PAU’s founder Vishaan Chakrabarti served as Collaborating Architect for the new 2.5 million sf global headquarters for JPMorgan Chase at 270 Park Avenue, the design of which was led by longtime friend and colleague Lord Norman Foster of Thames Bank. This rich collaboration touches on every aspect of the building’s design from its inception; including concept design, structural logic, blocking and stacking, material choices, artist selection, lighting, skyline expression, and interior design. The building earns its place among New York’s great skyscrapers by channeling the traditions of the Empire State, Chrysler, and Seagram buildings while forging an enduring new language about the future of New York, Terminal City, and the workplace of the future.

The concept for the new design was to create a timeless addition to Park Avenue, which celebrates the city’s iconic architectural history and serves as a powerful new symbol for the next generation of office towers in New York. Using a state-of-the-art structural system to negotiate the site constraints below and at ground level, the innovative fan-column structure and triangular bracing allow the building to touch the ground lightly across the entire block. By lifting the building about 80 feet/24 meters off the ground, it extends the viewpoint from the Park Avenue entrance through to Madison Avenue.