The new cafeteria for Condé Nast publications is situated in a high-rise block at Times Square, New York City. The goal was to create an interior space within the company’s offices that would bring all the employees together. Despite its modest scale, the project provided an incredible opportunity to experiment with new fabrication methods.

The organization of the cafeteria is straightforward - with intimate booths located along the perimeter of the space around a seating island in the center. This seating island is semi-enclosed by sculptural ‘glass curtains’ to provide acoustic privacy while maintaining a sense of openness and the possibility of visual connections across the cafeteria.

The blue titanium cladding employed on the perimeter booths was manufactured in Italy by the company Permasteelisa. The titanium panels were perforated with acoustical absorption behind to keep sound levels within the cafeteria to acceptable levels.

Using our computer model as a driver for the fabrication process, we worked together successfully with C-TEK (a fabrication shop for the aerospace industry located near Los Angeles) to develop the technologies required to make the curved ‘glass curtains’ around the seating islands in the center of the cafeteria.

Based on our 3D database, CNC-milled armatures were created (image on left). Flat sheets of glass were then placed on top of these armatures and passed through a heated oven for ‘slumping’ to achieve the desired geometries (image on right).

After we have completed the fabrication process, the sculptural glass curtains were shipped from California to New York City (image on left). Once these ‘glass curtains’ arrived in New York, the local contractor installed them on-site (image on right).

Since its completion more than 20 years ago, I have been back to the cafeteria several times. The company’s employees seem to enjoy dining there and most importantly, I’m relieved to learn that the menu is as delicious as the architecture!