Avenue Road

The architects inserted an atrium into the space by cutting away capacious sections of the first and second floors, bringing natural illumination deep into the basement level. New glass-and-steel display cases connect the upper levels.

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Stacks of colorful rugs enliven the basement, which Yabu Pushelberg excavated to gain ceiling height. The massive glass panels enclosing the new stair serve as a firewall.

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The renovation showcases the original structure’s signature feature: a series of triangular steel trusses (though one, in fact, is new). Steel transom pulls, also original, were painted white so as not to compete visually with the displays.

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In addition to creating a psychological layer of security at the edge of the atrium, the porous design of the cases shape discrete display areas without specifically enclosing them.

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An elevated area at one end of the third floor serves as a platform for special displays. The multicolored sideboards, by Fritz Haller and Paul Scharer, were introduced in 1963.

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Eileen Gray’s 1935 Bonaparte armchair and Petite Coiffeuse occasional table from 1929 form a stair landing tableau.

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In one of the showroom’s many intriguing display combinations, four of Simon Pengelly’s 2008 Lotus dining chairs are matched with a beveled-leg table from Mutscher Winkler Design. The 2006 High Noon floor lamp is by Germany’s El Schmid.

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The third floor’s upper level currently showcases Avenue Road’s extensive collection of outdoor furniture.

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Though Yabu Pushelberg’s design appears to be an artful contemporary insertion into an historic interior, much is in fact new – including the columns and floorplates.

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Yabu Pushelberg’s three-level, 15,000-square-foot interior renovation of the circa 1907 Consumers Gas Company building (later home to the World Journal, a Chinese-language newspaper) preserves the interior architecture’s industrial flavor.

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