Pearl House, New York [US]

EeStairs + Gensler | New York

Pearl House recasts an ageing downtown office block as a 30-storey residential address, converting 480,000 sq ft into 588 apartments and amenity space while retaining the existing structure to save an estimated 20,000 metric tonnes of embodied CO₂. Gensler’s intervention, including five new floors and a higher-performing façade, makes a persuasive case for office-to-home transformation in a land-scarce city.

At the building’s lower levels, EeStairs’ convenience feature stair threads from cellar to Level 1 with muscular clarity. A full-height mild-steel stringer, reinforced on the inside, carries steel treads and risers, finished in terrazzo. The principal challenge was tolerance control within a retrofitted shell, particularly where a cantilevered landing and an in-floor glass fixing had to align precisely with the building frame. Careful setting-out and disciplined fabrication kept junctions crisp and legible.

Material choices heighten the architectural calm. A flat, rising outer balustrade is warmed with timber infill and an integrated niche handrail, while ultra-clear glass balustrades with a bronze cap rail deliver transparency without fragility. At the core, brushed solid-bronze pickets rise from ground to ceiling, bending to follow the soffit’s curve. Beneath it all, primed exposed steel undersides stay honest—letting workmanship, not ornament, carry the composition.