550 Madison Avenue is one of the city’s most recognizable architectural masterworks – a postmodern gem known for its distinctive “Chippendale” curved roof pediment and pink granite façade. The Olayan Group led a comprehensive reimagining of this landmarked, 850,000-square-foot office tower, including a new half-acre public garden, extraordinary tenant-only amenity and wellness spaces, and extensive air quality and sustainability initiatives. 550 Madison is the only New York City office landmark with a LEED Platinum WELL Gold certifications. The resulting upgrades, including a 35% offset by renewable energy credits, are entirely oriented around occupant wellness and environmental sustainability.

The project, completed in 2022, transformed the single-tenant tower into a contemporary multi-tenant property that has quickly attracted world-class tenants. The Olayan Group was meticulous in the design and execution of the repositioning for New York City’s youngest landmark, engaging visionary international design firms Snøhetta, Gensler and Rockwell Group to honor Johnson’s creation while reinterpreting the building for the way people live and work today.

The project includes a thoughtfully landscaped outdoor public garden– a triumph of sustainability and the largest green space in Midtown East, which includes the first gender-inclusive public restrooms in the city. This innovative project embraces nature as an amenity not just for building tenants, but for area residents and visitors. The 550 Garden provides a blueprint for the reawakening of urban space, and prioritizes sustainability in its effort to adapt existing spaces for their contemporary context.

Originally constructed in 1984 as the single-tenant headquarters for AT&T, then the most powerful communications company in the world, 550 Madison is a globally recognized postmodern masterpiece. Its design by Philip Johnson and John Burgee challenged modernist dogma of stark functionalism and purely efficient design, helping to establish the postmodern architecture movement on the world stage.

The tower housed only two tenants over nearly four decades, serving as headquarters for SONY following AT&T. The Olayan Group acquired the then-vacant building in 2016, launching a comprehensive revitalization project to position 550 Madison to compete against the top new construction in New York City. The project has instilled new life and a renewed sense of vision, and Olayan has been recognized for refining and perfecting an icon, setting the standard for sustainable repositioning in the process. Olayan comprehensively rethought the tower’s structural core, adapting it for multi-tenant occupancy to double its capacity, while redesigning the ground level public space to be more transparent, accessible and inviting.

Through constructive editing, a process of revision and revitalization that harnesses the inherent qualities of existing space, the result pays homage to the pre-existing structure while accentuating its features. Creative site planning, inspired adaptive reuse, and close collaboration with the Department of City Planning and the Landmarks Preservation Commission, enabled Olayan to protect significant elements of 550 Madison while positioning the property to embrace the neighborhood and attract tenants in the current market.