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1014 Fifth Avenue

Competition, 2nd Prize at Barkow Leibinger
1014 - space for ideas
New York, NY
2020
Unbuilt

Project Link

Architects
Barkow Leibinger, Berlin
Frank Barkow, Regine Leibinger

Team
Martina Bauer (Principal), Julien Kiefer, Romain Odin Lepoutre, Stefan Sauter, Pablo Sequero

Program
Exhibition, Office, Studio, Residential

Location
New York, USA

Competition
11/2020 - 04/2021
2nd Prize

Client
Bundesbau BW (Federal Construction Agency), represented by Staatliches Hochbauamt Freiburg, Germany

Contact Architect
Romines Architecture, New York, USA

Structural Engineer
knippershelbig, New York, USA

“New ideas must use old buildings.”

The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Jane Jacobs, 1961

Imagined as a vital and contemporary German Cultural Center, the transformation of 1014 Fifth Avenue adopts an “adopt and adapt” approach, restoring the historic townhouse while projecting it forward to accommodate new forms of cultural exchange. Rather than a nostalgic reconstruction, the design preserves the building’s enfilade of interconnected rooms and enhances it through precise, code-compliant interventions, maintaining continuity while opening the space to new uses. Movement through the building (from street to garden, from lower levels to loft) unfolds as a spatial narrative, linking history with contemporary experience and positioning the visitor as an active participant in this dialogue.

The project emphasizes visual and spatial continuity to foster encounters between visitors, scholars, and programs. Historic layers are revealed and restored where possible: the façade, windows, stoop, and key interior elements such as the coffered ceiling and wainscoting are carefully recovered, while new insertions, including terrazzo flooring, lighting, and an upgraded system, introduce a contemporary clarity. Accessibility and performance are improved through a new barrier-free entrance, enhanced insulation, and updated circulation, including a central service core that complements the restored ceremonial staircase.

At the rear, the building’s informal façade is reimagined as a cascading sequence of terraces, pergolas, and planted surfaces, forming a vertical landscape that connects all levels. This stepped garden extends interior spaces outward, culminating in a courtyard at ground level that serves as both a social condenser and an extension of the public program. Rather than a residual back lot, the rear becomes a defining spatial element—linking programs, views, and circulation into a coherent architectural system.

Programmatically, public and cultural spaces occupy the lower levels, administrative functions are centrally located, residential units are placed above, and a loft-like top floor offers shared work and event space under a large skylight. Each level connects to the terrace cascade, reinforcing the building’s role as a place of exchange. Furnished with German art and design, both historical and contemporary, the interior becomes a curated environment that reflects Germany’s cultural contributions while engaging New York’s museum context. Positioned alongside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the project establishes a distinctive and inviting platform for transatlantic dialogue, rooted in history yet oriented toward future forms of cultural production.