Transforming Lincoln Center

Lincoln Center 65th Street Development Project
Fact Sheet: West 65th Street Project

Overview

Architects:

Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with
FXFOWLE Architects

Design Team:

Tillotson Design Associates
L’Observatoire International, Inc (Lighting Design)
2 x 4, Inc. (Graphic Design)
Ove Arup (Structural, Mechanical, Electrical &
Plumbing Engineers)

Location:

West 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues and adjoining public spaces on the street and plaza levels

Key Dates:

February 2003, Diller Scofidio + Renfro selected
April 13, 2004, Design unveiling
June 12, 2006, Official Groundbreaking
February 22, 2009, Opening of Alice Tully Hall


West 65th Street Statistics

W. 65th St. Resident Organizations:

West 65th Street is the home of more than half of Lincoln Center resident organizations:

  • The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
  • The Film Society of Lincoln Center
  • The Juilliard School
  • Lincoln Center Theater
  • Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc.
  • School of American Ballet
  • New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Population:

On West 65th Street alone, thousands of visitors and more than 5,000 artists, teachers, students, stage crew, and administrators work and practice daily on 13 stages and in 80 rehearsal studios, 81 practice rooms, and 13 dance studios.

Events & Venues:

West 65th Street constituents offer some 3,500 events a year in more than 14 venues with 4,900 seats.


Design Highlights

Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s innovative and dynamic design unites West 65th Street with the surrounding cityscape and extends the threshold of Lincoln Center, opening up the campus to encourage the interaction of artists, teachers, students, and the public.

Juilliard School Expansion:

The 39,000-square-foot expansion of The Juilliard School and AliceTully Hall improves resources for more than 2,500 students, faculty and staff, and more than 100,000 concertgoers each season. The expansion includes an orchestra rehearsal room, the Rosemary and Meredith Willson Theater, a music technology center, practice rooms and classrooms for the new jazz program, an expanded area for archives, a faculty lounge, and the distinctive wedge-shaped, glass-walled Glorya Kaufman Dance Studio suspended above the transparent facade of Alice Tully Hall, permitting passersby to view a class in progress.

A new street level entrance and transparent new façade on West 65th Street reveals Juilliard’s theaters and lobbies, and frames a sweeping grand stair leading up to the light-filled June Noble Larkin Lobby and Morse Student Lounge on the second floor. High-tech graphic displays incorporated into the façade provide event information to the public.

Alice Tully Hall Modernization and Redesign:

The Juilliard expansion forms a dramatic cantilevered canopy over Alice Tully Hall’s new soaring glass grand foyer and open public space at West 65th Street and Broadway, substantially improving visibility and street presence for the Hall. The new Hall includes at65, a contemporary café in the grand foyer serving lunch, and supper along with a full bar; the Starr Theater, with state-of-the art performance capabilities; the Morgan Stanley Lobby, an expanded inner lobby with increased concession and bar areas and access to more patron restrooms; and the Hauser Patron Salon, a 2,800 square-foot donor facility suspended above the grand foyer. Expanded artist facilities include additional dressing rooms, showers, and restrooms, and more rehearsal and warm-up spaces for performers.

New Elinor Bunin-Munroe Film Center:

As part of a 21,000-square-foot building program, the Film Society built a new state-of-the-art film presentation and education complex—the Elinor Bunin-Munroe Film Center—with a street-level presence on the south side of West 65th Street that houses a 150-seat theater and a 90-seat screening room, as well as an amphitheater-style public space for lectures, symposia, and other educational activities and a new café and concession area. The new complex includes a highly visible entrance accessible at street level and the façade features a distinctive marquee framed by LED text and dynamic signage. The Film Society retains its current office space in the Samuel B. and David Rose Building and continues to use the 268-seat Walter Reade Theater. The interior of the complex was designed by David Rockwell of the Rockwell Group; the exterior by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in association with FXFOWLE.

