1214 Fifth Avenue

SITU Fabrication was contracted to produce a feature wall for the lobby of 1214 Fifth Avenue, a 50-story luxury residential tower at the Mount Sinai Medical Center campus.

Designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, the 17-foot tall structure is made of 30 vertical sections of walnut-faced paneling, separated by thin bands of anodized aluminum.

We started by creating a plywood framework that defines the surface curvature of each section. Angled pieces of walnut veneer were then fixed directly to the frames and we trimmed away excess material using a CNC router to maintain the design’s precise geometry.

In total, we fabricated 280 custom panels and applied a dark finish to each one by hand. Together, the pieces form sinuous ridges that fold and wrap around the back wall of the building’s lobby.