48 percent that further contributes to the building’s energy performance. Through our built projects, research initiatives, and our role as advocates in our industry and beyond, we are working to advance a net-zero carbon built environment, and this is yet another demonstration of our commitment to environmental stewardship. MORE → bit.ly/3z1wEvH 📷 : Dave Burk © SOM