Lincoln Center “Street of the Arts”:

The reconfiguration of West 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue included narrowing the street by eliminating one car lane and removing 2 curb cuts in the center of the block. The sidewalks were expanded—to 25 feet in width on the south side and 17 feet on the north—creating a safer pedestrian thoroughfare. The northern sidewalk will be named Disney Walk.

Lincoln Center’s underground concourse services have been enhanced with new lighting, signage, and reconfigured garage entrances and exits to improve vehicular and pedestrian traffic and provide more convenient drop-off sites for patrons. Mid-block on West 65th Street, the opaque walls that flanked the service street were replaced with a glass-walled passage that offers entry from the street to many Lincoln Center performance facilities, and separates pedestrian and vehicular traffic

Hearst Plaza:

A grand staircase at West 65th Street, widened from 32 to 55 feet and realigned at a more gradual slope, has become a major entrance to the campus. Stair risers  feature computerized LED text showing the names of Lincoln Center organizations and venues that scrolls dynamically across the steps. A new campus green called Illumination Lawn provides an oasis for students and the public to gather day and night. The lyrical design of the gently sloping lawn is oriented toward the reflecting pool . The open common, framed by a secure transparent glass railing, is a tranquil green space elevated from Hearst Plaza. Illumination Lawn also forms the roof of Lincoln restaurant, creating a building that fuses landscape and architecture.

The staircase is part of Ronald P. Stanton Way.

The reflecting pool is named in honor of Paul Milstein.

The iconic reflecting pool with its Henry Moore sculpture has been elongated and fitted with a new basin that features a thin layer of water cascading over its western edge. Another welcome green space is Barclays Capital Grove. Rectangular in shape and filled with 30 London Plane trees trimmed square on the top and sides, the Grove provides a protective canopy, lit by night for dramatic effect. Moveable chairs beneath the trees enable group seating.

Samuel B. and David Rose Building Redesign:

Access to the Rose Building entrance on West 65th between Broadway and Amsterdam has been improved with the addition of a new staircase and escalators, which create better access to its venues, dormitories, and offices. The upcoming President's Bridge will span 65th Street, offering a secure way to travel between the north and south sides of the campus. Overall, a strong identity and street presence has been developed for all of the Rose Building’s resident organizations and facilities including the School of American Ballet, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Walter Reade Theater, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, as well as Lincoln Center Institute, the Metropolitan Opera Guild, the Kaplan Penthouse, and dormitories.

Community Benefits

The redevelopment project is designed to further enhance Lincoln Center’s ability to welcome visitors year-round, day and night, and reinforce the complex as an inviting and accessible cultural destination for all New Yorkers and visitors from around the globe, in addition to the thousands of students, faculty, employees, and artists who study, teach, work, and perform at Lincoln Center each year.

Benefits to the community and general public include:

Enhanced and Expanded Facilities

  • Juilliard School expansion
  • Film Society of Lincoln Center expansion
  • Alice Tully Hall modernization, expansion, and redesign
  • Samuel B. and David Rose Building entrance redesign

Inviting Public Spaces

  • Campus green to comfortably accommodate 200 visitors
  • Elongated cascading reflecting pool
  • Shady grove of trees
  • Additional indoor and outdoor public seating

Street Presence

  • New street-level entrances
  • Transparent building façades
  • Dramatic lighting
  • Distinct institutional identities

Way-Finding Tools

  • Cutting-edge informational tools and directional signage
  • Etched glass LEDs, plasma screens, and 3D light-washed lettering installed as part of a unifying identity system

Pedestrian-Friendly Environment

  • Improved pedestrian safety
  • Enhanced campus safety and security
  • Welcoming and accessible design
  • Greater street-level access to performance venues
  • Narrowed 65th Street
  • Expanded sidewalks
  • Removed curb cuts
  • Improved garage access

New Visitor Amenities

  • Signature restaurant
  • Gateway to the West Side