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New York's Standard Oil Building Gets New Life

New York's Standard Oil Building Gets New Life

The landmarked Standard Oil Building at 26 Broadway continues to undergo its transformation from the oil giant’s Carrère and Hastings-designed New York headquarters into a bustling school building. Last week, AN got a sneak peek at the third academic institution to be completed there, a 104,000-square-foot space occupying the building’s first, mezzanine, and second levels. It will add 677 high school seats to the Broadway Education Campus, which currently includes The Urban Assembly School of Business for Young Women (on the 4th and 5th floors) and Lower Manhattan Community Middle School (on the 6th and 7th floors).

All three schools have been designed by John Ciardullo Associates Architects, who have worked extensively with the SCA over the past several decades. Perhaps that relationship is why Ciardullo was allowed to have a bit of fun with the campus.

As illustrated by the below photos, the underused interior mechanical courtyard is being transformed into a double-height gymnasium complete with a peaked skylight. The construction took a bit of maneuvering—not only with the Landmarks Preservation Commission but also with the new roof’s structural steel, which was slid into place through the building’s windows.

John D. Rockefeller wouldn’t have imagined that students would someday play basketball within the walls of his Beaux Arts edifice, which he occupied from 1928 through 1956, but fortunately new pupils will see many of the original limestone and marble details intact in the school’s hallways, in addition to original elevator doors (now sealed shut) and brass light fixtures. Of course, the 29-story building’s upper floors are still marketed as posh office space, including Rockefeller’s own quarters, complete with historic woodwork and chandeliers.


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